All Chapters of Counting Pennies, Losing Daughters: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

8 Chapters

Chapter 1

I zoomed in on the photo.My father, Justin Lambert, was in the corner while holding up a lightstick. My mother, Bella Whitfield, was hugging my sister, Hannah Lambert.Their smiles were blinding.I stared at the photo, and my fingers trembled as I gripped the medical bill.The nurse rapped her knuckles on the table and asked, "Are you going to pay the bill, miss?"My phone vibrated again. Hannah had just sent a message to me."Mom told me that you're pretending to be sick again to ask for money, Helena. Can you be a little more mature? Mom and Dad work really hard to earn money."I stared at the screen before calling Dad. It rang for a long time before he finally picked up. I could hear the deafening cheers from the concert in the background."I'm in the hospital, Dad," I said. "I need 300 dollars to pay the medical bill.""Why are you in the hospital, Lena?" he asked, sounding guilty."I passed out from malnutrition.""Why didn't you take better care of yourself—"Mom's p

Chapter 2

Just then, the group chat for the concert's part-time workers was flooded with photos of Hannah at the concert."I'm so jealous! She's Charlie Carter's superfan. She's never missed any of his concerts, and she always gets insider tickets somehow!"Hannah and I were living completely different lives.Most of the part-time workers in the group chat were Charlie's fans.Someone else replied, "I know her! Her name's Hannah Lambert. She's my roommate, and she's an actual heiress of a wealthy family. She gets around 10,000 dollars for her allowance every month. The skincare essence that she uses costs more than 1,000 dollars per bottle."She never wears the same clothes twice, and she always treats us to meals. Oh, that's right. The last time she went on a vacation out of the country, she bought presents for all her classmates."She never has to buy her own daily necessities. Her mother prepares everything for her beforehand. Hannah also calls Mrs. Lambert and talks to her for hours ev

Chapter 3

Termination of a family contract required both parties to be present while a staff member conducted an in-person assessment of the situation.After I received my salary from my part-time job, I bought a ticket and went home, only to find out that my family had changed the door's password without informing me.I stood outside the door for a moment before lowering my head and letting out a low chuckle. When I punched in Hannah's birthday, the door unlocked with a beep.Mom, Dad, and Hannah were looking through the concert merchandise when I entered the house. The floor was covered with lightsticks, banners, and photos.Mom's expression darkened when she saw me. "Finally crawling back home, are you?""Have you eaten, Lena?" Dad asked awkwardly.I didn't bother answering him.Mom scoffed and said, "It's pointless to ask her such a question. She's not the type of person to let herself go hungry."She scrutinized me before continuing, "Why are you still dressed so unfashionably even

Chapter 4

Infuriated, Mom hurled the shopping bag to the floor and slapped me hard across the face. "How dare you try to cut ties with us over something so petty? You just hate seeing Hannah happy, don't you? Why on earth did I give birth to someone as despicable as you?"I covered my face as tears rolled down my cheeks.Meanwhile, Dad smiled at Sarah and said, "I'm sorry. She's making a fuss because she's still immature. She'll be renewing her family contract as usual.""We've always respected the child's wishes," Sarah explained professionally. "She has the right to terminate the contract if she doesn't want to renew it and find another set of parents she likes."Hannah pursed her lips. "We're a real, biological family, Helena," she said, fanning the flames even more. "Would you rather take care of a pair of unfamiliar, old geezers? What about Mom and Dad? If word gets out, our family will turn into a laughingstock."Dad nodded and chimed in, "Hannah's right. We didn't abuse her. She's

Chapter 5

Mom seemed to be oblivious to the way Giselle Thompson's eyes flashed. She grabbed Hannah and pulled her forward to show her off, boasting, "This is my youngest daughter. She's pretty, obedient, and well-behaved. She's much better than Helena."She burst into laughter before continuing, "I bet you're regretting your decision to adopt Helena now, huh?""I finally understand why your daughter wants to cut ties with you, Ms. Whitfield," Giselle said calmly. "You're an adult, and yet you're belittling your own daughter to feed your own sense of superiority. Your life must be a colossal failure if you find the need to behave this way."Mom's face immediately turned a ruddy red.Kevin Cooper helped load my suitcases into the trunk.I watched Mom furiously stomp her feet on the ground before the car drove away, ranting about me being a wretched traitor who didn't know how to appreciate what I had.Giselle led me to a bedroom after we arrived at their house. It was clean and bathed in a

Chapter 6

Mom sent a message to me when Monday rolled around.They had found a tumor growing in Dad's stomach, but fortunately, it was benign. They didn't dare tell me until the surgery was over.I immediately applied for a leave of absence. I then bought a ticket and rushed to the hospital.When I stepped into the ward, carrying a fruit basket and some supplements, I bumped into Bella, who was taking care of Justin.Bella's eyes flashed when she spotted me, and she immediately began cursing me out. "Didn't you say you weren't coming back? What are you doing here? "Don't think for even a second that I'll forgive you just because you brought those cheap things with you. We don't need them. Get out of my sight right now. I feel annoyed just looking at you."Although Bella was telling me to leave, her hands were already reflexively reaching for the bags I was holding.Meanwhile, wrinkles lined Justin's face as he smiled at me. "I told you that Lena still considers me to be her father. Hurry

Chapter 7

Later, I graduated with honors and was accepted into graduate school.Mom and Dad were floating on cloud nine on the day of my graduation ceremony. Mom handed a large bouquet of fresh flowers to me while Dad took up the role of photographer, snapping hundreds of pictures."You're officially part of society now, but you have nothing to be afraid of. We'll always support you. Congratulations on graduating!"When I left the campus to handle some business, I spotted Bella kneeling at one of the entrances. Tears streamed down her face as she spoke.Meanwhile, Justin was grabbing a fistful of Hannah's hair. Hannah's face had turned completely swollen from the number of times he slapped her.Bella was clutching a school administrator's leg as she blubbered, "Please give Hannah another chance! She won't do it again! All the time she spent in university in the last few years will completely go down the drain if she gets expelled now! I'm begging you. Please give her one more chance!"It t

Chapter 8

I managed to secure a good job after I completed my graduate program. I worked extremely hard and even learned how to create my own content. After I saved enough money, I bought a house and asked Mom and Dad to move in with me, so we could enjoy a good life together.On New Year's Eve, we were about to have dinner when I heard someone knocking on the door.I opened the door to see Justin and Bella standing outside.It had been years since I last saw them. They looked decades older than their actual ages.Justin was hunching forward quite badly. He was carrying several big bags.Meanwhile, Bella shoved an envelope into my hands and smiled at me amicably. "Happy New Year, Lena! Here, I prepared some money for you. It doesn't mean anything. We just wanted to see you.""I'm doing fine," I said calmly. "You can leave now if there's nothing else."Bella became flustered when I returned the envelope to her. "You were always asking for money from me, Lena. I specifically prepared this f

SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP