Chapter 2

My father, fearing my mother's anger, passed the ribs to me.

I closed my eyes and bit down hard.

Despite chewing thoroughly, when the meat slid down my esophagus, it felt like swallowing shards of glass.

The burning pain was intense.

My stomach began to reject the small piece of meat, pushing it back.

I took a deep breath, telling myself to endure and not to vomit.

Meanwhile, my mother watched my tightly pressed lips and placed the better dishes in front of Rhys.

"Laurie, come on, if she won't eat, we will!"

I sighed.

How pathetic I was.

I had hoped to celebrate the holiday joyfully with them, leaving them with a fond memory even if I were to pass away.

But it seems they might hate me even more now.

My mother ate the meat angrily, and her chewing made me nauseous again.

With the stomach pain pulling at me, a headache surged over me like a tidal wave.

"If I knew you were so heartless, I should have had another child back then... " my mother's mouth never stopped complaining.

Struggling against the pain, I blurted out without thinking, "Didn't you try to have another one?"

When I was six, my mother was pregnant with a second child. To nurture the pregnancy, she sent me to live with my uncle.

But after four months, the male fetus stopped developing.

The doctor said my mother had Rh-negative blood; the first pregnancy usually wasn't an issue, but the chances of blood incompatibility issues were high with a second.

I remember after the miscarriage, my mom came to my uncle's house.

I thought she was there to take me home and ran to her with a smile.

Instead, she slapped me twice, twisted my ear, and threw me into my aunt's barn.

The neatly stacked piles scattered, and dried corn rained down on me, burying me in an instant.

But my mom didn't pull me out; she just kept cursing.

"Kiera! You're so clever, rushing to be born! If your brother had your instincts and made it as the first child, his life would have been saved! How could you be so wicked!"

That day, when my aunt and father dug me out of the corn pile, my face was purple, and three fingers were broken.

I was taken to the town hospital, but my mother didn't glance at me and went straight back to the county.

She refused to bring me back to her side, leaving me in the care of my uncle and aunt.

My words drove my mother to madness.

She overturned the table, weeping uncontrollably.

Rhys was by her side, trembling with grief.

"Kiera! What kind of heart do you have? You've already caused the death of my parents and brother, and now you want to anger Aunt and Uncle to death too? Will that satisfy you? Do you even have the semblance of a child? How can you be so cruel?"

See, how loathed and unnecessary I am!

I arrived in my mother's belly first, preventing my younger brother from surviving.

Then I became a girl who spent money like water, had a scandalous personal life, and wanted to elope with someone during middle school!

And it was during that elopement attempt that my uncle, aunt, and cousin died in a car accident while trying to stop me, losing their lives in their prime.

I was in the car too, but I survived despite being severely injured.

When I woke up, I wasn't greeted with my mother's relieved embrace.

She pulled out my oxygen tube, removed my IV, and slapped me countless times.

"Vile girl! You wretch! Because of you, the family name and legacy are gone! Why wasn't it you who died? Why wasn't it?"

At that moment, I wished it had been me who died.

Yet I continued to live, struggling on, even if my life was worse than a stray dog's.

Mom, you've endured for so many years.

It's been hard on you, truly exhausting.