Chapter 3

Selena's POV

Mom said Aunt Ashlyn would pay me for my work.

Staring at the 60-second voice message she sent, I still ended up compromising.

I handed over a project I had been managing at work that was already more than half done, just to focus on designing Aunt Ashlyn's new house.

She had endless demands, but thankfully, I was already used to dealing with difficult clients.

Two weeks later, the final draft was approved. I thought my job was done.

But barely five minutes after I lay down to rest, a phone call woke me up. It was Mom, telling me I needed to go buy the materials needed for the renovation.

"Mom, I'm tired. I spent ages working on those blueprints."

Mom's tone softened. "It's almost done, Selena. Just push through a little longer."

She didn't tell me to get some rest but to push through.

Noticing my silence, she pulled out her go-to line. "Your Aunt Ashlyn loved you so much when you were little. Remember that formal dress you wore in middle school? Ashlyn couldn't even bear to part with it herself, but she gave it to you anyway."

If Mom hadn't brought it up, I would have almost forgotten.

In middle school, I had been chosen as the lead singer for the choir. My teacher, Ms. Kate Baxter, wanted to have a custom dress made for me, and I was thrilled.

When I went home and told Mom, she frowned. "A dress? I think your Aunt Ashlyn has one. Let me ask."

That was the first time I ever wished I didn't have to wear hand-me-downs. But it made no difference.

Mom said, "Why waste money on a new dress? Your Aunt Ashlyn's clothes are all from designer brands. Besides, you only wear something like that once. It's such a waste."

In the end, I showed up to practice wearing an oversized, yellowed dress.

I would never forget the look in Ms. Baxter's eyes, nor what she had said to me. "Selena, you don't need to go on stage."

Later on, I found out that to thank Aunt Ashlyn for mailing me that dress, Mom had taken her out for a meal that cost 80 dollars.

But the custom dress I wanted would have only cost 30 dollars.

"Mom, my teacher wouldn't let me on stage because of that dress." My voice was so soft I could barely hear it myself.

I had hoped Mom would at least offer some comfort.

Instead, she said, "You didn't get to go on stage because of your own shortcomings. You can't just blame the dress."

I let out a bitter laugh.

After hanging up the phone, I went straight to the office and told my boss, Sarah Ewing, that I would take the overseas assignment.

Sarah looked a little shocked. "It's great that you're open to it. But aren't you usually pretty attached to home? The assignment is really far away, and you might not be able to come back for a long time. Are you sure you don't want to think about it a bit more?"

I looked out the window and replied, "I'm sure. I don't want to go home just to find my bedroom taken over by a pile of junk."

"Alright. Get a good rest for now, and wait for the official notice," Sarah said.

I nodded, stood up, and headed back to my desk, hoping to close my eyes for a minute.

That was when Mom showed up. She brought Aunt Ashlyn with her, holding a shopping list in her hand.

"Selena!" Mom shouted. "Gosh, you're here sleeping and won't even help out? Look at this. Which color floor tiles should we buy? And this…"

Mom's voice was starting to disturb my coworkers.

With no other choice, I had to go with them to the hardware market.

They seemed entirely convinced that I would help.

As soon as we got to the market, they just sat down and started chatting.

Mom remarked, "Look, Selena still listens to me. If you ever need anything in the future, just tell me."

After picking out the floor tiles, Aunt Ashlyn smiled and said, "By the way, Selena, since you're already here, why don't you help supervise the renovation too? None of us went to college, so we don't know a thing about this."

Mom chimed in right away, "Isn't your dream to buy a house? Consider Ashlyn's place good practice. I promise this is the last time."

Mom said the payment would be wired over once the renovation was finished.

But until the day of Aunt Ashlyn's housewarming party, I hadn't received a single penny.

When I went to ask Mom about it, she impatiently brushed me off. "She promised, so she'll pay you."

"There has to be a deadline, though," I retorted.

"Selena, talking about money between relatives is so tacky. When you were little—"

"When I was three, a relative brought over half a tin of formula milk. You made it for me, and I had such terrible diarrhea I almost died. Only afterward did you realize that the tin of formula was expired.

"When I was five, you made me wear someone else's hand-me-down clothes, and I broke out in a full-body rash. I almost ended up permanently scarred."

I wanted to keep going, but Mom cut me off. "Ashlyn isn't like them—"

"That shirt you gave me last time, claiming Aunt Ashlyn bought it for me? It was just a free promotional giveaway that came with her daughter's new skirt."

Mom fell silent for half a minute before finally saying, "Fine, fine. I'll ask her about it when we sit down to eat later."

After a pause, she muttered, "She's so obsessed with money."