Chapter 3

Back when I lived with Grandma, I was a happy little girl. Grandma didn't have much money, but she always gave me the best of what little she had.

Mom only came back during the holidays. When I showed her my report card, looking for praise, she wouldn't even glance at it.

"What's the point of a girl studying hard? You'll just end up some man's wife anyway."

I cried and ran to Grandma, who gently pulled me into her arms to comfort me. "Don't listen to your mother's nonsense. Education matters. My Ivy is so smart. You're going to do great things someday."

I thought I'd live happily with Grandma forever, but then she accidentally broke her leg while working. She couldn't take care of me anymore, so she begged Mom and Dad to take me in for a while.

But Mom refused.

"That little brat makes me sick just looking at her. I can't even eat. I'm not taking her. Not even for a day."

In the end, Grandma threatened to kill herself, and that was the only reason they brought me back from the countryside.

But everything I did annoyed Mom. Even wearing short sleeves and shorts would get me yelled at.

"Dressing like that at your age. Who are you trying to impress? Why are you showing off your legs? You think you're something special?"

To avoid making Mom angry, I wore long sleeves and pants no matter how hot it was. But when the heat made me sweat, Mom would cover her nose in disgust.

"You reek. Figures, coming from the countryside. You're as filthy as your grandmother."

I didn't dare argue back. I could only cry silently while telling myself it wasn't true. Grandma was the cleanest person I knew.

I ate quietly, drank in small sips, and stayed in my room as much as possible so that Mom wouldn't have to see me. But Mom still got angry that day.

When Dad casually complimented my braids, saying they looked nice, Mom cut my hair off at the roots.

I wanted to cry so badly. I was a little girl, and Grandma always said little girls were supposed to have braids. My long hair was Grandma's favorite.

But I didn't even dare cry. Crying would only get me yelled at more. I could only cry secretly under my blanket at night.

Even that ice cream was something Dad only gave me because he felt sorry for me, sneaking it to me when Mom wasn't home. Owen wasn't happy about it. He reached out to grab it from me.

"Mom says you're just the family servant. You're not allowed to have ice cream. Give it to me. Everything in this house belongs to me."

But I'd only ever had popsicles before. I'd never tasted fancy ice cream like this. I really wanted to know what it tasted like.

For the first time, I didn't listen to Owen.

That made him furious. Without thinking, he hit me hard on the head. I never imagined that after I passed out, Owen would run into the freezer and freeze to death.

Mom already hated me, and now she thought I'd killed Owen. So I understood when she hit me and yelled at me.

But they shouldn't have punished me like this. I was so cold. Now, I'd frozen to death just like Owen.

Grandma was still waiting for me to come home. Her greatest wish was for me to get into college and escape from that rural valley.

That was why she worked herself to the bone for other people, just to save up enough for my tuition. If it weren't for me, Grandma wouldn't have broken her leg.

Thinking about this, even though I was just a soul now, my heart suddenly ached.