Daughter for Sale: All for My Brother

The air froze. I could no longer hold back the bitterness in my heart and choked out, "You care so much about Leo's future, but what about mine? I've already given him one of my kidneys. Why on earth should I have to give him my future, too?" I bit my lower lip until it bled.

Dad raised his hand and slapped me hard across the face. "Leo's getting married. As his older sister, shouldn't you do your part for him?"

I clutched my swollen cheek, but my heart ached far worse than my face. My younger brother, Leo Mercer, was only 15 years old. Yet, Mom and Dad had already mapped out the most perfect future for him.

Mom looked at me and sighed in disappointment. "Stop arguing with your father. Women are bound to get married sooner or later. If you marry Kieran now, we can still get 20 grand in return, which is just enough to cover the down payment on your brother's wedding home while property prices are down. If you drag your feet, housing prices will climb, but as you get older, your value will only drop."

My eyes widened in utter disbelief. It dawned on me that in Mom and Dad's eyes, I wasn't even worth as much as a down payment on a house.

Noticing the storm of emotion brewing in my eyes, Mom hesitated for a moment before grasping my hand. "Daphne, you've always been the sensible one since you were little. Listen to us one last time, alright?" Her palm was warm, but my heart had gone completely cold.

Growing up, Mom had praised me for being sensible; she always gave Leo the boneless belly of the fish, while I ate the tail, where the bones were plentiful.

However, I didn't come into this world knowing how to pick through bones. I wanted to taste the boneless belly, too.

I wasn't born sensible, either. However, a child who had no one to spoil them naturally learned to be sensible.

A crushing sense of grievance surged in my chest, and I smashed the bowl in front of me like a madwoman. "I refuse!"

I rose to my feet, trembling all over, and shrieked, "All these years, I've come to terms with the fact that you favored Leo. I also came to terms with the fact that you don't love me a long time ago. But why did you have to take my kidney and ruin the rest of my life, too?

"Everyone for miles around knows that Kieran drinks, gambles, sleeps around, and even beat his ex-wife to death. He just got out of prison. I'm only 18, and I just got into college. I don't want my life to be ruined!"

Mom and Dad looked at me and fell silent. Tears blurred my vision, yet I could still clearly see the undisguised disappointment in Dad's eyes and hear Mom's helpless sigh. My desperate cries and accusations failed to stir a single drop of pity for me from them.

The suffocating silence in the house was broken by the sound of the door opening.