جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 9

I was young then, and Dad's words scared me into believing I'd have no money for school if I weren't careful. So I wore that torn puffer jacket through the entire winter, surviving on nothing but sheer stubbornness. My hands broke out in chilblains so bad that even holding a pen sent a stabbing pain through them.The memory brought a wave of angry betrayal flooding through me. I pulled out my phone and called Mom.The phone rang for a long time with no answer. At that moment, I recalled something.A week ago, Mom and Dad had left on a trip overseas with Joseph. They'd deliberately chosen to leave on the day Grandma called me over to help her clean, just so I wouldn't tag along. The three of them were probably having the time of their lives right about now.I called three more times before Mom finally picked up."What is it now?" Mom's voice carried a thin edge of irritation."Mom," I said, fighting to keep the trembling and the tears out of my voice, "I went to the bank and che

The room erupted into murmurs, and every relative turned to stare at me with open contempt."My God, he blew through 100,000 dollars? He looks so well-behaved, but he's rotten to the core!""So what if he got into a good school? With character like that, who'd ever trust him with anything?"I was shaking with anger as I shouted, "I didn't! There was never any money on that card! It was empty the whole time!""Enough!" Mom slammed her hand on the table."You do something wrong, then have the nerve to lie about it? How did this family raise such a shameless bastard?"Joseph stood up and walked over to me, putting on the act of a concerned older brother. "Come on, just stop making Mom and Dad angry."They worked really hard to save that 100,000 dollars, and you burned through every cent. Can you blame them for being upset?"Besides, you've never worked a day in your life. You're probably just getting in the boss' way."As he spoke, he stepped in close, blocking most of the relati

For the rest of that month, I found a new job that came with meals and a place to sleep, and moved out of the house for good. When the semester started, I showed up to campus alone.In this fresh environment, I threw myself into learning as if my life depended on it. I applied for the university's work-study program, picked up weekend tutoring gigs, and filled every spare hour I had. By the end of freshman year, I'd ranked first in my major and earned an 8,000-dollar national scholarship.By the fall of junior year, my academic record was strong enough to land me an internship offer at one of the top investment banks in the city's financial district, a spot they rarely gave to someone who hadn't graduated yet.With the money I'd earned on my own, I bought a proper suit and finally replaced those glued-together canvas shoes.During all of this, nobody from my family called me once. But I didn't care.It wasn't until a conversation with a friend that I found out what had been happ

The news of Joseph's arrest traveled back home fast.The next morning, I'd barely arrived at the office when the front desk called up. Mom and Dad had taken an overnight bus to the city and were waiting for me in the lobby.I almost didn't recognize them. It had been three years since I last saw them, after all.Mom's back was completely hunched now, and her hair had gone gray. Dad's eyes were sunken into his face, his clothes were wrinkled, and his expression was panicked.When they saw me walk over, the air of superiority they'd always carried was gone. They stood there fidgeting, rubbing their hands together like they didn't know what to do with them."Simon…" Dad spoke first, his voice so hoarse it barely came out.I stopped two steps away from them, my tone flat as I said, "If you're here to ask me to drop the charges against Joseph, don't bother."He's 22 years old. He's legally responsible for his own actions."The moment she heard that, Mom broke down completely. She dr