All Chapters of The Fairness I Never Got: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

I walked home alone through the pouring rain. By the time I reached the house, I was soaked through. The moment I stepped inside, my phone buzzed. My mom had tagged me in the family group chat, asking what I planned to do about meals while I was home alone for the next few days. For one ridiculous second, warmth spread through my chest. My eyes even started to sting. I thought maybe she actually remembered me. Before I could type a reply, another message appeared. 'Don't touch anything in the fridge. Everything in there belongs to your brother and sister. We divided it evenly between them, so if you take anything, you'll ruin the balance.' The warmth vanished instantly. That same question I had carried with me for as long as I could remember surfaced again. 'What about me?' I did not type it. I had already asked that question too many times. No one had ever cared enough to answer. Instead, I replied with two simple words, 'Got it.' Sometimes, it felt like ev

Kendra loved the award. The moment the trophy was in her hands, she flooded social media with photos of it. Naturally, Xander could not stand letting her enjoy the attention by herself for long. He insisted on having his own celebration. My parents eventually came up with what they considered the fairest solution. They would throw one party for both of them. The problem was the date they chose. It was supposed to be my twentieth birthday. I had been looking forward to that day for more than six months. I had even checked everyone's schedules in advance because I wanted the whole family to be there. All the plans I had made suddenly felt stupid. So did everything I had imagined. … At the hotel banquet hall, my parents spoke to me more gently than usual. "We can celebrate your birthday another day. If we don't do this for Xander and Kendra now, they'll only start arguing again." My mom gave me a look as though she expected me to understand. "You know how competiti

After what happened at the celebration, several relatives pulled my parents aside and told them they had been far too obvious about favoring Xander and Kendra. My mom was embarrassed. Instead of considering whether they might be right, she blamed me for putting her in that position. Standing in the hallway, she deliberately raised her voice so I could supposedly hear her from the storage room. "From now on, no one in this family is allowed to speak to her until she admits what she did wrong and apologizes to all of us." For the next several days, everyone avoided the storage room completely. No one knocked on the door, came to check on me, or even bothered to ask whether I was okay. As the days passed, though, the silence behind that door became harder to ignore. There was no movement. Not a single sound came from inside. Eventually, even my mom started to feel uneasy. One evening, she pulled my dad aside. "Why is she being so stubborn? All we want is an apology. We'r

Without warning, Xander collapsed. My parents rushed him to the hospital. After several rounds of tests, the doctor returned with a grim expression. "His kidneys are failing quickly. We need to test his immediate family for compatibility as soon as possible. If we find a suitable donor, he may need a transplant." The word "transplant" had barely left the doctor's mouth when all the color disappeared from Kendra's face. She immediately backed away, shaking her head. "No. I'm not doing it." The doctor looked at her seriously. "You're his twin sister, which means there's a possibility you could be a good match. His condition is critical. We shouldn't delay the testing." My mom was already beside herself with worry. She reached for Kendra's hand, trying to reassure her, "Sweetheart, he's your brother. We're only asking you to get tested." Kendra yanked her hand away. "Why should I? Why should I have to give him one of my kidneys? That's not fair!" Her voice echoed through t

After the call ended, I went over everything again in my head. No matter how many times I thought about it, one thing still bothered me. That night, I sat down and reviewed all the expenses I could recall from my years at home. Food, clothes, school supplies, transportation—everything my parents had ever spent on me was documented in the spreadsheet. By the time I finished, I almost laughed at the number staring back at me. Fifty thousand dollars. That was it. I unblocked my family, opened the group chat, and sent them the spreadsheet. My mom responded first, 'Wren, why are you suddenly adding all of this up?' My dad's message appeared almost right after hers. 'There's no way we only spent fifty thousand dollars on you.' I stared at the screen for a few seconds before replying, 'I learned it from you.' Another message followed. 'You've been keeping score for as long as I can remember. Everything in this family was split into two equal shares. One belonged to Xande