Chapter 1

"Regina, what are you standing there for? Give me a hand."

Mom saw me frozen in place and shoved the gift bags toward me, telling me to open the door.

The moment I watched her toss the gifts I'd spent time picking out straight into the storage room, like they were nothing, my heart sank.

"Mom, I put a lot of effort into picking them out, too…"

She waved me off impatiently. "Alright, alright, I heard you. That's your problem, though. You're always so sensitive. You're not nearly as sensible as your sister."

She dropped onto the couch and immediately started rambling.

"Your sister got into such a great university back then, and she's always been hardworking. She's busy now, sure, but the moment she came home, she handed over 100,000 dollars. And you? I remember your first year working, you brought back what, 3,000 dollars?"

I lowered my head slightly, standing there awkwardly, unsure whether I should sit or keep standing.

"Mom, I could only work as a regular employee at a cafe my first year, but I saved that money bit by bit. If I get promoted to manager next year, I'll be making more."

The more I spoke, the more nervous I felt, like I was bracing for her to snap again.

Mom gave an exaggerated eye roll. "What's the point of making more? Even if you do, you still won't live as well as your sister.

"Regina, how did I end up raising such a disappointment? Look around. Who has a kid as useless as you? Your sister's younger than you, and yet she outshines you in everything!"

Her words saddened me, and my voice caught. "Mom, I barely make it home for the holidays. Can you stop comparing us?"

To my surprise, the moment I said that, she slammed her hand on the table. "What, can't I talk in my own home?"

She shot to her feet and jabbed a finger toward my chest. "Look at yourself, Regina. If you don't compare yourself to someone better, would you rather compare yourself to someone worse? Tell me, what does your sister not do better than you?"

She kept jabbing at me until I stumbled backward, humiliated, but she didn't care that I was close to tears.

"Back then, your sister scored over 1,100 on the SAT. And what did you get? You couldn't even get into university!"

I sniffed and stood there in a daze.

That wasn't true. That wasn't what happened.

Back then, right after the test scores came out, I had overheard Mom and Dad talking.

"We only have enough money to send one kid to university. What are we supposed to do?"

"There has to be some way around it, Michael. Besides, it's not like both of them are guaranteed to get in. We'll wait and see."

At the time, I had been standing outside the door, holding my test results. It showed I'd gotten over 1,350, but I stood there for a long time and couldn't bring myself to push the door open.

In the end, I quietly went back to my room.

We weren't poor, but we were far from well-off. We lived in an old apartment building in a rundown neighborhood.

Their words had cut deep.

Not long after, Sabrina came home. She rushed inside, beaming, and the first thing out of her mouth was, "Mom, Dad! I scored over 1,100!"

The second they heard her, they came hurrying out to celebrate.

"Oh, wow! My sweet girl got over 1,100? That's amazing!"

"Let me see it. Wow, it really is over 1,100. You really made us proud!"

As I listened to the laughter in the living room, I slowly folded my own slip back up.

I didn't want to make things harder for them, so after taking a moment to steady myself, I pushed the door open and spoke.

"Mom, Dad, I only got in the 900s. I probably won't be able to get into a good university. Let Sabrina go instead."

The moment she heard me say that, Mom's expression shifted, and she started cursing me out. "Your father and I fed you, clothed you, raised you, and this is all you got?"

Dad let out a cold laugh. "I knew this girl would never amount to much."

I stood there and took it, all while meeting Sabrina's smug expression.

"Regina, don't you usually get such good grades? How'd you end up scoring so low this time? Now you can't even get into university. That's such a shame. You weren't cheating before, were you?"

I was mortified. I twisted the hem of my dress in my fingers before finally managing to come up with an excuse.

"No. I just… didn't do well this time."

That only made Mom even angrier.

"What exactly are you trying to say, Regina? Don't think for one second I'm letting you take the test again! If you can't get into university, then get out and find a job. No one's paying for another year of school."

"That's… not what I meant." My voice broke, and in the end, my tears fell.

From that moment on, the way my parents looked at me changed, and Sabrina and I ended up going down two completely different paths.