Chapter 5

"Richard, look at them! Do they even look like twins anymore? You’ve raised Chloe into a pig!"

"They are twins! They are supposed to look exactly the same!"

As Eleanor spoke, she began to cry tears of sheer frustration.

Richard knew about her OCD, but still, he tried to reason with her. "It’s normal for twins to look a bit different, Eleanor."

"There are no two identical people in the world. Besides, they could be fraternal twins..."

Richard tried to talk science, but Eleanor couldn't hear a word. She slapped him across the face.

"Richard! I don't care about other people! My children must be identical!"

"Look at what you dressed her in! And her hair! Her weight! Everything is wrong!"

In Eleanor's eyes, everything was Richard’s fault.

If I could speak, I would have asked her: "Why can't it be that your parenting is just terrible?"

"Why do I have to shape my life to match Clara’s?"

I was the older twin, yet in both lives, Eleanor favored Clara, making her the gold standard for everything.

Having been slapped for no reason, Richard’s patience snapped. The anger he had suppressed for years finally erupted, and he roared back at her.

"Eleanor Vance! Do you honestly believe you are the only correct person in this entire world?"

"Squeezing the toothpaste from the middle is a crime to you! Stepping into the house with my left foot first is a crime! Wearing a gray tie with a black suit is a crime! Even the order in which I eat my dinner is a crime in this house!"

"And now, raising a child to be healthy is a crime too?"

"Eleanor, you are the one who is sick! I have had enough of your madness!"

Richard looked magnificent. He had voiced the very questions I had kept locked in my heart for over a decade in my past life.

Eleanor was stunned into silence. I couldn't tell if she actually processed his words or if she was just shocked by his sudden defiance.

Silence filled the room.

After a long while, Eleanor still didn't speak, but tears streamed down her face like broken pearls.

Ultimately, Richard sighed and softened.