Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Game My Mother Rigged: Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 9

Warm blood ran from my neck, through my hair, and into Mother’s imported rug. I tried to wipe it away, but my fingers passed through the carpet.My body grew lighter until I floated above the study. When I looked down, I understood that thirteen-year-old Elena Moretti was dead.I recognized death because I had seen Nonna Rosa lying this still six years earlier. That day, she had thrown Mother’s wooden box onto the table, scattering colored sticks across the floor.“A child should never have to draw lots for her mother’s love,” Nonna said.Mother held Sofia against her chest. “The game gives them an equal chance.”“Then buy two of something, or let them take turns.”“Some things cannot be divided. Luck makes the decision so I do not have to.”Nonna glanced at me beside the doorway. “Elena has drawn black for years. She gets whatever Sofia rejects and sleeps in a bed too small for her. You even made her draw for comfort when she had a fever. Does that feel fair to you?”Mother tightene

Mother made Sofia’s baked macaroni after all.The three of them sat around the dining table, talking about the lights and music at the ice show. When I moved closer to Mother, I noticed a small box on the empty chair beside her, tied with a gold ribbon.It had to be my birthday dessert. Mother had remembered. For a moment, I forgot the study, the blood, and the fact that I could no longer touch her. I only wanted to sit beside her while she lit the candle, even if Sofia helped me blow it out.I pointed it out to Nero outside the window, but Mother soon pushed the box toward Sofia.“This is the cupcake you wanted at the arena. Take it to your room and eat it there. Do not let Elena see it. She has caused enough trouble today.”Sofia lifted the lid. A single chocolate cupcake sat inside, covered in white frosting and flakes of gold.I had never eaten anything so beautiful. I followed Sofia upstairs and watched her drag one finger through the frosting. Nero suddenly jumped from the window

The officers’ faces changed the moment they saw my body. Mrs. Donnelly covered her mouth, but a sob escaped before she could stop it.Mother and Father stood outside the study without moving closer.“I told you that smell was wrong,” Mrs. Donnelly said. “Elena lay in this room for four days. You walked past this door every day and never found her.”Mother slowly shook her head. “That is not Elena.”While the medical examiner’s team examined me, they found a crescent-shaped birthmark on my ankle. The skin around it had begun to decay, but the mark was still clear.Father stared at it. His lips moved several times, though no sound came out.“She was born with that mark,” Mrs. Donnelly said. “This is Elena.”Father looked as if he might laugh or collapse. Neither he nor Mother cried. I waited for one of them to call my name or step forward and touch my hand, but neither moved.They had both cried when Nonna Rosa died. Father had stood alone outside the church after her funeral, while Moth

“Your parents regret what they did,” Nero said as he sat beside me.I was surprised too. Mother had cried when she smashed the family portrait, although I had always believed the unluckiest child in the house was not worth her grief.After the medical examiner released my body, my parents sent it to the funeral home used by the Moretti family. The mortician recommended a closed casket, but Mother insisted on seeing me first.She bought armfuls of new clothes and asked to dress me herself. My body had decayed too badly, and the pale fabric quickly became stained. The staff could only arrange the clothes beside my casket.Sofia covered her nose as she approached.“Why is Elena so ugly now? She smells terrible too.”Mother turned and slapped her.Sofia pressed a hand to her cheek and said nothing else. When she lowered her head, her eyes remained fixed on the gifts surrounding my casket.Father brought dolls, books, and jewelry, as if he could replace thirteen years of neglect before the

When the livestream began, Mother placed the empty wooden box in front of the camera.“I told Elena that drawing black meant she had bad luck. There was never a gold stick in the box. I decided every loss before she ever reached inside.”“I taught one child that she had to win food, clothes, and affection. I taught the other that she deserved everything whenever her sister lost.”After clinicians evaluated her following the suicide attempt, Mother entered a residential psychiatric treatment program. The neglect case ended in plea agreements. The court credited Mother’s inpatient treatment and placed Father on probation, allowing Sofia to remain with him under child welfare supervision.Father visited many times and asked her to come home. She refused each time.“I created that game and kept it going for ten years. I need to stay here and accept treatment.”Father had to raise Sofia alone.He threw away every remaining stick and ended all games based on winning and losing. The first tim