Todos los capítulos de The LV Bag and the Missing Exam Pass: Capítulo 1 - Capítulo 10

"Paige." Mom's voice cut through my thoughts. She held out her phone. On the screen was a job listing for a snack shop."It's still a few months before you can sign up for test prep, and you've got nothing to do at home anyway. You might as well go pick up a part-time job." Her tone was casual, as though she were talking about the most ordinary thing in the world."Sofia got into college, and she'll need tuition, spending money, all of that. The expenses are only going to pile up. You're her big sister. The least you can do is start saving up some living expenses for her."I already asked around for you. The manager said you can show up and start tomorrow."I had to save up for my sister's living expenses?I stared at the meager daily wage on the screen, my fingertips tightening around the phone. The sharp edges of the exam pass dug into my palm, but even that pain did not come close to a fraction of what I felt in my chest.I looked up. My gaze landed on the flashy LV bag hang

"How about we let Paige come along on Sofia's grad trip in a couple of days? Think of it as making it up to her."I held my breath and waited for Mom's response.Her voice, dripping with indifference and self-righteousness, shattered every last illusion I had."What do you mean, 'wasn't right'? I'm her mother. Everything I do is for this family."Her voice carried a note of contempt."Paige has never been affectionate. She's always been closed off and never says a word. It's like pulling teeth trying to get a word out of her. She's antisocial and doesn't fit in with this family at all."Sofia's nothing like that. She's cheerful every single day, our little ray of sunshine. She's the one who keeps us happy. You know how nervous Sofia was during the exam. She could barely sleep. Her nerves were a wreck."You know how Sofia is. If Paige had ended up scoring higher, she would've been devastated. She might have never bounced back. What I did, I did for Sofia's sake… For this family's

The noise in the private room had not yet died down. The chandelier cast its light across every face in the room, illuminating the shock, the confusion, and the disbelief in sharp, unforgiving detail.Mr. Brooks' single remark landed like a boulder dropped into still water, and the festive atmosphere of the celebration dinner shattered in an instant.The sweet smile on Sofia's face froze at the corners of her mouth. Her fingers clenched around the strap of her LV bag until her knuckles went white, and a flash of panic darted through her eyes, barely contained.She lowered her head on instinct and pretended to smooth out her skirt. She did not dare to meet the stares that had turned in her direction, and she certainly did not dare to look at me.The pride on Mom's face stiffened. Her lips were still curved upward, but her eyes had gone completely hollow.She stood rooted to the spot, as though she had not understood what Mr. Brooks had said. It took her a long moment before she fou

"You're different. You're our pride and joy. How could you drop this far?"Mom chimed in right after, "Exactly! Your sister has no interest in studying. She never says a word. How could she possibly compare to you? Don't put yourself in the same category as her. Worry about your own grades!"As I hid in my tiny bedroom, it felt like an ice-cold hand had closed around my heart and was squeezing until I could not breathe. They did not know that the grades they had dismissed as worthless belonged to the 12th-ranked student in the entire class.They did not know that I woke up at five every morning to study and was still doing practice problems at midnight.They did not know that to keep my grades at the top, I had given up every form of entertainment and poured everything I had into schoolwork.Just because I did not talk about it did not mean I was not working hard. Just because I was quiet did not mean my grades were bad.That night, I cried under my blanket for a long time, until

Dad scowled and snapped, "Enough! Stop fighting! What good does arguing do?"He turned to me, trying to assume the air of the head of the household, his tone dismissive."Paige, what's done is done. Your mother was wrong to do what she did. But it's not like you lost anything. You still got into Glenmore University, so let's put this behind us. It's over. Nobody will bring it up again."Put it behind us? I almost laughed at the absurdity. I shook my head slowly. "That's not going to happen."My voice was quiet, but there was nothing uncertain about it. "If I hadn't gotten into Glenmore University, that hidden exam pass would have cost me the exam, and my entire future would've been destroyed."You think saying 'let's move on' is enough to erase 18 years of being treated like I didn't matter? You think that cancels out everything you've done to me? You made me work part-time jobs so I could save up for Sofia's spending and vacation money."All you ever cared about was how she felt