Mom and Dad called out, sounding panicked,
and ran after him.
I was a few steps behind, and before I knew
it, the three of them disappeared into the
crowd.
At first, I didn’t think much of it.
I figured Mom and Dad would find Mikey and
then come back for me.
But I was standing alone for hours.
I borrowed a phone from a kind woman and
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tried calling Mom and Dad.
Over and over, but nobody answered.
I didn’t know anyone in the city.
The sun was scorching overhead, and all
around me were strangers.
I kept telling myself that Mom and Dad would
come back.
The kind woman who lent me her phone gave
me a concerned look.
“Sweetheart, aren’t your parents coming to
get you? You look like you’re about to pass
out from the heat. Are you okay?”
“It’s okay. I’ll wait here. They’ll be back.”
I said, shaking my head a little.
I couldn’t believe that Mom and Dad would
really leave me on the streets.
The woman looked at me for a moment, and
then sighed and walked away.
I heard her muttering to herself, “She’s just a
little kid. How could they just leave her here
like this? What kind of parents are they?”
I was sweating buckets.
But my heart was getting colder and colder,
until it felt like it was going to shatter.
Before I passed out, I managed to find some
police officers and begged them for help.
<
“Please, can you help me find my parents?
They’ve been gone for almost ten hours…”
And then I blacked out.
Mom and Dad found me at the police station.
The officers were trying to help me get better,
they gave me some water, the symptoms of
the heatstroke improved.
Mikey was sobbing.
Mom and Dad gathered around him, trying to
calm him down.
When they saw me, Dad looked embarrassed
and annoyed.
“Sorry to cause you guys trouble. The kid just
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took off on us. We were worried to death. We
looked everywhere for him.”
Mom put her arm around Mikey and dragged
me in front of her, her face hard.
“Ashley! What’s wrong with you? You can’t
just run off like that! And then you call the
police? Don’t you know you’re causing them
trouble? Look how scared you made your
brother.”
“Can’t you just be a little more considerate?
Why can’t you be like Mikey and give us a
break?”
I looked at Mikey, not saying anything.
But the police officer couldn’t take it
anymore.
“The little girl was waiting for you for ten
hours. She called you guys dozens of times
and you didn’t answer. You weren’t that
worried.”
Mom’s face froze.
She pulled out her phone and started
fumbling with it.
“The battery died. It was because the child
ran too fast…”
“Enough!”
The police officer who had brought me in cut
her off.
“Everyone saw it. You ran off after your son,
leaving your daughter alone in the plaza.”
Chapter 2
“Ten whole hours! The poor girl stood there
until she collapsed from heatstroke! And you
dare to say you were worried? You can’t just
abandon your daughter because you have a
son! What kind of parents are you?”
The officer’s words were harsh, ripping away
the flimsy excuses Mom and Dad were trying
to hide behind.
Mom and Dad couldn’t say a word, their faces
pale.
They apologized profusely to the officer and
then silently led me out of the police station.
They didn’t say a word all the way home.
The unspoken truth hung heavy between us,
and we all pretended that day hadn’t
happened.
After that, I threw myself into my studies even
harder, and my grades kept getting better.
When it was time for my freshman year, I
applied for a dorm room and barely came
home.
Mom and Dad’s lives revolved around Mikey,
and my pictures disappeared from their social
media.
It was like I didn’t exist.
During the winter holidays of my Junior year, I
came back home, taking my luggage by
myself.
I didn’t tell Mom and Dad ahead of time, so
they didn’t know school was out.
I immediately noticed something different
about the house.
There were only three pairs of slippers in the
shoe rack, three cups on the table, and my
picture was gone from the family portrait in
the living room.
It was like I had been erased.
I frowned and dragged my suitcase upstairs.
I was shocked to see that my old room had
become Mikey’s game room.
There were three gaming systems, and my
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things had been tossed into a corner like
trash.
Like me, no one cared for them.
It was like I had never been valued.
I felt a pang in my chest. I knew Mom and
Dad were growing distant, but I hadn’t
realized it was this bad.
I rationally told myself that I couldn’t stay
here tonight.
I should pack up my things and move out for
good.
My grades were good enough to get me
scholarships anywhere, and I could tutor after
high school to make enough money to pay for
L
I put my suitcase on the floor and started
gathering my things from the corner.
I kept my expression blank, ignoring the way
my hands were trembling.
Suddenly, the door burst open, and Mikey,
who was even bigger than last time, stormed
into the room and pointed at me.
“Who are you? What are you doing in my
house?”
I was taken aback. I hadn’t been home in so
long that Mikey didn’t recognize me.
I ignored him and kept packing.
But Mikey had the same bad temper as
before. Mom and Dad had spoiled him rotten.
L
When I didn’t answer, his eyes darte
