Chapter 329 Never Truly Wanted
Elliot had no idea how long it took for the pain in his gut to finally settle.
By then, he was drenched in cold sweat, completely drained, his limbs limp and lifeless.
65%=
Finished
Still, he forced himself to sit back up. His fingers trembled as he turned to the next page of the diary.
June 20th, 2007. Sunday. Overcast.
I spent a week in the hospital. Today, I got to come home.
These p
past few days, I’ve felt hurt. Disappointed. But watching Mom and Dad rush around for me, afraid something might happen… I softened.
At the orphanage, no one cared when we got sick. We just had to wait it out, alone, in our beds. You survived or you didn’t. That was it.
These people–my family–they were the first to care whether I lived or died.
Yes, they’ve hurt me. Deeply. But even so, I found myself wanting to hold onto the tiny bits of warmth they showed me.
I told myself that hearts are made of flesh. If I treated them with kindness long enough, maybe one day they’d truly treat me like family too.
So I was excited. I couldn’t wait to go home–even if it meant going back to a place that had hurt me. I still hoped I could belong.
I bought little gifts for everyone, using the scholarship money I’d saved. I thought maybe, just maybe, it’d make them happy. Maybe it’d bring us closer. Maybe they’d finally accept me.
But when I handed out the gifts, Elliot looked at the tie picked for him…. and without hesitation, threw it straight into the trash.
“You think I’d wear that cheap garbage? You want me to be laughed out of the office?” he said coldly, “Don’t give me this useless junk. It’s disgusting.”
Morn and Dad gave the presents a passing glance. The expressions were complicated–hard to read–but somehow, I understood the message in their eyes:
Cheap. Tacky.
They were right, I guess.
I am tacky. I’m poor. My scholarship money couldn’t buy luxury items. But I gave everything I had. I tried so hard to be kind to them.
That moment felt like being stabbed by a hundred needles. It hurt so badly.
What more could I do? How could I make them see me as part of the family?
Maybe I should never have come back.
1/2
Chapter 329 Never Truly Wanted.
June 21st, 2007. Monday. Light rain.
I got punished again today.
I’m starting to think… maybe this really isn’t my home. Maybe it never was.
I
Before leaving for school this morning, I wrote a note
If you don’t want me here. I’ll go back to the orphanag
Finished
If there’s no love, then let’s stop torturing each other. I’ve lived in loneliness before. That’s easier than being looked at like I’m dut every single day.
I left for school in a fog. I couldn’t focus all day. My mind was stuck replaying every little thing that had happened at home.
When classes ended. I got on my bike and rode back to the orphanage..
It started to rain. Cold. Steady.
But when I saw that familiar gate, a strange calm washed over me. I felt… safe.
Thadn’t even gotten off my bike when I saw it–the Bennett family car parked right outside.
Dad stepped out. The moment he saw me, soaked and shivering, he didn’t ask if I was cold. Didn’t ask where I’d been.
He slapped me across the face,
The sound of it cracked through the rain, sharp and mean. My cheek burned like fire.
He pointed at me and shouted, “You ungrateful brat! We spent years trying to find you! You finally come home and now you’re pulling this nonsense? Running way to threaten us?”
His eyes bulged with fury, like I’d just committed some unforgivable crime.
I clutched my cheek, tears pooling in my eyes. I tried to explain, “Dad, I wasn’t trying to threaten you. I just… I just don’t want to be hit and yelled at anymore.
But before I could finish, Mom cut me off.
Her eyes were wet, her voice trembling with heartbreak and rage. “It’s pitch black out what are you doing out this late? You’re not out there with some man, are you? A girl your age, running wild like this… if you end
up pregnant, you’ll disgrace this entire family!”
The disappointment in her eyes… it crushed me.
Then Elliot came over, his voice full of warning. “If you embarrass the Bennett name, I’ll break your legs. I’d rather lock you up than let you humiliate us.”
458
目
2/2
2152 Wed, Apr 16 G.
The Heiress Revived from the Ashes
