Chapter 2
A bunch of security guards held me down on the operating table.
I could see my parents walking towards me.
They ignored the blood on my head and slapped me across the face.
“How can you be
“How can you be so heartless! All we’re
asking you to do is donate a kidney!”
“How could we have a daughter like you!”
I stopped fighting and stared at the two
people who cared more about their adopted daughter than their real one.
“Didn’t you disown me already?”
“What? You need me to save your adopted daughter’s life so you remember me?”
My mom took the anesthesia from the doctor
and stabbed it into my arm.
“You ungrateful brat! We gave you life, and
this is how you talk to us!”
Г
“The Smiths saved your grandpa, so you can
pay them back for the Sullivan family!”
The numbness spread through my body, and I
wanted to ask them who their real child was.
But before I could, a nurse ran in.
“Ms. Smith is scared and can’t stop crying. You…”
The nurse didn’t finish her sentence before
my parents were gone.
Somewhere along the line, my parents started caring more about Susie May than me.
She would sit on the couch with my mom,
watching TV and gossiping.
She would go fishing and play golf with my
dad.
Every time they came back from the
company, they wouldn’t bring me my favorite
meals anymore.
Just a few shallow questions.
Their so–called debt had gone too far.
“Pete, let’s call off the wedding.‘
11
Pete couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“What are you talking about?”
If I didn’t know they were faking, I might have
thought he still had feelings for me.
“You don’t even want our baby because of
Susie May. What’s the point of the wedding?”
“Consider it my wedding gift to you.”
I closed my eyes and put my hands on my
stomach.
Then I heard Pete scoff.
“Don’t think I don’t know. You just want to
sleep with other guys.”
“Calling off the wedding is the best thing that
could happen, I’m through with you!”
I couldn’t see Pete clenching his fists.
I just couldn’t stop the tears.
く
When our families arranged our marriage,
Pete was as excited as a little kid on
Christmas morning.
When I found out he had amnesia, I didn’t
think about calling off the wedding, even
when he gave our engagement ring to a homeless person.
Now, it was all a joke.
Pete stared at me on the operating table, his
eyes bloodshot, ready to explode.
“Ashley, you and that gu…
“Pete! How long are you going to stand here?
Susie May is waiting!”
My brother who us
く
My brother, who used to baby me, barged in.
He frowned when he saw how pale I looked.
“Ashley, you can save Susie May’s life, so that
makes you both lucky. Now, you can finally be
sisters.”
Shawn’s words disgusted me.
He couldn’t wait for my response, so he
grabbed Pete’s arm and dragged him away.
“How could I have a sister like you? No one
even likes you.”
“How could I have such a lovely sister? I will
protect you for the rest of my life!”
L
Shawn’s taunts mixed with the promises he
made to me.
My heart broke.
Shawn hated Susie May when she first came
into the family.
He would throw away her stuff when my
parents weren’t around.
He tricked her into going up the mountain,
and Susie May had to walk home all night.
Shawn was punished for that.
“It’s not that I hate you. I’m just afraid that
you’ll make Ashley feel bad, so I had to target
you.”
I heard Shawn talking to Susie May when I
got up to get a drink.
Shawn looked like his usual carefree self, and
Susie May was always humble.
She even whispered something to my brother.
I could still hear it.
“I won’t steal Ashley from you. Because I like
you, so I will protect everything that you love.”
That was the first time I hated Susie May.
The next day, Susie May drank almond milk.
She was allergic and almost died.
く
Shawn looked at me with hate for the first
time.
Shawn blamed me without asking any
questions.
My parents asked me a bunch of questions
and then blamed me for something I didn’t
- do.
“Ashley, you have everything, why do you
have to be mean to an orphan?”
“You’re just spoiled.”
I started to fade away,
And I started to hear Jeremiah’s words in my
head.
<
“You’ll come begging me to help you.”
