The high school I attended was a private school with excellent teaching quality and a nice environment, so the tuition wasn’t cheap. Zoe’s dad owed a ton of debt and definitely couldn’t afford the tuition, and as for her mom, she didn’t seem to have a job at the moment.
“Your Aunt Lily has found a job and starts tomorrow, so she’ll pay for Zoe’s tuition. I’ll only cover her daily expenses. After all, we’re married now, and it doesn’t feel right to be too calculative about these small matters. Dad hopes you can understand,” my dad replied.
I nodded, indicating that I was fine with it. “But my allowance needs to increase!”
My dad fondly patted my head and said, “No problem.”
Just when I was relieved that this new sister, though a bit annoying at first, seemed okay after a few days of living together, she started causing trouble.
Although my mom worked abroad, she still sent me gifts every month, mostly jewelry and clothes. I kept them all carefully in my room.
Every time I opened a package, Zoe would come over to look. I had reminded her not to enter my room without permission, and she had obediently agreed.
Until one summer day, I accidentally discovered a selfie in her social media posts. She was wearing a dress from a niche luxury brand.
It happened to be exactly the same as the birthday gift my mom had sent me last year. When I got home and opened my closet, the dress was indeed missing.
During dinner that evening, I pretended to casually mention that I had seen her photo and asked Zoe, “Your dress is very pretty. When did you buy it?”
A flash of panic crossed her face as she stammered, “Just… just a while ago. I bought it randomly while shopping.”
“Isn’t that dress quite expensive? Since when did you have so much money?” I continued to ask.
Unexpectedly, Zoe suddenly got angry and slammed the table. “Why do you keep asking? Can’t I buy clothes? Are you jealous that I have nice things?”
“I’m just asking because I just lost a dress exactly like yours,” I explained.
“You lost something and you’re questioning me? I’ve never been in your room!” she shouted self–righteously.
I nodded, “If you’ve never been in my room, then there must be a thief in the house. The price of the dress I lost is enough to file a police report.” I said as I took out my phone, preparing to call the police.
“Why are you calling the police? I… I thought the dress looked nice, so I wanted to borrow it,” Zoe tried to grab my phone but I dodged her.
“Borrow? Did you ask me? Did I agree? Taking without asking is stealing!” I retorted.
“You’re being too harsh! I just wore it once! I was going to return it to you!” Zoe yelled at me.
“Where’s the dress? Give it back to me!” I extended my hand towards her.
She reluctantly took out a crumpled dress from her backpack and handed it to me.
The brand new dress now had a large tear in it.
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“I… I accidentally damaged it,” she said, her voice filled with guilt.
“I had never worn this dress. It cost $1,280. Pay up,” I said, putting the dress back in her hands.
“How can it be over a thousand dollars? Just say you want to extort money from me!” Zoe jumped up angrily when she heard the price.
I couldn’t be bothered to argue with her. I went back to my room and found the receipt, then handed it to her.
To my surprise, she snatched the receipt and tore it into pieces, then threw it along with the dress into the trash can. She said smugly, “Now there’s no receipt, and your dress is just garbage. I won’t pay for it.”
The birthday gift from my mom that I hadn’t even worn myself, she ruined it and called it garbage.
Filled with rage, I raised my hand and slapped her hard across the face. Zoe was stunned for a few seconds before she started fighting back.
Just then, Lily came home from work and saw us wrestling on the floor. She rushed over to pull us apart.
On the surface, she was breaking up the fight, but she was actually pinching my soft waist several times.
So I simply started fighting both of them indiscriminately.
Seeing that I was attacking without discrimination, Lily also began to pull my hair. While fighting, she cursed, “You little bitch, your dad is on a business trip, and no one can protect you now. You’ve been so arrogant towards us. If I don’t beat you to death today, I’m not Lily!”
I couldn’t fight both of them alone. Seizing the opportunity, I bit down hard on Lily’s thigh.
She screamed, pounding on me to make me let go, but the more she and Zoe hit me, the harder I bit down, until my mouth was filled with the taste of blood.
Only when Lily and Zoe let go did I release my bite, wiping the blood from the corner of my mouth.
While they went to the hospital to get bandaged, I quickly went back to my room to pack my luggage.
The next day, I woke up early. While Lily and her daughter were still asleep, I set the central air conditioning temperature to 90 degrees Fahrenheit and packed all the remote controls and keys into my suitcase.
Before leaving, I changed the password on the smart lock and locked the door. The smart lock couldn’t be opened from the inside without the password.
With the summer heat in River City reaching nearly 104 degrees Fahrenheit, you two can enjoy yourselves at home.
After doing all this, I dragged my suitcase out, my hair messy and clothes torn from yesterday’s fight with Lily and her daughter.
To exit the community, I had to pass through a small park within the complex. At this time, it was when the elderly residents did their morning exercises.
We had lived in this community for a long time. My parents were kind people, and I often tutored the neighborhood kids because of my good grades, so many residents knew me.
I walked towards the main gate, crying. Soon, I was stopped by someone.
“Oh my, isn’t this the little girl from the Ava’s family? What happened to you?” an old lady asked me.
I shook my head, wiping my tears without saying a word.
I knew this old lady. Her name was Mrs. Johnson, and she lived in apartment 301 of our building.
“Where’s your dad? Who bullied you? Tell me, grandma will stand up for you,” Mrs. Johnson said, holding my hand sympathetically.
At the mention of my dad, I cried even louder, saying I missed my parents.
Hearing the commotion, people nearby gathered around, asking what had happened.
Between sobs, I told them about yesterday’s events. During my story, a kind–hearted aunt knowing I hadn’t eaten even gave me two
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I cried while saying I couldn’t stay in that house anymore and was going to find my grandparents.
The aunt who gave me the sandwiches was Mrs. Brown, known in our community for being gossipy but kind–hearted.
After hearing my story, Mrs. Brown slapped her thigh and said, “I knew that mother and daughter weren’t good people. When they first moved in, they were so unfriendly when I greeted them. I can’t believe they would bully the child like this when her father is away. They really have no conscience!”
“That’s right, no stepmother truly cares for her stepchild. Poor Ava,” someone else chimed in.
“She’s a mother herself, how could she do such a thing?” another person added.
Mrs. Johnson combed my messy hair while speaking, and Mrs. Brown went home to get some iodine to disinfect the scratches on my neck.
After Mrs. Brown finished treating my wounds, I stood up and bowed to thank everyone, saying I was going to stay at my grandparents‘ house.
As I left the community, I could still hear indignant discussions behind me.
You’ve messed with the wrong person. The neighbors‘ gossip alone will drown you.
Just as I got into the car, Lily’s call came through. I hung up and then turned off my phone.
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When I arrived at my grandparents‘ house, I dropped my suitcase as soon as I entered the yard and threw myself into my grandmother’s arms, crying loudly..
Seeing me like this, my grandmother immediately panicked and patted my back, asking, “What happened? Why are you so upset?”
After I explained what had happened, my grandfather slammed the table and wanted to go settle accounts with my dad. I quickly stopped them, saying I had my own way of dealing with them.
My grandfather fondly patted my head, telling me to rest well while he went to get some chilled watermelon for me.
As I ate the cold watermelon, lying in the rocking chair and enjoying the air conditioning, I turned on my phone.
Sure enough, there were a bunch of missed calls and unread messages. Just then, Lily called again. I answered the phone and pressed record.
Lily started cursing right away, “You little bitch, where did you run off to? Where are the remote controls? Are you trying to roast us to death? Why can’t we open the door? I’m going to be late for work, are you going to take responsibility? You’re just asking for a beating. When you come back, I’ll beat you to death!”
I held the phone far from my ear. Lily, who usually acted gentle and virtuous in front of my dad, was actually a shrew.
After she finished cursing, I calmly replied, “What remote controls? I don’t know what you’re talking about. Oh, by the way, I’m at my grandparents‘ house now. Don’t bother calling me if it’s not important.”
Without giving Lily a chance to speak again, I hung up the phone and then sent a picture of the watermelon to Zoe.
As expected, Zoe angrily sent a bunch of voice messages. I didn’t need to listen to know what they contained.
