Counting Pennies, Losing Daughters

Termination of a family contract required both parties to be present while a staff member conducted an in-person assessment of the situation.

After I received my salary from my part-time job, I bought a ticket and went home, only to find out that my family had changed the door's password without informing me.

I stood outside the door for a moment before lowering my head and letting out a low chuckle. When I punched in Hannah's birthday, the door unlocked with a beep.

Mom, Dad, and Hannah were looking through the concert merchandise when I entered the house. The floor was covered with lightsticks, banners, and photos.

Mom's expression darkened when she saw me. "Finally crawling back home, are you?"

"Have you eaten, Lena?" Dad asked awkwardly.

I didn't bother answering him.

Mom scoffed and said, "It's pointless to ask her such a question. She's not the type of person to let herself go hungry."

She scrutinized me before continuing, "Why are you still dressed so unfashionably even though you're in university now? You look so timid. All the time you spent studying is going to go to waste. You'll never make a name for yourself in the future. You should learn a thing or two from Hannah."

Hannah was sitting next to Mom. Her skin was pale and smooth, and she was dressed in trendy clothes. The difference between her appearance and mine was like heaven and earth.

She pursed her lips and asked, "Can't you change the way you dress, Helena? It's so lame that it's embarrassing."

Laughter erupted around the house.

I didn't say a single word. I carried my suitcase into the storage room that had doubled as my bedroom ever since I was a child.

There was a moldy mattress on the floor. The ceiling light flickered occasionally.

After dinner, Mom and Dad gathered around Hannah to watch the concert videos.

"Mom, can you give me more money for my allowance?" I asked, "I'd like to get 800 dollars a month."

I considered cancelling the contract termination if Mom agreed to my request.

As expected, she rejected me.

Mom didn't even bother lifting her head when she asked, "Why do you need 800 dollars?"

"500 dollars isn't enough. I can't even feed myself."

"I also only had 500 dollars for my allowance every month back when I was a university student. I was even able to save up some money. Why can't you do the same?" she asked, finally looking up at me impatiently.

Suppressing my anger, I hissed, "Surely you know that everything is more expensive now. I can only afford to eat bread every day with 500 dollars. I even stopped having my period because of how I've been starving myself."

Mom shot to her feet and roared, "You ungrateful child! Taking care of a dog would have been more rewarding than taking care of you! Get out! Get out right now!"

Dad tried to smooth things over between Mom and me. He asked, "You just want more allowance, right? I'll give it—"

"Don't you dare!" Mom screamed as she snatched Dad's phone out of his hand. "Let her starve to death! I'll just pretend that I never had a daughter like her!"

Meanwhile, Hannah was leisurely painting her nails. "Hurry and apologize, Helena. 500 dollars is more than enough for you."

I slapped her hard across the face. The sound echoed clearly across the room.

Everyone was stunned.

"Shut up!" I roared as I glared at her. "Do you think I don't know that you get more than 10,000 dollars a month for your allowance?"

Mom hastily pulled Hannah behind her. Her eyes burned with hatred as she glared at me. "So what? Hannah is so well-behaved and obedient. I wouldn't treat you this way if you had even a sliver of her thoughtfulness. You're the one who landed yourself in your current circumstances!"

Her voice took on a self-righteous edge as she continued ranting. "I truly regret giving birth to you! We were happy with Hannah as our only daughter. Why did you come back? If only you had died in the village. We wouldn't be burdened by you if you did—"

Mom immediately shut her mouth when Dad cleared his throat loudly.

I scoffed and said, "Go on! Keep talking! You're finally exposing your true feelings."

Mom and Dad were in a tough financial situation when I was born. As a result, I was sent to live with my grandmother, Emily Watson, in the countryside while they worked in the city.

Two years later, Hannah was born.

Mom's and Dad's business was thriving at the time, and they earned a lot of money. They were over the moon with joy and treated Hannah as their lucky star. They moved into a brand new house and sent Hannah to the best kindergarten, forgetting all about me, even though I was their first child.

Grandma passed away when I was seven years old. It was only then that I returned to Mom and Dad's side.

Hannah was as pretty as a doll. She was also outgoing and talented.

Mom and Dad despised the way I looked next to her while dressed in my ill-fitting jacket. They also disapproved of the way I subconsciously smiled at anyone who looked my way. They thought that I wanted to curry favor with everyone.

I didn't have my own toothbrush or eating utensils. I slept on their bedroom floor when night fell. Occasionally, when we went out together, a stranger would point and ask about me.

Mom would give them a vague answer, telling them that I was their niece.

From Mom's perspective, I was still lacking compared to Hannah even after I successfully enrolled in a prestigious university, while Hannah barely made it into her undergraduate program.

She even criticized me as tears streamed down her face. "Why did you apply to such a good university? You just want to make Hannah look bad, don't you?"

I had felt extremely helpless against her accusations. I had simply wanted Mom and Dad to acknowledge me.

It was why I didn't question Mom at all when she complained about how our family was struggling financially in the last few years and could only afford to give me 500 dollars for my allowance.

Mom claimed that she was a fair person. She also only gave Hannah 500 dollars every month, nothing more.

I foolishly believed her lies.

It was incredibly difficult to regain a person's trust once it was lost.

Still being stubborn, Mom asked, "Why are you so money-minded? Are you unsatisfied with being in our family? You can forget about calling me your mother then. Go ahead and find yourself a pair of new parents. I don't need someone like you in our family!"

Dad pulled me aside and began blabbering into my ear, telling me not to take Mom's words to heart.

Meanwhile, Mom hollered, "Tell her to get out of here if she has the guts to do so! I still have another daughter! She can call someone else her mother. I don't care!"

I nodded. "Okay. I understand."

I then turned around and returned to the storage room, closing the door behind me.

The sounds of an argument and sobbing resounded from beyond the door.

I sat on the mattress and unlocked my phone.

The family contract app showed that there were only three days left before I was assigned a new family. In three days, I would have nothing to do with Mom, Dad, and Hannah anymore.

Mom pretended as if I didn't exist in the three days that followed. She accompanied Hannah to Charlie's events, bought the newest phone for her, intentionally threw my clothes on the floor when she was doing laundry, and only made enough food for three during meals.

On the morning of the third day, Mom, Dad, and Hannah visited the aquarium.

Mom finally spoke to me before they left. "You'll be receiving your scholarship money soon, right? Transfer the money to me as soon as possible. Don't be so selfish all the time. Think about what your family is going through."

I didn't say a word in response. I would be cutting ties with them soon anyway.

Someone knocked on the door at 11:00 am. The woman introduced herself as Sarah Morne, an employee of the family contract app.

"You're terminating your family contract today, correct? Both parties need to be present. Where are your parents?"

I called Mom and asked her to come home as soon as possible, so I could terminate my family contract with them.

"What are you up to this time, Helena? How dare you use the contract to threaten me? If only I didn't have a daughter like you. It's so embarrassing that you keep causing trouble like this."

I was just about to retort when Hannah began whining about wanting ice cream.

Mom didn't hesitate for even a second before she agreed.

Dad shouted into the receiver, "Stop making a fuss, Lena. Renew your family contract with us as usual. We'll talk more about this when we get home."

Sarah was a very kind person. She even made lunch for me.

Mom, Dad, and Hannah finally returned home around 10:00 pm, carrying bags of all sizes with them.

They were incredibly shocked when Sarah informed them of her purpose of being there.