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I stared at her with tears in my eyes, attempting to explain myself, “Mom, you misunderstood. I didn’t force her and I actually had an asthma attack.”
Before Daisie started putting medications. that induce respiratory infections in my meals, I didn’t have this illness.
However, nobody took me seriously.
When my mother heard it, she looked disgusted, “How did I give birth to such a creature as you? What did Daisie do to you? Why do you keep pretending to be unwell in order to fight for her favor? No one likes you, I tell you. Everyone only likes Daisie.”
Her comments were excruciating as if they were a sharp blade, severing a bit of my flesh with each one.
Although my father stood aside and didn’t say anything, his disgusted eyes had already explained everything. He didn’t like
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me either.
When I just returned to this house, I accidentally heard the conversation between my parents.
“It’s just the way the universe is,” Mom grumbled. “How did Madeline return after you said she was lost? Daisie and I were really humiliated by it.
“There’s nothing we can do about it,” Dad comforted my mom with a hug after appearing powerless. “All we have to do is show Daisie more concern and keep her from feeling let down. She’s too fragile.”
I assumed my parents didn’t like me because they felt detached from me after too much time apart, or because they didn’t want to accept me since Daisie was more like a woman from a royal family and could save their face. I thus worked very hard in secret to get better in every way in order to gain their acceptance and genuinely become a part of this family. But things didn’t go as planned and my wish did not
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come true.
When Daisie noticed this, she pulled a book of sunflowers out of a shelf and
approached me, giving it to me with a genuine expression. “Madeline, don’t take it personally; Mom said it out of rage. I brought you my favorite sunflowers on the way since I’ve read that looking at flowers may lift your spirits when you’re feeling down.”
This group of sunflowers had the most pollen and was in full bloom. Some pollen flew into my nostrils as she passed in front of me. Coughing uncontrollably, I slapped the bundle of flowers away.
In a moment, the entire crowd became silent. Everybody else gave me a different expression, with the exception of Daisie, who appeared astonished.
“Madeline, you are too much!” Dad yelled and took Daisie, who was red–eyed, into his
arms.
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“Daisie, there is no reason to spend your heart on such an ungrateful person. Such a person would be better off dying.”
I said, “It’s not like that, dad, I…” as I stood there helplessly, feeling the pain in my
throat.
Jeffrey grabbed the bouquet of sunflowers and hurled them in my face before I could say anything. With many pollen particles, the heady scent of flowers filled my
nostrils. It seemed like an unseen hand had strangled my throat, preventing me from breathing, as soon as the pollen reached my respiratory system.
“I think I have spoiled you too much, Madeline. You even had the audacity to ignore Daisie. If I don’t discipline you today, it appears that your bad attitude won’t go away.”
One of the sunflowers was pinched off by Jeffrey, who then shoved it into my mouth
and nose.
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“D–Don’t… I’ll die…” Hilton kicked me back
in front of Jeffrey as I attempted to break loose.
Jeffrey nearly clenched his jaw and asked, “You mentioned that you suffer from asthma? I haven’t witnessed an asthma attack yet; show me one today.”
