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The LV Bag and the Missing Exam Pass

The LV Bag and the Missing Exam Pass

By:  Pumpkin ScoopCompleted
Language: English
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11Chapters
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Feel-Good Story

Familial Bond

Bias

Family Emotions

Remorse Family

Biological Family

After the college entrance exam, my mom gave my twin sister an LV bag as a coming-of-age gift. What she handed me was the exam pass I had lost on test day. "Paige, sweetie, I found your exam pass last night. It was under the couch. I know you couldn't take the college entrance exam this year, but don't let it get to you. Keep this as a little reminder to be more careful when you retake them next year." The exam pass gave off a faint scent. It was the kind that only came from the sachets hanging in my mom's closet. When I did not reach for it, she said, "Why won't you take it? Don't worry. Once you retake the exams next year and get into a good school, I'll buy you a bag too." I let out a dry laugh. Retake the exams? What my mom did not know was that I had already received a guaranteed spot at Glenmore University. I had only planned to sit for the exam because I was afraid my sister would fall apart if she found out, and I wanted to go through the motions with her. If she had hidden my exam pass to destroy my future, then this so-called family bond was not something I wanted to hold on to anymore.

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Chapter 1

Chapter 1

A faint warmth spread across my palm, carrying the barely-there scent of the sachet.

I looked down. The exam pass I thought I had lost for good was already in my hand. Mom had forced it there. The edges had been rubbed smooth. This was not something that had just been pulled out from under a couch.

Mom did not spare me so much as a glance. She reached for the serving spoon, scooped up a braised short rib that had been stewed until tender, and set it in front of my sister, Sofia Summers.

"Eat up, Sofia. You worked so hard through the college entrance exam. I braised these ribs just for you."

The warmth in her voice, the tenderness and the devotion… They were things I had never once heard her direct at me.

Sofia sat across from me in a brand-new dress. The new LV bag rested on the chair beside her. She was beaming, her smile sweet and picture-perfect. She picked up her fork, took a small bite of rib, and spoke in that honeyed voice of hers.

"Thanks, Mom. You're the best."

Then she looked up at me. There was concern on her face, and her tone was breezy, almost entitled. "Don't be upset, Paige. So you couldn't take the exam. It's just one more year. You'll definitely get in next time."

Before I could say a word, Dad dropped a piece of roast pork onto my plate. "Enough. It's not like anyone's stopping you from retaking them. Who's that long face for?"

The pork glistened with grease. It was Sofia's favorite kind, more fat than lean, and the oiliness alone turned my stomach.

His voice carried a thread of impatience. "You're the one who didn't keep your exam pass safe. Who else is there to blame? You've got no one to point the finger at but yourself. You're a grown adult. The exam is one of the biggest moments of your life, and you still managed to screw it up. It's embarrassing just talking about it."

The accusations landed without a shred of mercy.

The roast pork on my plate gave off its greasy aroma, but all I could taste was bitterness. Was it really my fault?

The night before the college entrance exam, I had carefully placed my exam pass into the innermost pocket of my pencil case. I had checked three times, making sure nothing was missing, before I went to bed.

Yet the next morning, the pocket was empty. The exam pass had vanished. My heart had dropped, and I blamed myself for being so careless.

If I had not already been guaranteed my spot, missing the college entrance exam over something that stupid would have ruined my life.

I gripped the exam pass in my palm. It carried the unmistakable scent of the sachets from Mom's closet. Every last trace of guilt and self-blame evaporated in an instant, and all that remained was a chill that cut straight to the bone.

It had not been my carelessness. It had not been my failure to keep it safe.

My own mother had hidden my exam pass and single-handedly destroyed my chance to take the college entrance exam.

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11 Chapters
Chapter 1
A faint warmth spread across my palm, carrying the barely-there scent of the sachet.I looked down. The exam pass I thought I had lost for good was already in my hand. Mom had forced it there. The edges had been rubbed smooth. This was not something that had just been pulled out from under a couch.Mom did not spare me so much as a glance. She reached for the serving spoon, scooped up a braised short rib that had been stewed until tender, and set it in front of my sister, Sofia Summers."Eat up, Sofia. You worked so hard through the college entrance exam. I braised these ribs just for you."The warmth in her voice, the tenderness and the devotion… They were things I had never once heard her direct at me.Sofia sat across from me in a brand-new dress. The new LV bag rested on the chair beside her. She was beaming, her smile sweet and picture-perfect. She picked up her fork, took a small bite of rib, and spoke in that honeyed voice of hers."Thanks, Mom. You're the best."Then she
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Chapter 2
"Paige." Mom's voice cut through my thoughts. She held out her phone. On the screen was a job listing for a snack shop."It's still a few months before you can sign up for test prep, and you've got nothing to do at home anyway. You might as well go pick up a part-time job." Her tone was casual, as though she were talking about the most ordinary thing in the world."Sofia got into college, and she'll need tuition, spending money, all of that. The expenses are only going to pile up. You're her big sister. The least you can do is start saving up some living expenses for her."I already asked around for you. The manager said you can show up and start tomorrow."I had to save up for my sister's living expenses?I stared at the meager daily wage on the screen, my fingertips tightening around the phone. The sharp edges of the exam pass dug into my palm, but even that pain did not come close to a fraction of what I felt in my chest.I looked up. My gaze landed on the flashy LV bag hang
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Chapter 3
In my parents' minds, favoritism had long since become second nature.The moment Mom heard my answer, she broke into a satisfied smile, as though a major problem had just been resolved. Dad stayed silent and pushed food around his plate, indifferent to all of it.Sofia, meanwhile, fiddled with her new bag even more proudly. The grin on her face was impossible to hide.I stood up and went to the bathroom. I shut the door and looked at the pale face staring back at me in the mirror. I had lived in this house for 18 years, but I had never been anything more than an outsider.I studied hard. I pushed myself to be the best. I thought that if I just tried hard enough, I would earn a scrap of attention, a scrap of love.I was wrong. Some things could not be earned no matter how hard you tried.I had barely stepped out of the bathroom when I heard Sofia's wheedling voice."Mom, a bunch of kids in my class are planning grad trips. Becca and her friends are going to the beach, and Taylor'
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Chapter 4
"How about we let Paige come along on Sofia's grad trip in a couple of days? Think of it as making it up to her."I held my breath and waited for Mom's response.Her voice, dripping with indifference and self-righteousness, shattered every last illusion I had."What do you mean, 'wasn't right'? I'm her mother. Everything I do is for this family."Her voice carried a note of contempt."Paige has never been affectionate. She's always been closed off and never says a word. It's like pulling teeth trying to get a word out of her. She's antisocial and doesn't fit in with this family at all."Sofia's nothing like that. She's cheerful every single day, our little ray of sunshine. She's the one who keeps us happy. You know how nervous Sofia was during the exam. She could barely sleep. Her nerves were a wreck."You know how Sofia is. If Paige had ended up scoring higher, she would've been devastated. She might have never bounced back. What I did, I did for Sofia's sake… For this family's
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Chapter 5
"Paige, your sister's scores are in. We're taking the family and her teachers out to dinner tonight. Put on something nice. Don't go out looking so plain."Mom glanced at my white T-shirt and jeans and frowned, but she did not say anything else before turning around to keep making arrangements.At 4:00 pm, Sofia emerged from her room looking like she had stepped out of a magazine. She wore a brand-new floral dress, and her hair had been styled with care.Light makeup brightened her face, and the new LV bag was slung across her shoulder. She looked every bit the radiant young woman."Paige, why haven't you changed yet?" She looked me over with obvious displeasure."I'm about to," I said.I went back to my room and pulled a slightly worn blue dress from the closet. It was the only new piece of clothing Mom had bought me last year, and only because Sofia had decided blue made her look older and did not want it.I put on the dress and looked at myself in the mirror. My face was pale
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Chapter 6
The noise in the private room had not yet died down. The chandelier cast its light across every face in the room, illuminating the shock, the confusion, and the disbelief in sharp, unforgiving detail.Mr. Brooks' single remark landed like a boulder dropped into still water, and the festive atmosphere of the celebration dinner shattered in an instant.The sweet smile on Sofia's face froze at the corners of her mouth. Her fingers clenched around the strap of her LV bag until her knuckles went white, and a flash of panic darted through her eyes, barely contained.She lowered her head on instinct and pretended to smooth out her skirt. She did not dare to meet the stares that had turned in her direction, and she certainly did not dare to look at me.The pride on Mom's face stiffened. Her lips were still curved upward, but her eyes had gone completely hollow.She stood rooted to the spot, as though she had not understood what Mr. Brooks had said. It took her a long moment before she fou
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Chapter 7
"It's just that Paige is so reserved. She never likes to make a fuss. She never really told us the details about her admission, so we were caught off guard just now. Please forgive the confusion!"The relatives nodded along, smoothing things over with comments like, "It's a good thing she's humble," and "Still waters run deep."Whether any of them actually believed it, or whether they were quietly judging behind polite smiles, was something only they would know.More than a few of them glanced at my parents with something subtle in their eyes.They had twin daughters, one with guaranteed admission to Glenmore and the other accepted to a regular university, yet it was the latter who received a full-blown celebration dinner.The family knew nothing about the former and treated the latter like a treasure. The favoritism could not have been more obvious.Sofia kept her head down the entire time, not saying a word. Her shoulders were rigid, and she looked like she wanted the floor to
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Chapter 8
"You're different. You're our pride and joy. How could you drop this far?"Mom chimed in right after, "Exactly! Your sister has no interest in studying. She never says a word. How could she possibly compare to you? Don't put yourself in the same category as her. Worry about your own grades!"As I hid in my tiny bedroom, it felt like an ice-cold hand had closed around my heart and was squeezing until I could not breathe. They did not know that the grades they had dismissed as worthless belonged to the 12th-ranked student in the entire class.They did not know that I woke up at five every morning to study and was still doing practice problems at midnight.They did not know that to keep my grades at the top, I had given up every form of entertainment and poured everything I had into schoolwork.Just because I did not talk about it did not mean I was not working hard. Just because I was quiet did not mean my grades were bad.That night, I cried under my blanket for a long time, until
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Chapter 9
"All because you're afraid I'll outshine Sofia. Because you're afraid she'll lose her nerve. Because you're afraid she'll be unhappy!"That ripped away the last shred of pretense.Mom's face went white. Her eyes darted in a panic, and she lashed out. "What are you talking about? Hiding your exam pass? You lost that thing yourself! We found it under the couch! Don't you dare throw around accusations like that!""Exactly!" Sofia lifted her head immediately. Her eyes were rimmed with red, and she looked to be the picture of wounded innocence. "You lost your exam pass on your own. Mom was kind enough to find it for you. How could you blame her for something like this?"Watching the two of them play off each other like a rehearsed act made my stomach turn."Blame her?"I let out a quiet laugh and held up my open palm, as though the exam pass with its telltale sachet scent were still resting there."That exam pass reeked of the sachets from Mom's closet. The edges had been rubbed smoo
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Chapter 10
Dad scowled and snapped, "Enough! Stop fighting! What good does arguing do?"He turned to me, trying to assume the air of the head of the household, his tone dismissive."Paige, what's done is done. Your mother was wrong to do what she did. But it's not like you lost anything. You still got into Glenmore University, so let's put this behind us. It's over. Nobody will bring it up again."Put it behind us? I almost laughed at the absurdity. I shook my head slowly. "That's not going to happen."My voice was quiet, but there was nothing uncertain about it. "If I hadn't gotten into Glenmore University, that hidden exam pass would have cost me the exam, and my entire future would've been destroyed."You think saying 'let's move on' is enough to erase 18 years of being treated like I didn't matter? You think that cancels out everything you've done to me? You made me work part-time jobs so I could save up for Sofia's spending and vacation money."All you ever cared about was how she felt
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