Chapter 2

The next day, as I packed my luggage, it finally hit me—their favor had never truly belonged to me.

The limited-edition handbag Josh gifted me had a tiny name embroidered in the corner: “Mia”.

The expensive collectible figure from Samuel had a fine crack along the bottom of the display box.

It came back to me then. Mia had casually complained about it when she unboxed it. Later, it somehow mysteriously found its way into my room.

Ethan’s gift trumped all with its irony: an extraordinarily expensive, high-end sound system. Too bad I couldn’t make out the quality anyway.

Sitting on the cold floor, I let my mind drift down memory’s lane.

Back then, before buying a new car, they always asked Mia for her preference. Pink, white, metallic—whatever caught her fancy.

One time I was running a high fever and told Mom, only to get a dismissive response from her. “Save that for later. We gotta help Mia pick out a car first.”

So I had to press a cold towel against my own forehead, burning up in the middle of the night, too weak to even hold steady a glass of water.

Later, after I nearly drowned and lost my hearing, they suddenly started piling gifts in front of me: designer bags, pretty dresses, fine jewelry.

During those years, I had even foolishly thought to myself that losing my hearing in exchange for everyone’s undivided love wasn't such a terrible trade-off.

What an imbecile I was.

My phone buzzed. It was a reminder from the medical center—I needed to submit a physical health clearance for my volunteer teaching application.

When it was my turn, the physician looked up at me, freezing for a brief second.

“Elaine Lawrence?”

He flipped through my medical file and let out a heavy sigh.

“You poor kid... What a shame. If you had undergone hyperbaric oxygen therapy and nerve repair back then, you might still have your hearing now.”

I froze on the spot. “What nerve repair?”

Frowning, he turned to pull up my archive. Line after line of records jumped onto the glowing screen:

“Patient suffered sensorineural damage in both ears.

“Immediate hyperbaric oxygen and nerve repair therapy recommended.

“Family waived surgery and requested discharge.”

I stared at that final line for what felt like an eternity.

The physician stayed quiet for a moment before starting again. “At the time, your little sister complained of dizziness and shortness of breath outside the emergency room.

“Your parents and brothers were worried sick. They rushed her to a specialist center overnight for tests. You were left here and transferred to a general ward.

“Later, the specialists concluded nothing was wrong with her—she was just in shock.”

The queue ticket in my fist was crushed into a crumpled ball of paper.

Because of a minor complaint of dizziness from Mia, they had thrown away my life.

I had no idea how I made it back home. When I pushed open the door, laughter drifted from the living room.

Mom was holding a bowl yogurt with mixed fruit, feeding Mia spoon by spoon.

“Easy, sweetheart, don’t make a mess on your dress.”

Dressed in her engagement gown, Mia stood in front of the full-length mirror, spinning around with a glowing smile. “Mom, how do I look?”

“Gorgeous. My girl looks stunning in anything.”

Ethan was sitting on the sofa nearby, strumming a melody on his guitar.

“Check out my new song, Mia. It’s my gift to you.”

Samuel chimed in from the side, teasing, “Look at Ethan playing favorites again!”

“Got a problem with that?”

“Well, not that there’s anything I can do. Mia’s the star of the show today.”

Brian was kneeling on the floor, gently smoothing out the hem of Mia’s gown.

She gazed down at him, asking softly, “Brian, does it really look good on me?”

I stood in the hallway, but nobody noticed me.

Mom was the first to glance in my direction, but then she noticed a smudge of yogurt on Mia’s lip and hurried to wipe it with a napkin.

I slipped the copied medical record into my pocket. There was no need for a confrontation.

To them, Mia’s slight discomfort was more pressing than my risk of lifelong disability.

Just then, Brian finally caught sight of me.

He stood up and walked toward me, raising his hands to sign:

“Don’t overthink it.

“Mia’s just trying on her engagement dress.

“We just want to keep her company.”

I threw him a look, then walked right past him to go back to my room, where I purchased a train ticket to the remote mountain village where I signed up to teach.

Outside, the family was laughing and fooling around together. Luckily, I'd never have to watch that scene again.