I had heard these words too many times to count. Each syllable cut deep, each sentence lashed at my heart. I thought I had grown numb to their cruelty. But standing there, I still felt the unbearable ache.
It should have been me. I was supposed to study abroad.
I still remember that moment—how my mother forced my aunt to take my bank card in front of me.
All the scholarships I had earned, the money from my part-time jobs, the savings I had set aside for my postgraduate studies—gone.
My mother tricked me into handing it over.
She had always loved Julia more. That much I had known since childhood. But watching her give away my future so effortlessly, with my father’s silent approval, made me wonder:
What was I to this family? A mere stepping stone? A burden?
To my mother, I was nothing but a fool.
I was her biological daughter, the one closest to her by blood, yet she always chose others over me. All she left me were wounds and sharp edges.
Lost in thought, I almost missed a step. The mountain path was damp, and overgrown with weeds. As I made my way up again, I slipped. Pain shot through my ankle as it swelled instantly.
“Who’s there?”
My mother’s voice rang out sharply, snapping me back to reality. They had noticed me.
The moment my mother saw me, her face twisted in anger.
“I told you not to come, and yet here you are!”
Without a word, I placed a large basket of gold ingots on the ground—the ones I had carefully folded, one by one.
She looked at me with nothing but disgust.
"Take it away. My father doesn’t need your things. Julia has already burned offerings for him. Take it away!"
With a single kick, my mother sent the gold ingots I had folded all night scattering onto the ground.
In the silent mountain, I was the only one left, kneeling in the dirt, rubbing my swollen ankle as I picked up the paper ingots now covered in mud.
Fortunately, I managed to make it down the mountain before sunset.
Today was Memorial Day, and as was tradition, our family gathered for a meal at the old house.
As soon as I stepped into the yard, my mother poked her head out and snapped, "Why are you so late? Everyone’s been waiting for you!"
I looked inside. My aunt sat in the living room beside Julia, who was pregnant, while her proud husband lounged beside her. My parents hovered around them, eagerly handing them melon seeds and fruit, laughing and chatting as if entertaining honored guests.