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Chapter 9
“If you think I’m not good enough, then let Sherilyn go.”
My father fell silent for a moment.
“We’re still a family, after all…”
I held the letter of severed relations right up to his face. “I’ll still give you the living expenses, but as for visiting–forget it.”
My father, being a man in a leadership position, had already lowered himself enough by talking to me this much.
As he turned to leave in a huff, I stopped him.
“Dad, you’ve always been a practical man. You chose Sherilyn because she’s presentable and brings you prestige. So stop trying to have it both ways.”
“Let’s not contact each other anymore. You’re not exactly the most presentable yourself.”
I smiled at him.
It was the first time, my father, Isaac, realized my words could cut this deep–sharp enough to stab straight into what he’d been avoiding admitting to himself.
He didn’t stay another second, disappearing from sight in a hurry.
Whenever I went out for a stroll afterward, I could feel someone shadowing me from a
distance.
When I turned, I sometimes caught a glimpse of a familiar figure.
I knew who it was.
I just didn’t care anymore.
Unexpectedly, Sherilyn asked me out for coffee.
Truth be told, in this family, she was the one who harbored the least hostility toward me.
She simply disliked me on principle.
We sat facing each other, neither speaking at first.
I noticed the dark circles under her eyes. Obviously, she hadn’t been having an easy time with all the recent hospital visits.
Taking a deep breath, she broke the silence. “Auntie has been mentioning you a lot lately.”
Her words made me laugh.
People really were strange–when I was around, she could barely mention me without choking on the words, always praising Sherilyn instead.
But now that I was gone, she missed me?
“I kind of envy you,” she murmured.
I hadn’t expected her to say that
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I hadn’t expected her to say that.
She looked at me, there was no trace of hostility in her eyes–almost like she’d become a different person.
“You think I stole your parents. But how do you know this life I’ve had was the one I wanted?”
Her exhaustion seemed ready to spill over.
She fiddled with the paintings on the wall.
“I love painting, but Auntie told me that very few painters make a name for themselves, that I should learn an instrument instead–it sounds better when people talk about it. So I threw away my sketchpad.”
“I’m sorry I took so much from you, but I didn’t have a choice. Auntie meant well, and as someone living under her roof, I couldn’t refuse her. I’ve spent all these years following her plan, and that’s how I became part of the family.”
She rambled on, sharing things I’d never known–things that made me see her from another angle.
“Celine, I’m not here to convince you to go back.”
“You’ve already left. Don’t go back. I didn’t have a choice, but you do. You wouldn’t want to live a life of constant comparison again, would you?”
She gave me a long, meaningful look before leaving.
I sat there alone for a long time–long enough for Levi to come looking for me, worried something had happened.
He hadn’t been home these past few days, and he looked a little unkempt.
I muttered to myself, “Our family is downright twisted…”
A father who wasn’t like a father, a mother who wasn’t like a mother, children who weren’t
like children.
It was only after Sherilyn’s words that I realized something I had been overlooking.
When I was at home, I was compared only to her.
But when she was outside, she was compared to people better than her.
For a moment, I couldn’t tell who had it worse.
I’d escaped–but what about her?
Our parents‘ affection for her wasn’t fake. The time, energy, and money they invested in her
were real.
She couldn’t leave.
She would probably be entangled with them her whole life.
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She understood all this–that’s why she wanted me gone.
In a swamp like this, it’s a blessing if even one person could get out.
Levi half–understood. “You should go back. Blood is blood–no matter what, they won’t truly abandon you.”
He went back.
Afterward, his relationship with the family was never quite the same, and he became much quieter.
I didn’t know what Sherilyn said to my mother, but the woman who had been demanding to see me suddenly stopped asking.
Instead, she became stricter with Sherilyn.
Sometimes, when I saw her on the street, her face looked worse than the last time.
I heard my mother had demanded she earn more than me, and she’d fainted several times from exhaustion.
Unable to stand it, Levi had a huge fight with our parents and left home.
Before moving out, he stood watching me from a distance–knowing I didn’t like him, he didn’t come over.
He moved early to the city near his university, taking a part–time job, decisively breaking away from the family.
Sherilyn had looked at me with envy when she told me that.
Those were things she could only say to me–soon, she’d have to go back to that house.
My parents tried to mend our relationship a few times, but I shut them down each time. Eventually, I started traveling and writing, wandering all over the country.
On holidays, I’d give them a quick call–that was enough.
From a distance, they stopped comparing me to Sherilyn.
Over the years, Sherilyn took care of them alone.
Like she once said, “Their sacrifices weren’t fake. I can’t just abandon them.”
For her, life was just about getting by.
What else could she do?
On the other hand, my own life was peaceful.
Family ties if they exist, appreciate them; if not, life goes on.
The most important thing was to live well in the present.
Chapter 9
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