Chapter 3
1/8
By day four of the countdown, my memory had started to slip. I kept forgetting what I’d just been doing or what I’d planned to do next. Several times throughout the day, I’d find myself just standing frozen in place, completely zoned out.
With effort, I finally remembered something important today -I needed to collect the LEGO set that Tracy had broken. Even though I’d given up on having any real family warmth around here, that LEGO set was special. Grandma had helped me build it, and it was one of my most precious memories with her.
No way was I letting them throw away my memories of my grandma like they were trash.
-our
I rushed downstairs and spotted the pieces still scattered across the living room floor, untouched. That was when it hit me- housekeeper had taken time off recently, which explained why nobody had cleaned up the mess.
I quickly grabbed a small box and started picking up the LEGO pieces one by one from the floor.
The set had shattered into so many tiny fragments that I’d only collected about half of them when Elizabeth walked in the door and caught me crouched on the floor.
Her forehead immediately creased with disapproval. “What are you doing down there on the floor like that?” she snapped. “You
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don’t look anything like a proper young lady! How am I supposed to introduce you as a Miller family daughter to anyone?
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“This is what happens when you’re raised in the middle of nowhere. Your grandma completely ruined your upbringing!”
My hands froze mid–pickup. I took a deep breath and waited for the hurt to subside before I quietly went back to collecting the scattered pieces from the floor.
I knew the LEGO set was beyond repair after that fall, but I still wanted to keep the pieces as a memento. So I knelt down, carefully collecting every broken fragment from the floor.
Elizabeth tossed whatever she was holding onto the couch with an irritated huff. “Are you even listening to me?” she snapped, her voice rising.
“Why can’t you be more like your sister and stop causing problems for once?”
I’d just spotted the final piece and was reaching for it when Elizabeth’s foot came down hard, crushing it beneath her shoe. She glared down at me, her expression dark.
“Tomorrow is your sister’s birthday. You’re going to bake her a cake yourself as an apology. Don’t ruin her day.” Elizabeth glanced at the LEGO piece under her foot like it was actual trash.
“It’s just a stupid toy. Sweep it up and throw it away. What are
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3/8
you doing wasting time on this? Do you expect us to support you forever?”
I stared at the LEGO piece–now dirty from her shoe–and felt a wave of sadness wash over me. Looking up at my mother’s annoyed expression, I let out a bitter laugh.
“Mom, Tracy and I are twins. Her birthday is my birthday too.”
Elizabeth’s face flickered with momentary panic as I continued, “That LEGO set you’re stepping on? It’s the only gift you’ve given me in eighteen years. Grandma raised me because you and Dad didn’t have the energy for a second child, so you handed me off to her.
“Grandma didn’t raise me wrong. She was the best grandmother anyone could ask for. And I don’t think there’s anything about me that makes me unworthy of being your daughter.”
Elizabeth couldn’t look me in the eye. She quickly pulled her foot back, revealing the last broken LEGO piece beneath her shoe.
Without a word, I reached down and grabbed it, adding it to the pile of fragments already in the box.
When I looked up, Elizabeth was still avoiding my gaze. “It’s just a stupid LEGO set, okay?” she snapped. “Go make your sister’s birthday cake like you’re supposed to. I’ll buy you a new one later.”
Right, my parents had plenty of money now–they could buy me
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a hundred LEGO sets if they wanted. But apparently, I wasn’t important enough for them to let me share a birthday celebration with Tracy.
I closed the box without another word and carried it upstairs, my chest tight with everything I couldn’t say.
Elizabeth never mentioned buying me a replacement LEGO set, and honestly, I hadn’t expected her to keep that promise
anyway.
By the third day of the countdown, I was starting to forget things.
That morning, I spotted the box of broken LEGO pieces on my bookshelf and just stared at it, trying to remember why they were there. Nothing came to mind. No matter how hard I concentrated, I couldn’t recall what had happened to them.
Something in my gut told me they mattered–that they were important somehow. But if they were so damn important, why had I smashed them to pieces in the first place?
If something broke so easily, maybe it wasn’t all that important anyway, right?
I dumped the box of scattered LEGO pieces into the trash can outside our door and headed back to the kitchen to tackle tonight’s dinner.
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5/8
Tracy’s birthday was today, and Elizabeth had asked me to stay home and cook while she and Kevin took Tracy to the mall for gift shopping.
It was already 8 PM when Tracy and my parents were back.
I had just placed the cake I’d made on the dining table when I looked up and froze. James was with them, arms loaded with shopping bags, his eyes fixed on Tracy with that soft look he gets. He didn’t even notice me standing there at the table, feeling like complete trash.
Something twisted in my chest. I dropped my gaze and silently untied my apron.
Kevin shrugged off his jacket and plopped down in a chair. “I asked you to make a cake, not a whole feast,” he complained. “Such a waste if we can’t finish all this.”
I paused mid–fold with the apron but kept my mouth shut.
Tracy smirked as she dug through her pile of presents, casually tossing a small box my way. “Happy birthday, Feona,” she said, her voice dripping with mockery.
I opened it and immediately recognized the earrings inside.
They were freebies from some luxury clothing brand–nothing special, just basic studs they hand out as promotional items.
I forced the corners of my mouth up into what probably looked like a grimace and pushed the box back toward her. “No
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thanks,” I said. “I stopped celebrating birthdays a long time ago.”
6/8
“Just take it, alright? Tracy picked this gift out for you specially at the mall.” James frowned, clearly annoyed as he pulled out a chair for Tracy. “Here, Tracy.”
Tracy settled into her seat with a smug smile, her challenging stare fixed on me the entire time.
Elizabeth jumped right in, cutting a slice of cake and sliding it in front of Tracy. After just one tiny bite, Tracy let out a blood–curdling scream and knocked the entire plate to the floor.
“There’s mango in this!” she shrieked, immediately starting to gag and retch.
Elizabeth rushed over to check on her, roughly shoving me aside. “Your sister is allergic to mangoes, you idiot! Why would you put mango in the cake? Were you trying to kill her or something?”
The force of her push sent me stumbling backward until my lower back slammed against the corner of the table. The pain was so intense my face went completely white.
“No, I… I just forgot… I didn’t mean to…” I stammered, trying desperately to explain myself.
But nobody was listening. The room had erupted into total
chaos.
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7/8
“Feona, you need to get on your knees and beg for Tracy’s forgiveness!” James roared, glaring at me like I was a complete stranger. “What the hell is wrong with you? Her allergies could literally kill her! How can you be so goddamn heartless?”
Everyone stared at me with pure accusation in their eyes. I felt tears welling up as panic took over. I wanted to explain, to defend myself, but the words wouldn’t come. The air felt thinner and thinner, like I was drowning. All their faces started to blur, like I was looking at them through murky water.
Everything went muffled and hazy. I barely registered Kevin and Elizabeth rushing Tracy to the hospital, or James running to get the car. The last thing I caught before he left was him pointing his finger in my face, still hurling insults at me until the very last second.
My vision started swimming, and once everyone had cleared out, my body finally gave up. I crashed to the floor with a sickening thud.
I was out cold for two days straight.
No clue who dragged me to the hospital, but here I was, sprawled across a bed in the inpatient ward. The sharp smell of disinfectant filled my lungs, and weirdly enough, I felt a strange sense of peace wash over me.
That peace didn’t last long. The commotion erupted in the hallway before the door burst open, kicked in by a middle–aged man. The nurse on duty got shoved aside, still trying to do her job as she protested, “The patient needs rest! You can’t just
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8/8
But the man cut her off before she could finish. “Your sister’s been in the hospital for two days, and what do you do? Fake being sick so you can lie around in here without even checking on her once! How did we end up with such an ungrateful daughter?”
Behind him stood a haggard–looking middle–aged woman and a younger guy. I stared at all three of them, completely blank. I had zero idea who these people were.
The middle–aged man glared at me coldly. “Get up right now. You’re quitting that job of yours. Your mother hasn’t been well lately, so you’re staying home to take care of her.”
“And in a few days,” he continued, “we’re arranging a marriage for you. After that, you’ll just stay at home where you belong.”
I kept staring at this man who wouldn’t stop talking, plus the two strangers hovering behind him. After what felt like forever, I finally found my voice and asked quietly, “Who are you people?”
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