Chapter 4

All those six months of hard work—waking up early, going to bed late, and turning down every bit of fun—just to pass the civil service exam. And now it was all ruined.

I couldn't hold it in anymore and completely lost it on Mom.

"Why did you have to say all that? Didn't you promise me you wouldn't run your mouth? Are you happy now that I've been disqualified? Do you have any idea what I sacrificed for this?"

Mom hadn't expected this outcome either. With a wounded look, she said, "I didn't know it would turn out like this either. They asked me about your shortcomings, didn't they? I was just telling the truth. How was I supposed to know you'd get disqualified?"

Then, refusing to back down, she grew more and more convinced of her own righteousness as she went on.

"I mean, come on! Was anything I said not true? Are you seriously trying to force me to lie? I think the problem is clearly with you. They probably didn't want you in the first place. Otherwise, why would a few honest words from me get you disqualified?"

It was always like this. Every single time, she did exactly the same thing!

She would never admit she was wrong. In her eyes, it was always everyone else being petty and oversensitive.

Dad burst through the door and went off on Mom too.

"Are you happy now? With just a few words, you wiped out six months of Tiffany's hard work. Is this what you wanted? It's bad enough you've destroyed Tiffany's career, but now you're still trying to absolve yourself of any blame? You're just vicious and selfish!"

Cowed by Dad's fury, Mom broke down in tears, the very picture of wounded innocence.

"All I did was speak the truth. Am I not allowed to do even that? Did she really lose this job just because I said things as they are?"

Dad fired back mercilessly. "Speak the truth? Those weren't matters of principle—you just deliberately blew them up into character flaws! All you wanted was to parade your so-called honesty. But are you really an honest person?

"What about all your own shady shit? Why don't you ever tell anyone about that? Yet, when it comes to your own daughter's private matters, you can't wait to broadcast them to the world under the banner of 'honesty'. At the end of the day, you're just mean-spirited."

Dad's voice eventually gave out from all the shouting. He slumped onto the couch and buried his head in his hands.

"Tiffany, I'm so sorry. You worked so hard to pass that exam, and now it's all gone because I couldn't keep your mother's mouth shut."

I just shook my head weakly, unable to get a single word out.

Mom stood off to the side, still stubbornly defending herself.

"I didn't know it would turn into something this serious. I just told the truth, that's all."

I let out a cold laugh. Since she was so fond of telling the truth, I figured I'd take a page out of her book and speak nothing but the truth myself. I wanted to see if she could actually live with the consequences.

Soon, it was Mom's birthday.

And as was the tradition, everyone in our extended family would gather for a celebration. This year was no exception. Mom had booked the restaurant well in advance, looking forward to having the whole family together under one roof.

Right as we were about to leave the house, I shot Dad a look. He gave a slow nod.

With Dad in my corner, I felt a lot bolder.

Inside the private room, Mom was chatting away cheerfully with her siblings. But the second I walked in, the atmosphere turned ice-cold.

My aunt, Barbara Mack, pulled me down into the seat next to her and immediately started with the interrogation.

"Tiffany, I heard you've been having some issues with your mother lately?"

I shot a glance at Mom. She seemed slightly guilty and quickly lowered her head.

Aunt Barbara kept going with her lecture. "Tiffany, I'm not trying to get on your case, but you should show your mother some respect. How could you blow up at her like that?

"Even if she was in the wrong, she's still your mother. Besides, she didn't even say anything wrong. Everything she said was true. If you weren't hired, the problem must be with you. How can you blame her for that?

"And as for you getting HPV, your mother wasn't wrong about that either. That's exactly what the doctor said back then. If Jared had a fight with you over it, that just shows he's immature and not worth your time."

I kept my head down and stayed silent.

Mom, apparently sensing that I'd been talked into submission, raised her voice with renewed confidence.

"Barbara, you're absolutely right. It's not like I deliberately made things up. No, I simply told the truth. Has this society really reached the point where one isn't even allowed to speak the truth anymore?"

Before I could get a word out, my uncle, Donald Mack, jumped in to lecture me too.

"Tiffany, you can't blame your mother for what happened with Karla either. All she did was make a passing remark about her looks. What kind of person flips out over that?

"Someone that petty isn't worth being friends with anyway. Besides, that civil service job wasn't even all that great. The pay's lousy, for one thing, and it's not even that stable. So you didn't get it—big deal."

Mom put on a wounded act.

"Finally, someone's speaking up for me. Tiffany's been giving me grief over this for half a month now. Don't you think young people these days just can't handle hearing the truth? This society has really gone downhill."

The rest of the relatives all nodded in agreement and soon started chiming in to tear me down.

"Tiffany's been sneaky ever since she was little. If Eleanor hadn't insisted on teaching her to be an honest person, who knows how far off the rails she would've gone by now?"

"Exactly. Parents are never in the wrong. Imagine blowing up at your own mother like that, and on top of it, expecting her to lie and say nice things about you. What kind of nonsense is that?"

"Poor Eleanor. All she did was tell the truth, and Nicholas and Tiffany jumped down her throat for it. The nerve of them."

Aunt Barbara even took me by the hand and said with great earnestness, "Your mother has been honest ever since she was a child. She never lies. What this world needs more of is straightforward people like her.

"You should learn from your mother, okay? Look at me—when your mother tells me the truth, I never get upset. Having someone like that in your life is a blessing. Tiffany, you really ought to cherish that."

I tilted my head and stared at Aunt Barbara for a few seconds before saying, "Is that so? Well then, Aunt Barbara, Mom says you're a total mooch. Every time you come to our house, you practically clean out the fridge, like some kind of beggar. Is that true?"