- 3.
The words Emily was about to say died in her
throat. She looked at my tear–streaked face,
and in the end, didn’t say anything. She just
told the driver to step on it.
I wiped my eyes with my sleeve and huddled
in my corner, trying to disappear.
Everything looked blurry. I stared blankly out
the window, watching the scenery change.
And suddenly, I couldn’t help but wonder…
If Emily had been willing to lend a hand,
would Grandpa still be alive? And would I
have had to resort to the loan sharks, would
any of this have happened?
But life doesn’t work that way.
When the car stopped, my forehead slammed
into the seat in front of me.
Emily actually asked,
L
“You okay?”
I touched my head, shook it, and didn’t
answer.
She didn’t push it. She just got out of the car
and went inside the Stark house.
As soon as I got upstairs, I took a quick
shower.
I pulled off the dirty suit pants, revealing my
injured leg.
My left knee had a few holes where the blood
had clotted black. It was disgusting.
They did that to me. They didn’t care how
much it hurt, they just drove nails into my
knees. They laughed when I started rolling
<
those nails out myself to earn a few scraps of
food.
It was a nightmare.
I changed into clean clothes, cleaned the
wounds, and went downstairs.
It was dinnertime. My mom saw me right
away. She looked almost disbelieving, then
waved me over with a hint of annoyance.
“You finally decided to come home? Running
off like that, and you didn’t even bother to
call.”
A sudden wave of frustration washed over
- me. I wanted to shout. But I only got one
syllable out before I was cut off.
<
“Mom, Mrs. Chen invited you for afternoon
tea, don’t be late again.”
Jake walked in, dressed to the nines in a
sharp suit.
My mom turned her attention to him, her eyes
moving away from me.
“Oh right, I almost forgot. Thanks for the
reminder, Jake.”
Jake sat down on the sofa and gave me a
small smile.
“Ethan decided to come home? Don’t give
Mom and Dad a hard time anymore. It’s time
to grow up.”
Everyone turned to me
<
Everyone turned to me.
I looked at Jake’s mocking eyes, and my heart
skipped a beat. But I didn’t lose my temper
like I used to.
My mom didn’t argue with Jake, just looked
him up and down. Then, she said with
concern,
“Jake, haven’t you been eating right? You
look like you’ve lost weight.”
“No matter what, your health is more
important than work. Besides, your dad is at
the company.”
Hearing that, I quietly hid my bruised hands
behind my back.
L
I was standing right next to her, but she didn’t
see my knuckles or the way I was limping. But
where Jake was concerned, she noticed he
hadn’t been eating right.
Jake smiled.
“Ethan’s enough trouble for Mom and Dad. I’ll
try to be good.”
My mom glanced at me, sighed, and said
nothing.
At the table, Mom kept heaping food on my
plate. I said thank you as politely as I could.
But instead of making her happy, she just
sighed with concern. She didn’t lecture me,
but put the bank card she’d taken away back
in my hand.
<
“Ethan, Mom and Dad were so worried when
you ran off.”
“We won’t try to control you anymore. Your
dad put some more money on the card.”
I tightened my grip on the card, then let go.
Too late. It was all too late.
Jake’s knuckles were white as he gripped his
chopsticks. He stared at me until our eyes
met. Then, he smiled again and said to Emily,
who was sitting beside him,
“You’re getting really good at this, Emily. I
can’t even compete with you at auctions.”
Emily took out a gift box, her tone softening.
L
“This is your birthday present. I’ve been
traveling a lot, so I couldn’t get it to you
sooner.”
Jake joked,
“I thought you’d forgotten about me.”
He opened the box, revealing a dark green
watch.
I froze as I brought my chopsticks to the
food.
I’d seen that watch in the auction catalog. I
fell in love with it right away. But I didn’t have
an invitation to the auction. Emily had noticed
my gaze and said that if I behaved myself,
she’d buy it for my birthday.
く
But now, she was giving it to Jake.
Emily didn’t say anything. But I knew this was
her way of punishing me.
After dinner, I said goodbye and left the table.
I ran into Emily on the landing.
She was standing there in her high heels,
looking confident and beautiful. If it had been
the old me, I would have ran right over. But
now, I didn’t feel that excitement.
She didn’t notice anything was wrong.
“Ethan, you’ve changed.”
Emily took a step closer, her heels clicking on
the fleer
Howered my eyes and didn’t look at
the floor. I lowered my eyes and didn’t look at
her, just listened to her tone, which made me
feel like she was doing me a favor.
“I know you wanted that watch. But you’ve
been causing too much trouble lately.”
“So, as punishment, you don’t get a birthday
gift.”
“But you were good today, I’m satisfied. I’ll
grant you one wish, as long as it’s
reasonable.”
