Chapter 4

In front of our parents, Chloe threw a massive tantrum. She stomped her feet, tears flowing on command.

"I want the latest iPad Pro! Everyone in my class has one for graduation except me! I can't even play games properly!"

As she spoke, she snatched the 98th Favoritism Coupon from her pink wallet and slammed it onto the wooden dining table. The paper made a sharp slap against the wood.

She shot me a smug look, as if this was completely natural.

"Mom, I'm using this coupon. Make Hazel transfer her grant money to me so I can buy my iPad!"

Mom, habitually taking the coupon, looked at me and said,

"Hazel, tell your counselor that Chloe needs the grant more. Bring the application materials out and sign them over to Chloe."

Dad put down his phone and chimed in, his tone taking it for granted.

"What's wrong with fulfilling Chloe's wish for once? Don't forget her ears are like that because of you. You can't always be so greedy over a little money."

I clenched the edge of the table, my knuckles turning white.

Eighteen years of accumulated resentment finally exploded.

"This is my merit grant! The school gave it to me because I work part-time while maintaining top grades! On what grounds do you expect me to just hand it over to her?"

I raised my voice, openly defying them for the first time.

My parents looked shocked. Even Chloe froze.

"Chloe has everything she wants, clothes, jewelry, allowance. I have to work part-time just to afford food, and you've never once asked if I was struggling. Why do you always sacrifice me for her?"

When she saw me talk back, Chloe cried even harder. She threw herself into Mom's arms, clutching her sleeve.

"Hazel just hates me! She's doing this on purpose! She broke my ears, and now she won't even let me have this little thing!"

That sentence was the spark that ignited Mom's fury.

She stood up abruptly, rushed over to me, and slapped me hard across the face.

SLAP.

The sharp sound echoed in the quiet living room.

My cheek instantly burned with pain, and my ears rang.

My head was whipped to the side. I tasted copper as my teeth cut into my inner lip.

"I raised you to eighteen just so you could talk back to us and fight with Chloe?"

Mom's chest heaved with anger, her eyes filled with disgust and disappointment.

"Chloe's ears were ruined by you. You have your health. What's wrong with letting her have some benefits?"

*I've let her have everything for eighteen years. Isn't that enough?*

Holding my burning cheek, my eyes welled with tears, but I stubbornly refused to let them fall.

No matter how obedient I was, the moment I showed any resistance to Chloe, I would only get blamed.

But the selfish, cowardly ones were them.

The image of that congenital deafness diagnosis kept flashing in my mind.

My heart felt as cold as ice.

"I didn't break her ears," I whispered, my voice trembling. I was so close to spitting out the truth about the medical report, but I held it in.

Revealing it now was pointless. It would only bring more intense accusations.

I just needed to quietly take my SAT and leave this place forever.

Mom assumed I was just being stubborn. She let out a cold laugh and turned to Dad.

"Go to the school tomorrow morning and tell them to transfer Hazel's grant to Chloe's name. I'll get the paperwork."

That night, while I was showering, Mom pried open my desk drawer and took all my application materials.

The next day, my counselor called, her voice full of pity and helplessness.

"Hazel, your mom insisted that Chloe has health issues and demanded the grant be transferred to her. I couldn't stop her."

After hanging up, I went back to the living room. Chloe was playing with the used coupon, crumpling it up and tossing it into the trash.

My parents were huddled around her, picking out iPad models on Amazon, laughing and chatting.

I was always the outsider. Why should I even care?

I walked back to my room, picked up my pencil, and firmly crossed out the 98th grid.

*Give the grant to Chloe.*

Only one coupon left.

Once it was gone, my debt to this family would be fully paid.

I would apply to a college as far away as possible, and I would never see them again.