Chapter 2

Mom's voice trembled with tears, but it only fueled the rage building inside me.

I couldn't hold back any longer and yelled, "Yes, Uncle Terry helped us! But how much did you give his family when Dad was alive? You handed them all the money Dad worked so hard for, so they could buy houses and cars!

"When I had that fever, yes, he covered the bills, but then he turned around and told everyone that you were holding him back. In the end, you felt indebted to him, so you paid him back ten times over!

"He didn't get that job transfer because he didn't have the skills! He failed the assessment! But he came back and made you feel guilty by telling you it was to take care of us. He just wanted you to think you're indebted to him for life!"

I roared it all in one breath. Each word was like a blade, slicing through the hypocrisy wrapped in "familial love".

Mom froze and stared at me in disbelief.

Tears flooded my face, and I cried out, "Mom, if you feel like you owe him, then pay him back yourself! Why do I have to be dragged into this? Why do you have to use my future and happiness to pay your debt?"

I suddenly turned to Melanie.

"And you, Melanie Johnson!" I pointed at her with a trembling finger.

"You only get a few days off each month, and you always make excuses not to be with me. Do you think I don't know Mom has been secretly setting you up with Wilson? And you think you have the right to decide which college I should go to?"

As soon as I said that, the room fell dead silent.

Mom clutched her chest. Her lips quivered, but the words simply wouldn't come.

I could see the guilt flash across Melanie's eyes.

Suddenly, Wilson dropped to his knees in front of me.

"Charlie! I'm sorry! It's all my fault!" He cried out while banging his head on the floor.

"I shouldn't have come to bother you! I'll leave right now! I'll never come back! Please, just stop arguing. It's all my fault…"

He seemed like he'd been wronged beyond measure, as he was lying on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Wilson!"

Melanie lunged forward to steady him, but Wilson suddenly clutched his chest and coughed violently. His face turned deathly pale.

She snapped her head up and glared at me. The guilt in her eyes was instantly replaced by a blinding fury.

She marched right up to me and raised her hand.

I met her gaze without flinching and spoke calmly. "Melanie, if you slap me, it's over between us."

Her hand froze in midair, as if she were paralyzed by the emptiness in my eyes.

The next second, Wilson's coughing intensified, followed by the agonizing sound of him retching.

The last shred of hesitation disappeared from Melanie's face.

"You're impossible!" she snarled, and her hand came crashing down.

It was harder and louder than Mom's slap.

The force sent me stumbling backward, and I crashed into the edge of the dining table. A sharp pain shot through my side, and a metallic taste flooded my mouth.

Wilson immediately grabbed Melanie while crying. "Melanie, I-I'm fine. Don't blame Charlie."

She pulled him into her arms, her face full of pain. "He's done this to you, and you're still defending him? You're too kind."

Mom shot me a vicious glare. "Charlie, get on your knees and apologize to Wilson!"

I let out a bitter laugh and gave one last look at the "family of three" huddled together.

All the feelings I had left for them died at that moment.

Stumbling to my feet, I ran out of the suffocating house.

I ended up sitting by the sea for what felt like forever.

I pulled out my phone and found a message Melanie had sent me six months ago.