บททั้งหมดของ Weight Off My Shoulders: บทที่ 1 - บทที่ 9

Harvey suddenly came over and put an arm around my shoulders. "Come on, don't blame Liam. He'll get mad."Then he smiled at me, his eyes bright. "Liam, you lost all that weight and never even told me. You really do keep everything from me."I studied his face.It was strange. We were twins, but we looked nothing alike.I had a square face and narrow, upturned eyes. Losing weight also made me look a little more aloof.Harvey had a rounder face and a dimple in his cheek when he smiled. Everyone had called him cute since he was little.It was the same at school.We were in neighboring classes. I was picked on when school started because of my size.Yet Harvey was always the center of attention. He was known as the most popular guy around.During a lecture, someone asked him, "Hey, that overweight kid in the class next door shares your surname and is from the same town. Is he your brother?"Harvey raised his voice. "No way! We don't even look alike."I don't remember how I felt

Mom rolled her eyes and quickly changed the subject. "Janet finished her master's this year. She already has a job lined up at a geological research institute."Grandfather and Grandmother immediately smiled brightly."I knew Janet would do well. Good for her!""What about Harvey? Has he found a job?"Dad quickly replied, "He's got a great job lined up, too. He's just waiting for his start date.""They're both doing well. Unlike some shameless people who do nothing but mooch off their family.""I found a job, too. I'm flying out in the next few days," I answered seriously."Sure you did. You can't even afford a plane ticket." Grandmother scoffed.That evening, the whole family went out to dinner. We all headed out together.There were a lot of us this time, so Harvey offered to ride with Grandmother in a cab.That left an empty seat in the SUV.Janet suddenly opened the front passenger door for me. "I remember you get carsick, too, right?""You remembered wrong." I walked p

Janet held her head and paced around the house in a panic. "Liam must be angry at us! He even blocked me on the messaging app."Mom and Dad exchanged a look, their expressions falling.They searched the entire house from top to bottom and checked every corner. There was no sign of me."That brat!" Mom muttered. "He must have left on purpose just to make us worry!"Dad grabbed her. "Wait. Didn't Liam say he was going away for work? He even said he was taking a plane. You don't think he actually left, do you?"They exchanged another look, both seeing the worry in each other's eyes.Mom swallowed hard, her voice starting to shake. "How could he? He's barely 20 years old and just graduated. He wouldn't dare go that far on his own.""He would," Janet said quietly. "For the past three years, he went all the way to factories overseas to save money for tuition. Taking a plane somewhere for work is nothing compared to that."Dad rushed out carrying the kitchen trash can. Pieces of a p

My routine at the base was very structured.I ate breakfast at the cafeteria, then went straight to the main building for meetings. In the afternoon, I worked at the research facility. At night, I reviewed everything we had done that day.I threw myself into learning, eager to absorb every bit of knowledge I could.The base opened the door to a whole new world of research. It was there that I finally understood where my life had value, what gave it meaning, and what I wanted to do with the rest of it.I never went out of my way to ask about the Gould family, but I still heard bits and pieces about them.For example, I learned that Harvey had been the one who stole the gold bracelet. He was always spending more than he had and had already racked up 200,000 dollars in online loans.Mom and Dad had a huge fight with him. Furious, Harvey left home. A year later, he got into a fight and had his leg broken. He also brought a heavily pregnant woman home, which made Mom faint from ange