Bias Family Emotions 단편 소설 & 소설

I was from a rich family. But after I finally returned home, my parents made me sleep in the store room and eat leftover food. Yet, they still felt like they had wronged their foster daughter. When the government introduced the Children’s Fairness System, my parents immediately bound the entire family to it. My father breathed a sigh of relief and said, “With this perfectly fair system in place, Annie won’t be treated unfairly anymore.” My mother gently held my hand and said in an unyielding tone. “Ever since you came back, you’ve taken everything that was meant for Annie. This is unfair to her.” My elder brother never showed a hint of kindness toward me either. “I only acknowledge Annie as my sister. You’ve gotten way more than you deserved already, so don’t push your luck,” he said. I looked down at the cheap clothes I had worn for five years. Then, I glanced at Annie’s lavish bedroom and countless luxury items. I found it all utterly ridiculous. However, when the system took effect, they all ended up breaking down.

When my parents came to take me home, I accidentally switched souls with Ava, a girl from the mountains. The moment my mother saw the certificate proving that Ava had ranked first in the entire county, her eyes filled with tears. "Looks like sending you to the mountains to suffer for half a year was the right decision. "Back then, getting you to study was like pulling teeth. Now you finally understand that everything we did was for your own good." I burst into tears and rushed forward, throwing my arms around my mother's legs. "Mom, I'm the real Sophie!" She kicked me hard, sending me sprawling into the mud. "Where did this wild child come from? You're just as disobedient as the old Sophie!" My parents took away the "me" carrying Ava's soul, leaving the real me behind in the mountains. For the next five years, I endured endless hard labor, slept in a pigsty, and suffered relentless abuse before I finally found a chance to escape. But when I returned home, my mother looked at me with disgust and drove me away. "My daughter just made it through the national competition. How could she possibly be someone like you? If you dare spout that nonsense again, I'll have you locked up in a mental hospital!" I cried until my entire body shook, but I refused to give up. That night, I climbed over the wall and slipped back into the house. That's when I heard my father ask my mother, "We didn't know about the soul swap back then. But now that she's found her way back... are we really not going to acknowledge her?" My mother let out a cold laugh. "What would be the point of taking her back? Should we let her ruin the Sophie we have now? She's hopeless. Even being thrown into the mountains couldn't change her. Someone like her deserves to die." A sharp pain ripped through my stomach. I coughed up a mouthful of blood. "Mom... This body has stomach cancer. Just as you wished... I'm going to die."

Mom and Dad ask me and my adopted brother, Hayden Adley, who we want to celebrate the New Year with. In my first life, I choose to go back to Grandma's and Grandpa's place with Mom, while Hayden goes with Dad. We get into a car accident when Mom's driving us back to her hometown. One of my kidneys has to be surgically removed because it's punctured during the accident, but I still pass away because my body isn't able to survive with just one kidney. In my second life, I choose to go with Dad instead. However, Dad is abducted by one of his enemies when we're on our way back to his hometown. For some inexplicable reason, I'm convicted of the abduction and locked behind bars. In the end, I'm beaten to death by my cellmates. In my third life, I wonder how to spend the New Year as I stand in front of the house. I hear voices coming from beyond the door. "I'll think of a way to get my hands on one of Cameron's kidneys to appease the person you offended if he chooses to come with me," Mom says. "If he goes with your dad instead, we'll get him to take your place in prison. Don't worry. We'll definitely think of something to help you." I'm stunned and stand rooted to the spot. I have earned three lives after working in the Underworld for three thousand years. I have always been worried about Mom and Dad since they passed away, which is why I'm always in a rush to be reborn. I have no idea that they intentionally send me to my death just to help Hayden avoid facing punishment. I call out to the Grim Reaper who's just about to leave. "I changed my mind. I want to be reborn as someone else for my last life. I don't want to suffer with them anymore." The Grim Reaper floats back to me. "Sure. You can start again as long as you kill yourself within the next seven days."

After my wife, Aislinn West, nearly died giving birth and we lost our first child, I suffered another injury that left me unable to have children. I sent the postoperative report to Aislinn, who still hadn't shown up, and a livestream suddenly popped up on my phone. [Becoming a father despite having azoospermia] The streamer kept his face off camera, but his voice was practically bursting with excitement. "Six years ago, I personally orchestrated a plan to have my girlfriend save the real heir, who was suffering from depression. "They got fake-married. After my girlfriend got pregnant, she pretended to suffer complications during childbirth and gave the baby boy to me to raise. My girlfriend and I got legally married. "That guy's an idiot. He's been with my wife for six years and still doesn't know her real name. Everything about her identity was fake. "To get my wife back, I hired someone to run down the real heir. Today, he got injured and was unable to have a child anymore." My grip tightened around my phone before I even realized it. Viewers flooded the comments with angry messages, cursing him out. But he only grew more arrogant. "His two biological sisters were in on it, too. Even though I'm the imposter, they'll still take my side. Luckily, my wife has also decided to fake her death and come back to our family." Still grinning, he used another phone to show the viewers a photograph. "This is the real heir's surgical report!" My breath caught. It was the exact photo I'd sent to Aislinn just moments earlier. Suddenly, my phone rang. My hands trembling, I answered. My eldest sister Zara Compton's indifferent voice came through. "Aislinn was on her way back to see you when she got into a car accident. The car exploded. There wasn't even a body left to identify!"

At my mom's 50th birthday party, the host suddenly invites my adoptive sister, Megan Fraser, and me onstage to take part in a "Who Knows Mom Best?" quiz. All the relatives assume it is a special segment my mom has arranged to officially introduce me to everyone as her biological daughter. The first question is about my mom's favorite flower. I write down "lily", the flower she always keeps in her study. Megan, on the other hand, holds up her board and says, "White camellia. Mom said it was the first flower Dad ever gave her." My mom nods and says, "Megan remembers it better than anyone." The second question asks what my mom takes for her stomach problems. I write down the medication her doctor prescribed. Megan writes down the soup my brother, Josh Fraser, makes. "Kathy, you've been back for three years, and you didn't even know Mom hates taking medicine?" Josh mocks. After that, Megan correctly answers questions about my mom's usual size, the opera she listens to when she can't sleep, and her favorite perfume. One by one, the lights beside me—symbols of our supposed bond—go out. The last question is who my mom wants to give the family heirloom brooch to. Megan doesn't write a word. Instead, she slips her arm through my mom's and says, "Mom would never let me lose." As laughter fills the room, my mom personally lights the final light for Megan. Then she looks at me and says, "Just because you're my flesh and blood doesn't mean you truly know me. We'll talk about acknowledging you as my daughter another time." I walk straight off the stage and send my lawyer, Peter Richmond, a message. "Proceed as planned. I'm leaving tonight."

The day I got laid off, I called my boyfriend, but he never picked up. I rode home on my electric scooter in the pouring rain, soaked to the skin, clutching a cardboard box as I awkwardly pushed open the front door. The house was packed. My family, relatives, and friends were all there. In the middle of the room, my boyfriend and my best friend stood before my parents, accepting their congratulations as the newlyweds. The moment I appeared, the lively room fell deathly silent. The cardboard box slipped from my hands, scattering its contents across the floor. Zane Ward walked toward me, looking at me calmly. "What are you doing here?" I stared at him, my voice trembling as I demanded an answer. "What… What are you doing?" His expression was complicated, but he finally let out a long sigh. "Sophia and I got married last year. We're just having the wedding ceremony today." A roar filled my ears. Without thinking, I raised my hand and slapped him hard across the face. "Get out! Both of you, get out! This is my house! All of you, get out!" The next second, one of my friends shoved me outside. They shielded the newlyweds behind them. "How could you hit him?" "Exactly. We only kept it from you because we were afraid you'd be hurt. Otherwise, Zane would have broken up with you a long time ago!" Amid the chaotic shouting, my parents walked over to me, disappointment written across their faces. "This house doesn't belong to you. We gave it to Sophia as their new home." "Today is their wedding day. Don't make a scene. Just go back to your room." The blood in my veins seemed to freeze. Five years together. Three years living under the same roof. My boyfriend had become my best friend's legal husband. My parents had secretly given them a home to start their married life. Every relative and friend had gathered to wish them well. And there I stood, like some pathetic fool, making a spectacle of myself.

The day before I am supposed to move into a nursing home, my daughter-in-law, Emily Freeman, cancels the deposit I have already paid without my permission. "It's not easy for Ryan to earn money. Instead of helping us save money, you want to stay somewhere so expensive," Emily complains. I frown and explain that I paid with my own money. Her expression darkens as she rants, "Isn't your money our money? Besides, how much money can you possibly have? Didn't you get all of it from Ryan anyway? "You don't help take care of the kids or do any housework. Now, you're just bleeding us dry so that you can enjoy yourself!" My son, Ryan Pratt, sides with her and criticizes me as well. "Mom, this is such a waste of money. If you ask me, you might as well go to a senior community and get a bed there for ten dollars. Someone will still take care of you." I am so furious that I faint on the spot and am rushed to the hospital. With the refunded money, Ryan takes Emily and goes on vacation abroad with his in-laws. After being discharged, the first thing I do is put the apartment I once gave my son as a wedding gift up for sale with a real estate agent.

When I found out I'd won an $80,000 European vacation for two as a graduation prize, my Aunt Janice showed up at my house with my cousin, Kelsey Whitmore, who had always loved taking advantage of other people. "Elise, your dad's in poor health and can't fly. Why don't you give the trip to Kelsey and her husband? You'd probably get lost traveling on your own anyway. We won't take it for free. We'll give you a nice cash gift." Kelsey and her husband, Travis Connelly, had just gotten married and couldn't afford a honeymoon. My hands shook with absolute fury as I crumpled that meager 200 bucks in my fist. An $80,000 prize, and she expected to take all of it with a few casual words? I smiled, pushed the cash back toward her, and shook my head. "No, Aunt Janice. If my dad can't go, I can cash in the prize instead. Besides, Travis makes over $30,000 a month. Surely he can afford honeymoon tickets." Aunt Janice and Kelsey left with dark expressions. Half an hour later, Kelsey flooded the family group chat with celebration emojis. "Ticket redeemed! Thanks for the generous gift, Elise. I'll enjoy this luxury European honeymoon on your behalf." Aunt Janice tagged both my father and me. "Elise is such a thoughtful girl. She gave her European vacation to Kelsey." I was about to expose the lie when I heard my father talking on the phone in the next room. "That's right. Transfer the reservation to Kelsey. Elise and I both have a fever, so we can't go..." My heart went cold. While I was in the shower, my father had gone through my phone and stolen the redemption code. If he was willing to sacrifice his own life just to please his relatives, then I was done trying to save it.

After completing the quest, I insisted on staying in that world, foregoing the lucrative rewards. It was because I had a happy and perfect family there. My brother was a genius world-renowned scientist, and all his research achievements were named after me. My father was the world's richest man, and all his wealth was under my name. My mother was an extraordinarily talented dancer, but she gave up the stage just to spend more time with me. My family pampered me. I was the most envied pampered daughter in the world… until the day their real daughter, Carrie Langford, showed up at our door. Their love for me vanished overnight. From then on, I became inconsequential. Carrie orchestrated her own fall down the stairs, and my mother was so angry that she broke my leg. I ate a small bite of the cake Carrie threw away, so my father locked me in a dog cage for three days to dine with the dogs. He also made a golden cake for Carrie to make her feel better. Just because Carrie complained that her heart hurt, my brother dug out my heart for her and replaced it with an artificial heart. "It's just a heart. You've always been healthy. Carrie needs it more than you do." Calmly, my brother stood to the side, analyzing the data. "Don't worry, artificial heart technology is already very advanced, so the theoretical survival rate is very high. You won't die." After my soul left my body, I saw Carrie casually throw my heart into a trash can. The long-dormant system was awakened. [Would you like to take back everything you've given them, including your father's wealth, your mother's dancing talent, and your brother's intelligence, in exchange for a chance to revive?]

During a vision test at the optical store, I misread one of the letters on the eye chart. Mom slaps me across the face in front of everyone. "You can't even read a letter that big? Are you blind? If you don't want glasses, get out of here!" I clutch my burning cheek and shake my head through tears. "No, Mom. I haven't been able to see the whiteboard for years. Please, just let me get glasses…" Just then, my little sister, Bridget Sink, complains that the sun is too bright. Mom immediately buys her the most expensive pair of sunglasses in the store. I clutch my preion and beg her desperately. "Mom, I don't even need frames. Could you just get me the cheapest lenses? Please?" But Mom snatches the preion from me and tears it to shreds. "Bridget gets good grades. She can have whatever she wants. Meanwhile, you've fallen to the bottom of your class. "Even if you really are nearsighted, it's because you've been sneaking around playing on your phone behind my back! How dare you waste the family's hard-earned money?" She writes "I Waste My Parents' Money" on a sign and hangs it around my neck. Quiet snickers rise from the people around me. Their stares weigh on me until I can barely breathe. "Get on your knees and stay there until the store closes. You're not going home until you've learned your lesson!"

I've been overlooked by the Lawson family a hundred times over. On birthdays, they only ever get a cake for my sister, Jocelyn Lawson. When I'm sick, I lie alone in a hospital bed while they fuss around her. I tell myself to tough it out and be a good daughter, but no amount of my endurance ever earns me a drop of their favor. On my wedding day, I think I'll finally get my moment to shine, at least for once. But I'm wrong. My parents, my brother, and even my fiance—Felix Wright, the head of a mafia empire—abandon me to attend Jocelyn's graduation ceremony. They leave me standing alone at the altar, enduring the guests' whispers and pitying glances. But Felix just throws me a cold line. "It's just a wedding. We'll make it up another day." It's not the first time. At our engagement party, Jocelyn whimpers about a stomachache, and he rushes her to the hospital without a flicker of hesitation. I'm left to smile through gritted teeth, making excuses to a room full of guests. That's the moment it hits me. To them, I'll always be the spare. So, I walk away. I pack my bags and carry a secret with me—the child growing inside me. This time, I'm done waiting for their scraps of affection. I'm starting a new chapter in my life, for me and my baby.

On the day I'm sentenced to death, my parents, Herbert Meyer and Aileen Wagner, hold a press conference to announce their adopted son, Justin Meyer, as Meyer Corporation's new successor. My sister, Tiana Meyer, and Justin get engaged, and they finally become a real family. As for me, I've exposed Justin for who he really is, only to be branded an ingrate and disowned by my own family. After being reborn, I no longer want their love. I live only for myself.

I was the ultimate glow-up story. My parents were both obsessed with looks and voices, yet when I was born, I looked like an underdeveloped monkey. Even my cries sounded like a frog, croaking so loudly that the entire hospital ward found me annoying. My parents named me Blob and dumped me at Grandma's house far away from them. I only earned the right to return home when I made it into a national top university. My father, a movie star, merely glanced at me before his brows knitted together. "Hat, sunglasses and mask? Why are you wrapping yourself up like that? What, are you ashamed to show your face?" My mother, a chart-topping singer, scoffed. "She probably saw us take Vivian on that show and is afraid she'll be completely outshone by Vivian's looks the moment we meet. She may be ugly, but she sure has a lot of tricks up her sleeve." My younger sister, Vivian Sterling, ran up to me and took my hand. "Looks aren't everything, Blob. You don't have to feel inferior around me." My hand, which was about to take off my mask, froze in midair. Grandma had written to them every month in the last two years. "Hurry up and come pick Blob up! The older she gets, the more irresistible she becomes. We have more than a dozen dogs guarding the yard, yet we still can't stop people from scaling the walls just to sneak a peek at her!" So not a single person in this family had ever looked at the photos Grandma sent them every year?

The doctor said I had a hundred days left. I didn't want a miracle. I just wanted one real family portrait. One where I sat dead center, impossible to cut out. I searched through every album in the house. My sister, Yvonne Miller, had her professional glamor shots. My brother, Daxton Miller had his milestone baby portraits. My parents had their framed wedding photo. There wasn't a single picture of just me. I remembered our old family photo from primary school. Mom told me I blinked, so she creased the paper down the middle and folded my side back. After that, I was always placed on the far left or the far right. It made it easier to crop me out. I saved up and booked time at a downtown photo studio. I even bought a navy silk dress, the most expensive thing I had ever owned. The night before the shoot, Mom smoothed out the fabric, folded it carefully, and handed it to my sister. "Your sister has a dinner date tomorrow with a barrister," Mom said. "It’s a big deal. Let her borrow it first." Dad didn't even look up from his paper. "Your brother has his regional final tomorrow anyway. We’ll reschedule the shoot. Once you're feeling better, I'll take you back and we'll do ten portraits." "What if I don't get better?" I asked. Silence filled the room. Daxton kept mashing buttons on his controller in the lounge. Yvonne was in her bedroom, admiring herself in my dress. I folded the studio receipt and slipped it into my coat pocket. The next morning, I went to the studio alone. I sat straight on the wooden stool in the middle of the backdrop. "Should we wait for the rest of your family?" the photographer asked, adjusting his lens. "And give me a smile?" "No need to wait," I replied softly. "And no need to smile." No one would have to crop me out anyway.

Alexander Morrison doesn't love me, nor does he love our daughter. The only person he loves is his first love, Charlotte Clarke. To maintain his perfect image in Charlotte's eyes, he only allows our daughter to call him "Uncle Alex". This continues until Charlotte becomes pregnant and goes abroad to marry someone else. Alexander drinks himself into oblivion and finally decides to marry me. When he comes home, our daughter gives him 100 forgiveness coupons. I tell him that once those 100 coupons are used up, I'll take our daughter and leave him forever. He holds us both tightly in his arms, swearing he will never make us sad again. During the initial few years of our secret marriage, he indeed does exceptionally well, as not a single coupon is used. That is, until Charlotte returns to the country with her daughter. Every time he abandons me and our daughter for Charlotte and her child, I tear off one forgiveness coupon. Now, only three coupons remain.

On New Year’s Eve, my kidnappers forced me to climb down the inside of a 650-foot industrial chimney with my bare hands. The kidnappers started a live stream on the dark web. They claimed that what I was doing could drive away bad luck and bring blessings for the country. I climbed for a full eight hours in darkness and pain. When my family caught me at the bottom of the chimney, my body was covered in sores, and I was so injured that they barely recognized me. Rachel immediately covered me with a shawl. When she helped me get into the car, she was shaking. My fiancee cried and dared not touch me. That night, she destroyed the whole criminal organization. On that ambulance ride home, I could barely think straight. I heard them whispering to each other. “Rachel, Jason just wanted an unforgettable night! You said it’s not “impressive” enough and insisted on making Yannick climb the chimney!” “Miss Jones, how could an ordinary present leave such a lasting impression on Jason?” “It doesn’t matter if Yannick suffers a little physical pain. Our family will more than make it up to him.” It turned out that the eight hours of agony I endured, which nearly killed me, were just to ensure that another man’s holiday would be “truly unforgettable.”

After my adopted younger sister, Candace Lane, is reunited with her birth parents, she develops severe psychological issues. Hence, to go along with her treatment, every Thanksgiving becomes the one day when everyone will spoil her. No matter what she requests on that day, nobody is allowed to refuse. This Thanksgiving, Candace takes off her hat to reveal the scar on her forehead and the jagged mess that is her hair. "A few days ago, I had an episode and cut off my hair. Since Lena's hair is so long, it would be perfect to cut and make into a wig for me." I set down my cutlery and slowly shake my head. I haven't cut my hair in 18 years, all because I want my parents to be the ones to cut it for me on my wedding day. Seeing as that day is coming soon, I plan on buying Candace a wig for now. "Maybe you should—Mmph!" Before I can get more than a few words out, Dad has already pressed a warning hand on my shoulder, while my fiancé, Peter Lipton, shakes his head at me and stuffs a bite of spicy lobster into my mouth. Mom heads for the kitchen and returns with a pair of scissors. With a snip, she cuts my hair off to ear length. As Candace's lips curve into a smile, my heart thoroughly shatters in my chest. Eight years. For the past eight years, she has taken away something of mine during every Thanksgiving. A rosary necklace Mom gifted me, a beautiful emerald bangle from Grandma—it didn't matter. Even when Candace already has something better than mine, she still wants to take mine. Peter leans over to murmur in my ear, "This is Candace trying to save herself, so we have to go along with her wishes. With us by your side, all those materialistic things aren't important. If it truly bothers you that much, we can always just wait till your hair grows back before we marry." Peter is her psychologist, and turning Thanksgiving into the day everyone spoils Candace is also his idea. The spiciness of the lobster has tears springing to my eyes. Shoving Peter away from me, I rush to the bathroom. As I stare at my messed-up hair and red lips, swollen due to my shellfish allergy, more tears well in my eyes. This time, I'm not waiting for anyone anymore.

On New Year's Eve, a crowd crush broke out, and I was carried into the field treatment tent along with Maya Bellamy, the underprivileged student my family had been sponsoring. My own brother, Derek Calder, the incident commander, glanced at me. My ribs were caved in, and I kept coughing up blood. Then he called every medic over to put ice on Maya's slightly twisted ankle. "Maya's dance final is coming up. Nothing can happen to that foot!" When I weakly begged him for help, he gave me a stern, self-righteous lecture. "I'm your brother. If I'm the first one to give you special treatment, what will all the injured people out there think of me? Act your age, and don't make trouble for me right now!" The pain had me on the verge of passing out. All I could do was grab my boyfriend, Ethan Kessler, when he rushed over. "Ethan, I can't breathe..." But he pried my hand off him, his face full of impatience. "You've had asthma since you were a kid, and you don't even carry your inhaler. How can you blame anyone else? "Maya was in the most dangerous part of the crowd, right in the middle. You were stuck out at the edge by the planters. How could you be hurt worse than she is? Why do you always have to compare yourself to her?" Then he carefully scooped Maya up in his arms and ran to the ambulance that had just arrived, without looking back. But he seemed to have forgotten that when the crowd went down, he was the one who shoved me into the surging mass of people, just to clear a safe spot for Maya. And my brother never noticed that the strange heaving of my chest meant my broken ribs had already pierced my organs.

On the day of the avalanche, my own brother cut the safety rope around my waist to save his fake sister who had stolen my place in the family. As the snow piled high above me and my body heat began to fade, I cried out to Shawn Lingard, reaching out my stiff, frozen hands. "Shawn! Don't leave me behind, or my adoptive father's men will come for you and blow this whole mountain up!" It had been a year since I was found and brought back to the prestigious Lingard family. I had always played the part of a timid, submissive girl, never talking about my adoptive parents abroad. Therefore, the Lingard family didn't know that the couple who adopted me were the leaders of an international mercenary group. My adoptive father was a master marksman, my adoptive mother was an explosives expert, and I was the beloved little princess in their unit. But my biological brother only laughed coldly as he pulled the rope back. "Stop lying! You're just a country bumpkin, what powerful men could your adoptive father possibly have? "I was kind enough to take you skiing, but you actually dared to compete with Janice? Don't you know she can't handle even the slightest shock?" With that, he grabbed the fake sister and turned to leave. "If your adoptive parents are so impressive, have them send a helicopter to rescue you!" I watched the light above disappear, then used the last of my strength to press the red button on my satellite locator. Little did Shawn know, the moment this signal went out, the entire snowy mountain would become his grave.

I've known all along that my husband, Hector Greene, has been seeing another woman. However, for the past two years, even after going through all of his financial records and looking into all the women he might've come into contact with, I haven't been able to find out who she is. My parents accuse me of being paranoid. My younger brother says I'm not worthy of Hector. Only my older sister, Giselle Lloyd, repeatedly defends me. "Evelina is my sister! I won't let you guys force her to put up with this!" Ever since we were kids, Giselle has been the one who gets everything the family has to give. None of the new outfits, the chance to study abroad, or even the shares Grandpa left behind have ever gone to me. But Giselle would stash some of the candy for me and accompany me when Mom punishes me. Therefore, even though everyone else favors her, I've never truly resented her for it. Then, on Mom's birthday, Hector leaves the table early, saying he has something to deal with. Worried that I might overthink things, Giselle offers to accompany me back to the house. But when we reach the underground parking garage, she tells me she left her phone back at the restaurant and instructs me to wait in the car first. After waiting for quite a long time, I decide to head back to the restaurant as well. Then, in the stairwell, I see Hector gripping Giselle's wrist tightly as he says, "I'm sick and tired of having to sneak around like that, Giselle." Giselle pushes him away, her eyes red. "You can't say anything! No one in the family loves her. I'm the only one she has. If I betray her too, she won't be able to take the blow." As I stare at them through the door, everything finally clicks into place. This whole time, whenever Giselle volunteers to help me track down my cheating husband, she's actually taking the opportunity to cover up their tracks. Having realized this, I lose all interest in finding out when their illicit affair started. I lose all desire to keep this marriage—and this family.