“That’s right. Pay it back.”
Margaret’s hands trembled as she pulled out a notebook.
“I’ve kept track of every dollar you’ve spent since you were a child. I thought you were obedient and filial, and I’d never need to use it. But now… it’s time.”
She blew her nose and began crying again.
I laughed suddenly.
“So this ledger—only I have one? Or does Ryan have one too?”
Ryan jumped up instantly.
“What do you mean by that?”
Daniel snorted.
“Your brother is obedient and filial. Why keep an account for him? He’ll support us when we’re old—it’s obvious already.”
“You’ve always been trouble, while he’s always protected us. That alone means he doesn’t need a ledger.”
I laughed until tears came.
Of course Ryan didn’t need one. He was always the beneficiary. Everything stripped from me ended up with him.
He didn’t need to fight. But I did.
Margaret’s tears streamed again, her face still pitiful.
“I hate that it’s come to this. I raised you with my own hands, and of course I want you to do well. But I have no choice. I truly have no choice.”
Her hopeful gaze fell on me again. She was still waiting for me to yield.
But I stayed silent, then spoke at last under all their stares.
“Fine. Let’s settle it. Count it all. Then I can study clean and free.”
Margaret spat into her hand and began tallying. She calculated all night.
The final sum: I owed them five hundred thousand.
That included fifty thousand for childhood expenses, fifty thousand in rent for my room, two hundred thousand as “compensation” for childbirth, and two hundred thousand for my future dowry.
It was so absurd I laughed through tears. But the three of them found nothing wrong with it.
