Chapter 2

In the late autumn of my tenth year, Valerie brought Chloe home.

Chloe was half a year older than me. She wore a dirty, oversized men’s jacket, her hair was a matted mess, and dried snot was smeared across her face.

Valerie held her hand as if she were holding a priceless diamond, pulling her into the middle of our living room.

"Robert, Daisy, this is Chloe."

"Her parents are gone. Her relatives back in her hometown abused her. It was too heartbreaking to watch. I finalized the paperwork today. From now on, she’s our eldest daughter."

My dad and I stared at Chloe, completely stunned.

On the dining table, the box containing my tenth birthday cake was still sitting unopened. We hadn't even lit the candles yet.

My dad glanced at Chloe, frowned, and pulled Valerie into the kitchen.

"Valerie, adopting a child is a massive decision. How could you do this without talking to me first?"

"We only have a two-bedroom apartment. Daisy just finally got her own room. We don't have the space!"

The kitchen door wasn't fully closed. Valerie’s voice instantly spiked, loud and self-righteous.

"Talk to you? This is a human life we’re talking about! Robert, you make a modest salary, but does your mind have to be so incredibly small?"

"We have a roof over our heads in the city, while Chloe was starving in the countryside! If you just eat one less bite of meat, you can save a life. Do you not have any sense of basic human decency?"

My dad was left speechless.

That night, Valerie walked into my bedroom.

My dad had spent two months of his salary decorating this room for me. He had personally painted the walls pink and bought me a solid wood princess bed with safety rails.

Without saying a word, Valerie rolled up my blankets and threw them onto the floor.

"Daisy, you’re sleeping on the folding cot in the living room. Chloe has joint pain from her frostbite. She needs the thick mattress."

I clutched my teddy bear, my eyes burning red.

"Mom, this was the birthday present Dad bought me."

Valerie frowned, snatched the teddy bear out of my arms, and tossed it to Chloe, who was standing by the door with her head shrunk into her collar.

"It’s just a wooden bed frame, why are you being so dramatic? Daisy, you need to learn to be generous."

"You’ve had everything you wanted since you were born. Chloe has nothing. You won't die from sleeping on a cot for a while, but Chloe needs to feel the warmth of a family. How can you be so incredibly selfish?"

"Selfish."

That word was like a heavy stone Valerie repeatedly threw at my head, starting from the year I turned ten.

I huddled under my thin blanket, sleeping on the folding cot in the hallway.

The autumn chill seeped up through the hardwood floor. The cot was too narrow, and I rolled off twice in the middle of the night, bruising my knees.

The next morning, I woke up with a raging fever.

My dad went to the local market and bought a bag of fresh Honeycrisp apples. He washed them, peeled them, sliced them neatly, and brought them to me in a bowl.

"Daisy, sweetie, eat some apples. It'll help with the fever."

Just as I reached out my hand, Valerie walked out of her bedroom.

She snatched the bowl right out of his hands and dumped the apple slices into Chloe's plastic bowl.

"Chloe is severely malnourished. The doctor said she needs vitamin C. Daisy just has a common cold. She can just drink tap water."

My dad slammed his hands on the table and stood up.

"Valerie, I bought those for Daisy! Her fever is 102 degrees!"

Valerie sneered, slamming the empty bowl onto the counter.

"Why are you yelling at me, Robert? Daisy has a strong immune system. Sweating out a fever is good for her. Chloe has never even seen a fresh apple in her life!"

"You two sit here every day, counting pennies, terrified that someone else might get a crumb. It’s embarrassing! I just wanted to share a tiny portion of what we have with her, and you act like I'm asking for your life!"

Chloe stood behind Valerie, holding the bowl of apples. She shoved a large slice into her mouth, looking at me with wide, innocent eyes.

But beneath that timid look, there was a glint of greedy triumph.

I curled deeper into my thin blanket, my throat feeling like sandpaper.

I could only watch as Valerie gently wiped the apple juice from Chloe's chin with a tissue, never once glancing at my fever-flushed face.

Back then, I didn't understand why a mother’s love had to be bought with my own suffering and hunger.