My Family Regret When They Lose Me Chapter 02
I walked in the rain for a long time.
My forehead throbbed, but the pain was clarifying.
I found a 24-hour urgent care clinic and had the wound treated. While I sat in the waiting area for the rain to let up, I called the recruiter in London.
“Hello. I’ll accept the job.”
She was thrilled, repeating, “That’s wonderful,” several times.
Less than a minute after we hung up, I received my flight information for London the following afternoon.
On the way back, my mother sent me a message.
Her tone was as cold and hard as ever.
“Go to the hospital and get that wound taken care of. Once you’ve calmed down, think about what I said. Stop being so selfish.”
“Sofia isn’t my biological child, but her mother died saving me. It’s only right that I look after her more than you.”
“You’re an adult now. Why can’t you understand that?”
I stared at the screen for a long time as tears began to fall again.
It wasn’t that I didn’t understand.
I had tried to be good to Sofia.
I saved three months of allowance to buy her a limited-edition American Girl doll.
The next day, she came to me hugging the doll, her eyes red, a cut on her finger.
Someone had stuffed a needle into the doll’s stomach.
She was sobbing too hard to form a sentence.
“Beatrice, if you don’t like me, I can leave…”
That night, my parents made me stand on the front porch all night long.
The rain was freezing.
No matter how I tried to explain, no one believed me.
Later, I shared a box of snacks with her—something I’d been saving for myself.
She took two bites, then broke out in a rash, clutching her throat and gasping for breath.
“I told you… I’m allergic to cashews… You tricked me into eating this…”
That was the first time my mother hit me.
My father smashed his glass on the floor, telling me I didn’t know the first thing about being a sister.
But I hadn’t done anything.
At first, I didn’t understand why she did things like that.
Not until I saw her shove my favorite cat off the second-floor balcony with my own eyes.
I ran downstairs and gathered up the small, twitching body. She came down slowly behind me and whispered in my ear:
“I want everything you love.”
“If I can’t have it, I’ll destroy it.”
“Your parents are good to me, but this cat wouldn’t let me hold it. I got tired of looking at it.”
My phone rang, pulling me back to the present.
It was Marco.
I hesitated, then answered.
“Beatrice, I love you.”
His voice was urgent, a little breathless.
Before I could speak, the call ended.
I’d heard people say that if a man suddenly tells you he loves you in the middle of the night, chances are he’s just betrayed you.
I used to think that was too cynical.
Now I believed it.
Whether Marco still loved me or not didn’t matter anymore.
There was no going back for us.
I took a cab back to our apartment in Manhattan.
We’d been staying at my parents’ place for Chloe’s sake, but all the documents for my new job were here. I had to get them.
And there were a few other things I needed to end.
The moment I keyed in the code and walked in, I was hit by the smell of cigarette smoke, mixed with a scent that made my stomach churn.
A shirt I’d ironed for Marco countless times was crumpled on the floor beside the sofa.
On top of it was a pair of pink lace panties.
Torn condom wrappers lay next to the trash can.
I stood there, frozen.
Sofia’s voice drifted from the bedroom.
“Marco, you’re so obedient. I just told you to call Beatrice and say you loved her as a joke. I didn’t think you’d actually do it.”
“Aren’t you worried she’d hear something in your voice?”
Marco let out a low laugh.
“I wasn’t thinking about her. If I don’t keep you happy, will you ever give me any peace?”
Sofia gave a light laugh.
“Then tell me—who do you want more, me or Beatrice?”
“You, obviously. Beatrice is great in every other way, but she’s too stiff. Especially in bed. It’s like she’s just… not there.”
I clapped a hand over my mouth, peering through the crack in the door at the two of them.
My stomach lurched.
I braced myself against the wall, doubled over, and retched.