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Alle Kapitel von My Family Didn’t Value Me Until I Left Them Behind: Kapitel 1 – Kapitel 9

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Chapter 1

"Anna? Are you in there? Why are you sitting alone in your room instead of downstairs with everyone?" My mother, Lucia, stood in the doorway, looking at me gently."The Family elders will decide how the estate is divided. Don't overthink it. Whatever they decide will be fair."The moment I heard her voice, I closed the post and walked out.Lucia was still holding the bracelet Annie had wanted for ages. When she saw me, she smiled gently. "Don't worry. Even if the Family gives you less than your fair share, your father and I will make it up to you privately."Just then, Mr. Conti, the family office's lawyer, texted me. I had made an excellent impression on the Family elders, he said, and many of them were willing to vote for me.I glanced at it and turned off my phone."Okay."That was my answer.My father, Antonio, was looking through property listings with my younger sister, Annie."Annie, you'll be an adult soon and moving out. Do you want a place by the sea and another downtown?" An

Chapter 2

I sighed, went back to my room, and lay down on the bed.It had always been like this.When we played hide-and-seek, all I had to do was hide, and no one would ever come looking.I'd come out on my own after dark, only to find they had long since finished dinner.Nothing had changed.I glanced over at the photo beside me.In it I was still little, my father holding my hand, my mother smiling gently beside me, Marco standing behind me.I missed those days.I reached out and brushed my fingertips over Marco's face in the photograph.All of Sicily knew how much my brother had doted on me when I was small.He bought me anything and everything.If I casually mentioned wanting a strawberry cake I'd seen in a bakery window, it would appear outside my bedroom door the next morning.Once, my brother cared about me. But after Annie was born, their love for me dwindled until almost nothing remained.Annie was pretty, and she knew exactly how to charm people.Mom and Dad were only too happy to pou

Chapter 3

The words had barely left my mouth when Annie and the others got home.Annie came in first, my parents and Marco behind her.Behind them, bodyguards filed in loaded down with bags and boxes.Annie showed off in front of William. "William, isn't this bag gorgeous? It's the newest release. Daddy bought it as my coming-of-age gift."William nodded. "Everything looks good on you."Lucia walked over and handed me a bag stamped FREE GIFT. "Annie got something, so you get something too.""We've always been fair with you girls."I gave a helpless smile and took it.It was a promotional gift bag bearing the designer's logo."Thanks, Mom," I said evenly."See? Anna knows how to save money."Antonio settled onto the couch, chuckling. "Annie likes to dress up, so she needs new clothes and bags. Anna makes things easy. She doesn't care about any of that, and clothes look the same on her no matter what she wears. Saves us money."I stood there, staring at the words FREE GIFT on my bag, and said noth

Chapter 4

The day before the asset-division meeting, the living room was buried under stacks of Family documents.Annie twirled before the full-length mirror in an impeccably tailored gown.Lucia carefully straightened her collar from behind, while William produced an antique brooch and pinned it to Annie's lapel."Mom, is my gown pressed?"I walked to the couch and looked at the garment bags piled across it.Without turning her head, still smoothing Annie's cuffs, Lucia said offhandedly, "You never talk anyway. Just take the end seat at the table tomorrow and listen. No one will be paying attention to you."Marco came out of the study and spared me a glance. "Tomorrow is just hearing a result read out. You're not the main event. Don't make such a big thing of it.""Whatever you usually wear will do."I watched them all cluster around Annie.And as always, I smiled and nodded. "Okay."Late that night, I locked my bedroom door and packed the only thing I planned to take: the letter Grandma had le

Chapter 5

When the plane touched down, the sky was beginning to clear.The moment I turned my phone on, several messages popped up, along with two pictures.They were from Rosa, a clerk at the family office who had always been friendly with me."Anna! Something huge happened at the asset-division meeting!""Where are you? Several of the Family elders showed up!"I opened the first picture. It was the conference hall at the estate.The elders sat along both sides of the long table, and on the projection screen at the front, one line of text stood out:"Family Asset Division Plan."Then she sent me a video. I opened it and saw Annie in that tailored gown, seated beside Lucia, while Mr. Conti, the family office's lawyer, stood at the podium, speaking.Then one of the elders raised a hand. "A question. What of the other heir, Anna? Where does she stand on this?"Lucia stood up, a careless distaste in her voice."Our older daughter didn't come today. No idea where she's gone. We haven't been able to

Chapter 6

On the livestream, the lawyer's words left everyone in the room stunned.Lucia hurried over to him, forcing an awkward smile. "There must be some mistake. I know my own daughters. It must have been the younger one.""You may not realize it, but my older daughter is quite mediocre. When it comes to understanding these matters, she's nowhere near her sister."Mr. Conti's face went dark at that. "Are you questioning my professional competence?"With that, he pulled out a file and handed it straight to my mother. "These are the results of my investigation. See for yourself whether the signatures at the bottom belong to Annie or Anna.""By Family custom, the larger share of the assets goes to those with ability. Annie made no actual contribution, so her share will necessarily be smaller than Anna's."The room fell silent. Then whispers rippled through the crowd."Good God, Anna was behind all those projects? Then why did they keep saying Annie was the capable one?""Thank goodness there's p

Chapter 7

For the next four months, I didn't go looking for news of the Family.I rented an old apartment by the sea and worked days at a little cafe on the docks. On my days off I rode the town's rickety old bus south along the coastline, getting off wherever I pleased and catching the last bus back before dark.The sunshine there gave me a warmth I had never known.At the end of September, news from the Family finally arrived.The Family's lawyer had somehow tracked me down and mailed the asset documents straight to the town.The share the Family gave me was enormous: a fortune in cash, plus real estate and the management rights to shipping routes.Looking at those numbers, I knew I would never again have to live at my parents' mercy.I moved into one of the villas the Family had given me.My second week there, the housekeeper knocked on my door."Miss Vittoria, there's a post going around Family circles that mentions your name."I took the tablet she handed me.The poster was my mother.There

Chapter 8

The doors of the hall burst open.Lucia, Marco, Annie, and William marched straight up to the long table."Anna, how could you stay away from home all this time?"Lucia's eyes were rimmed red. She grabbed my hand, her voice loud enough for the entire hall to hear."I've waited every single day for you to come home. How could you shut me out over a few misunderstandings? After everything I've done for you all these years, have you forgotten it all?""Anna, I've missed you so much."The representatives of every family were watching me.I looked at my mother, remembered everything, and couldn't help laughing. "Missed me?"I spoke into the microphone, my voice carrying clearly through the hall."If you care about me so much, then why, on the day of the asset-division meeting, did you go to such lengths to secure Annie an extra share while you couldn't even be bothered to set out one decent dress for me?""I ran away from home and blocked every one of you for a full day and night. Not one o

Chapter 9

That very afternoon, in front of the Family's lawyer, I signed every asset the Family had given me over to my mother.When it was done, I walked out of the hall.A sudden downpour broke over Sicily.I opened my umbrella and was about to get into the car when I saw William standing at the foot of the steps.He was soaked through, nothing left of his usual easy confidence, his suit wrinkled and plastered to his body, his arms wrapped tight around a jewelry box he had kept dry.When he saw me, he rushed up, red-eyed, and stopped directly in front of me."Anna, this is my gift to you."He opened the box. On the velvet lining lay a pearl necklace.The pearls gave off a cold sheen through the curtain of rain.His voice was shaking. "Everything that happened was my fault. I forgot every promise I made you. I took everything you did for me for granted.""It wasn't until you left that I realized how badly I had treated you."I looked at the necklace in the box and smiled bitterly."William, I h

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