Chapter 1

Luna's POV

The door slammed shut with a loud bang.

Mom left the house, taking my sister, Stella Woodson, who was dressed up like a beautiful princess, with her.

I bit my lips until they turned raw and bloody. However, I still wasn't able to suppress the twisting pain in my stomach. I thought about how Mom always used to tell me to drink warm water when I was feeling sick. Powering through the pain, I prepared some warm water for myself.

It didn't take long for the water to warm up. I let out a gasp and immediately spat out a mouthful of blood after taking just a small sip. My blood stained the rabbit carpet in front of Stella's door. I hastily fell to my knees and frantically tried to clean it.

Last week, I accidentally tripped over a chair while carrying the dishes out of the kitchen. A few drops of oil splashed out of the plate and splattered across the carpet in front of Stella's room.

Stella immediately let out a shriek and darted forward to shove me to the floor.

Stars exploded in my vision when I hit the floor. Bruises bloomed on my arms and legs from the impact. The piping-hot oil and vegetables spilled all over me, and blisters swelled on my hands within seconds.

However, I didn't care that I was in pain. Instead, my first instinct was to apologize and explain myself. "I'm sorry, Stella. I tripped over the chair…"

Mom rushed out of the kitchen when she heard the commotion. Stella immediately fixed a pitiful expression on her face, saying, "Luna dirtied my carpet, Mom. This is my favorite one."

Panic gripped my heart as I rushed to explain myself. "I didn't do it on purpose, Mom. I tripped over the chair…"

However, Mom's hearing seemed to have stopped working again. She didn't hear my explanation or notice my wounds. She could only see and hear Stella's pitiful crying.

Mom pulled Stella into her arms and comforted her gently. Meanwhile, her eyes were cold and full of disdain when she looked at me.

I stood rooted to the spot. My voice became smaller and smaller even as I tried to explain myself.

Mom seemed to become completely deaf to my voice for the next three days. In the morning, she went to Stella's room to gently wake her up and prepared breakfast for her.

I trailed behind her, carefully asking, "What about my breakfast, Mom?"

Mom didn't react at all as she meticulously packed Stella's bag. It seemed that she hadn't heard me. Stella leaped up from her seat at the dining table in the next second, exclaiming, "I'm done eating, Mom! Let's go!"

It was quite strange. Mom couldn't hear me just a few seconds ago. However, her hearing was miraculously restored at that moment. She smiled and said, "Okay. I'll be ready soon."

I didn't dare say another word as I held my growling stomach. I silently picked up my bag that had several holes in it and trailed behind them out of the door.

Mom ushered Stella into the car when we arrived at the underground parking lot. She then slipped into the driver's seat and immediately locked the door.

I pulled the door handle, panicking when it didn't budge. I slapped my hands against the car's windows and frantically yelled, "I haven't gotten into the car yet, Mom! You're going to leave me behind again!"

But Mom's ears seemed to have stopped working again. She didn't hear me.

The car sped away. I stumbled over my feet as I ran after it, shouting, "Wait for me, Mom!"

Mom didn't hear me, leaving a cloud of exhaust to wash over me.

I fell down and knocked my forehead against the floor, causing it to bleed. I could only watch as the car zoomed off into the distance. My figure in the rearview mirror became smaller and smaller.