Chapter 3
With Caleh Joining my cause, my father’s hesitant expression began to soften.
But my mother eyed me suspiciously, looking me up and down.
“What if you go to college and then disappear after graduation? Who’ll take care of us then? There’s a college graduate from our village whose parents can’t even find him now.”
At her words, my father, Raymond, also grew suspicious, staring intently at me while smoking, trying to determine if I was telling the truth.
My heart sank as I feared my college plans might evaporate. I quickly said:
“I can sign a contract! And I’ll choose a college close to home, then come right back to find work after graduation!”
As my mother tried to argue further, my father extinguished his
arette a
and displayed a rare moment of warmth.
“How could I not trust you? Tiffany, you’re my daughter. You and Caleb share the same blood. Our family should be harmonious and supportive of each other…”
However, my mother’s face darkened beside him, she sneered:
“What’s the point of all this education for a girl? She should get a job now, bring home money to support our family, and when she gets married, at least she won’t be around giving us headaches.”
“Mom!” Caleb suddenly interrupted, raising his voice in protest. “With just a high school diploma, how much could she make at some retail job? She’d end up marrying some broke loser. Forget buying me a house–she probably couldn’t even afford a used car.”
My father also timely shot my mother a harsh glare before half–heartedly smoothing things over.
“Don’t take your mother seriously. She didn’t get much schooling–sharp as a bowling ball, that one.”
Then he put on a show of scolding Caleb.
“Why are you still playing games? That’s unacceptable. Your sister is willing to buy you a car and a house, and you can’t even repay her by writing up this contract yourself? Do you expect her to do that too?”
Hearing this, Caleb didn’t throw his usual tantrum. Instead, he tossed his phone aside, shuffled over in his slippers to find paper and a pen, and began writing the contract with everyone watching. When he finished, he thoughtfully dug out an ink pad from a corner.
With a forced smile, I signed my name and pressed my fingerprint onto the paper, then proceeded to fill out my college application right in front of
them.
After watching me complete everything, father and son were unusually cheerful, while my mother let out a heavy snort and rolled her eyes, then stated his conditions:
“Let me make this clear: since you’re the one who wants to go to college, you’ll have to earn your own tuition and living expenses. All the money in this house belongs to Caleb–you don’t get a penny. Since you’ve already submitted your application, you’ll start working for money tomorrow. And you broke my door, so you’re paying for it.”
Facing her merciless demands, I gritted my teeth and agreed to everything, then secretly changed my college preferences later that night.
