My So-Called Family

"You've been hiding money again, you ungrateful brat!" Arnold shouted at me furiously.

Miranda came right at me in a rage, hitting me too. "You've got money to eat meat, but you won't share it with us? When did you become so selfish?!"

I tried to dodge, clutching the beef tightly to my chest.

They were both dressed cleanly and neatly. Sandy wore a red dress and carried a designer bag, looking every bit like a pampered princess. Meanwhile, my hair was split and tangled, my clothes full of patches, my shoes scavenged from trash bins with holes in my shoes, and my whole body filthy like a beggar.

Sobbing, I shoved the meat into my mouth as fast as I could.

It was so delicious.

I'd never eaten anything so tasty in my life.

The moment the beef went into my mouth, all my pain seemed to disappear.

Seeing me eating the beef made my parents even angrier. Arnold pried my hands away and smashed the bowl of beef onto my head. "All you know is eat, eat, and eat like a pig! Here! Have your fill!"

Chunks of beef stuck to my hair and face.

I watched as Sandy wrinkled her nose and backed away in disgust, laughing at me. "So dirty…"

Everyone else just saw it as a family matter. No one stepped in to help. Before they left, my parents made sure to take the last few ten-dollar bills I had left.

"If you make any money, you give it to us. Got it?" Miranda yanked my ear, warning me fiercely.

I nodded obediently.

Watching them walk away harmoniously, my eyes went dull.

So, they were a family—and I was nothing but unwanted trash!

I stumbled out of the restaurant and into a pouring rain, the rainwater washing over my battered body. I finally collapsed on the roadside, rescued by a kind stranger.

The scene from my memory shifted.

I was holding my mobile phone, listening in.

When Carl told me Miranda was sick, I sent him everything I had. I even borrowed three months' salary in advance to send over. To pay it all back, I worked around the clock, so I couldn't go home to visit Miranda.

I never knew exactly how much her treatment had cost. Whatever it was, I gave what I could. I had already done my best. I only found out Miranda was paralyzed later, after I returned home. By then, all I felt was helplessness.

When the memory ended, the screen froze on the image of my tenacious but small, fragile figure, still hard at work. That sight alone was beginning to tip the scales in everyone's hearts.

The staff tried searching for any memory of me tricking my parents into selling the house for money, or spending it on a lavish lifestyle, but found nothing. There was no evidence of me living a high life on my own.

The judge and the jurors fell silent.

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

After several long minutes, someone finally burst out indignantly.

"Outrageous! Are they really her parents?"

"They're the ones who should be found guilty!"

"Is Lauren really their biological daughter? Why do they treat her like an enemy?"

My parents hung their heads, unable to meet the jurors' eyes. Andy fumbled with his phone, as if trying to make calls to contact someone, but looked completely lost when they couldn't get through. Sandy pulled her hat lower, as if afraid of being recognized.

"Jurors, you may now deliver your verdict on this charge. Guilty or not guilty?"