They Don't Know What They Have Lost

The lively private room suddenly fell completely silent.

My dad, Julian Stevenson, continued talking on the phone, "Lydia, we hate lazy people who do nothing but sit around. Go find yourself a new job."

My mom, Stella Stevenson, quickly added in a louder voice, "Whether you wash dishes or sweep the streets, you have to give us money for household expenses. Otherwise, don't bother coming home."

I finished my drink and calmly said, "That's enough. I'm hanging up."

My coworkers exchanged awkward smiles and quickly tried to smooth things over.

"If your parents knew you're officially becoming the general manager of the branch next month, they'd be so proud of you!"

"Today's just a joke. Let's not bring it up again. Come on, everyone, let's raise a glass to Ms. Stevenson and celebrate her promotion!"

I pretended nothing had happened and continued eating with everyone, but my smile was obviously forced.

My younger sister, Iris Stevenson, had quit her job and gone home last week, but Julian and Stella hadn't treated her like this at all.

Iris had graduated only three months ago, yet she'd already gone through five jobs.

Her latest job was one I'd begged around and called in favors to get for her.

I had even promised to secretly give her 3,000 dollars a month to help with her rent so she could live closer to work.

But Iris quit just because she didn't want to get up early.

When I heard the news, I was so angry that I went home to confront her.

Seeing her completely careless expression, I snapped. "You worked there for 18 days, but you were late 15 times! Everyone else clocked in at 9 a.m., but you didn't show up until after 2 p.m. And you still have the nerve to say you had to get up early? I'm never helping you find another job again!"

Iris immediately hid behind Stella and complained with a pout, "Mom, Lydia is being so mean! Our family isn't short of my paycheck. Why does she have to make such a big deal out of this?"

Stella pursed her lips and frowned at me. "Iris is still young. As her older sister, can't you be a little more patient with her?"

Julian slammed his hand on the table and said, "Enough! Stop fighting. It's not like our family can't afford to support Iris!"

The very next day after our argument, Iris posted a picture of a new apartment on social media and happily tagged Julian and Stella. "Thank you, Dad and Mom, for paying for my new home in full. Even someone as useless as me can have a house now!"

I saw the post while I was fixing an old, leaking pipe in one of my rental properties. Drops of water mixed with rust fell onto the back of my hand.

I couldn't stop myself from calling Julian and Stella. "Dad, Mom, when I wanted to borrow 150,000 dollars from you for a down payment six years ago, didn't you say you didn't have any money?"

They seemed to be out shopping for furniture with Iris at the time, so they impatiently replied, "Why are you still bringing up something that happened years ago?"

I was speechless.

Six years ago, when I asked to borrow 150,000 dollars for a down payment, they said they had no money.

Yet now, they could afford to pay 1,500,000 dollars in full for a luxury apartment.

Because I understood that they were getting older, I'd given them money for household expenses every month for the past six years. Sometimes, I even bought them expensive gifts.

It made me wonder just how much of that money they'd given to Iris.

As I thought about it, the alcohol finally began to take effect, and a dull pain pressed against my chest.

I made an excuse that I'd had too much to drink and took a cab home.