Chapter 4

4: 4

Fury shot straight to my head, and I lunged across the room to grab it back.

But it was already too late. The dress had gone into the trash can, soaked through with spilled milkshake and spicy-noodle broth, filthy beyond saving.

One of the kids must have thrown up milk in there, because the whole dress reeked of sour, curdled formula.

I looked up at my mother. "I told you I wasn't lending it out!"

The cold look on my face made the child burst into tears.

My mother just curled her lip. "I only wanted your sister to try it on. It's not like I was taking it. Who knew the thing would be such cheap junk?"

She gathered Vanessa's and Trevor's kids into her arms and cooed at them.

"Don't cry, don't cry. Auntie's being mean. Grandma will beat Auntie up for you."

And with that, my mother swatted me hard, several times across the body.

The children shrieked with laughter and all rushed at me, punching and kicking.

They were only kids, but the kicks still hurt.

I tried to dodge and couldn't, all eight of them packed in tight around me on every side.

My brother didn't even look up from his phone game. "Come on, second sis, don't be so dramatic. They're little. How much can it hurt? I let them walk all over my back for a massage at home all the time."

My sister rolled her eyes at me, impatient. "You're the only one in this whole family who went to a good school. With all that education, you can stay home and teach the kids something. I'll bring you back a souvenir. Quit making a scene."

"Ever since you were little it's been crying and carrying on. Honestly."

I shoved the children off me, one by one, my face blank.

Seeing that I stayed cold, none of them dared come at me again.

My mother's expression froze. "The kids come to visit and you can't even give them a smile. What kind of aunt are you?"

I ignored her and turned back to my room without a word.

I straightened the clothes they'd thrown everywhere, folding them one at a time.

Then I fit the two halves of my laptop back together, planning to take it in later to recover the data.

My mother and the two of them didn't care in the least. They kept chattering away in the living room.

"What's she going to do? These past couple of years she pulled the same long face, and she still watched the kids for us, didn't she?"

"The last two years she said it was too much, taking care of Mom and the kids both. So this year we're bringing Mom along, aren't we?"

"Right. And here I was, going out of my way to lighten her load. What an ungrateful little brat."

"Forget it, leave her be. The flight's in a few hours. Whether she likes it or not, she'll watch them. She's not going to just abandon the kids."

They were certain I'd cave, the way I always had.

My feelings didn't register with them at all.

I spent a good ten or fifteen minutes tidying up, and as I headed out the door,

the neighbor stared at me, puzzled. "Your sister and brother took your mom and the kids down to the market for snacks, said they'd eat them on the way. Are you going on the trip too? Then who's watching the kids?"

Even the neighbor had it fixed in her mind that I was the one staying home with them.

I gave a bitter little laugh and didn't say much. "I've got somewhere to be."

Dragging my few bags behind me, I hailed a cab to the airport.

Seven hours in the air, and I finally met the woman who'd been reaching out to me all this time.

After the hug, my phone buzzed.

It was my mother, posting in the family group chat.

【We're about to board the plane. Stop hiding in your room and get out here and make the kids dinner.】

【The baby cereal for the two little ones has to be blended smooth. They don't have teeth yet.】

【Where are you? Answer me.】

【You get out here right now, or I swear I'll break the door down!】

Ten minutes later, a flood of calls and texts hit my phone.

The whole screen was one long interrogation.

【Where the hell did you go! Get back here now.】

I typed back one flat reply. 【Something came up, I'm out. Eight kids is a breeze, you've got this. Thanks for all your hard work, Mom.】

Before my mother could start screaming, I switched off my phone.