Chapter 5

On the day the SAT scores were released, my parents gathered around Chloe in the living room to check her score.

I sat alone in my room, checking mine on a cheap, laggy secondhand phone they had discarded.

The screen kept loading.

Outside, I heard Mom's gentle voice. "Chloe, you did so well! 1000 is an amazing score. I'm so proud of you!"

It wasn't until noon that my screen finally loaded: 1580.

I gripped my phone and let out a long breath. I finally had the ticket to escape this place.

That evening, Mom asked me casually how much I scored.

Before I could answer, Chloe spoke up. "She got a 1580. She's the top scorer in our school."

At that, Chloe's eyes welled with tears. "If my ears were fine, I wouldn't be so stupid. I wouldn't have scored so low. Mom, should I even be alive?"

Mom shot me a look of annoyance, then quickly comforted Chloe. "We don't care about her score. You will always be our pride."

A sudden ache hit my chest. The beloved child is never blamed even with a terrible score, while the unloved child's achievements go unnoticed. Even though Chloe couldn't even get into a decent college.

Looking at the two score reports, Mom suddenly took my hand, her tone taking my compliance for granted.

"Hazel, your high score is useless anyway. Our family is under tight financial pressure right now. Chloe wants to go to a private university, and the tuition is over thirty thousand a year. That's more than a hundred thousand for four years."

"You shouldn't go to college. Go find a job. Send all your monthly paychecks home to support Chloe through her four years."

I snapped my head up. My 1580 score was the future I had traded my sleepless nights for. In their eyes, it wasn't even worth Chloe's overpriced private college tuition.

"This is my life. I want to go to college too," my voice shook.

Dad agreed from the side. "What's the use of a girl getting so much education? Chloe has bad hearing. It'll be hard for her to find a job later. She needs a degree to back her up."

"You're healthy. It's your duty to work early and support the family."

"Besides, she's using her last coupon. Just let her have this last one."

Chloe leaned back on the sofa, speaking nonchalantly. "You're so smart, you'll have plenty of chances to study later. This is my only chance to get a bachelor's degree. Why can't you just help me out?"

The last bit of warmth in my heart evaporated completely. But my face remained calm, pretending to submit.

"Fine. I'll listen to you. I'll look for a job and skip college."

Seeing me give in, my parents immediately beamed with joy. They turned back to Chloe, planning her college life, completely ignoring me.

They never would have guessed that their obedient daughter was lying.

I found a summer job and rarely went home.

I hid it from everyone and secretly accepted an offer from Columbia University in New York, thousands of miles away.

The day the admission letter arrived, I packed a single suitcase and quietly boarded a train to New York.

Before the train started moving, I blocked all of their contact info.

When my parents finally realized I was gone, they panicked.