“Your brother won’t need tutoring anymore. If he can’t study, he’ll go work. We’ll all sell our blood together, for you, just for you. If you want to study, we won’t stop you.”
She began to sob quietly, smearing her rough, dark hands across her face.
Then suddenly, Daniel charged at me in fury and struck me across the face with a hard slap.
“You want to kill us all? Destroy this family? How can you be so selfish, so shameless?”
My head snapped to the side, my body nearly collapsing.
My ears buzzed, and when I regained my senses, Margaret’s crying filled them.
“Your dad fell! Aren’t you going to help him? I already agreed to let you study, and you still had to upset your father. Now look what’s happened—your dad fell again. What are we supposed to do now?”
On the floor, Daniel glared at me with venomous eyes.
Before I could speak, my brother stormed out of his room. Without a word, he punched me straight in the face.
“You dare hurt my parents? I’ll fight you to the end!”
At nearly six feet tall, Ryan Carter pinned me to the ground, throwing punches at my head again and again.
I was powerless, the only thing reaching me was his voice, his curses, echoing over and over.
“My mom begged you, and you still want her to sell blood? That’s not enough—you made my dad fall too! You’re nothing but a curse on this family. I’ve hated you for a long time. Today I’ll get justice for Mom and Dad!”
Half-conscious, I felt the warm blood flood into my mouth before Ryan finally stopped hitting me.
“Don’t worry, Mom. As long as I’m here, no one will ever bully you.”
I struggled to my feet, only to see Margaret collapsing into Ryan’s arms, sobbing bitterly:
“It’s my fault—I can’t afford to raise you both. I know your sister resents me, but what can I do? I don’t want her to miss her chance to study.”
“My life is cheap. I can suffer, it doesn’t matter. If I can’t sell my blood, then I’ll sell myself instead. Don’t stop me, son.”
She staggered toward the door.
It was already dark outside. I wiped the blood from my face and walked back to my room, ignoring the cries and insults echoing behind me.
I never had any favoritism, yet somehow, every blame always landed on me.
My mind dulled, I remembered so much.
I remembered when Ryan was born and I was three, the first time I saw him in the hospital. Everyone told me I was an older sister now, that I had responsibilities, that I had to take care of him.