Chapter 2The Substitute Sister

I had fallen so far behind in my classes over the past few years that the teachers had basically given up on me.

Fortunately, when I called my homeroom teacher earlier to ask for the homework assignments, she took pity on me out of respect for my late mother. She kindly told me what they were and suggested I buy some foundational workbooks to start from the absolute basics.

The next day at school, my classmates and teachers were shocked by my new appearance.

My homeroom teacher nodded approvingly. "See how energetic you look now? You used to look like a little delinquent. What was so great about that?"

I stood up and bowed deeply to the teachers. "I apologize for the trouble I caused everyone before. I was immature. I will study hard from now on."

If my mom hadn't gone to the school countless times to plead with the teachers and administrators, I probably would have been expelled a long time ago.

I did all those things to get my dad’s attention, but the only person who suffered the consequences was my mom. He never showed up to school once.

Many students assumed I was from a single-parent household. A teacher even did a home visit specifically to try and help me.

When she discovered that I was the sister of the model student, Chloe, she could only sigh helplessly. "How can two girls raised in the same house be so different?"

My dad quickly pulled Chloe forward to pour water for the teacher, acting incredibly subservient and fawning. "Our Chloe has weak health. We really rely on the teachers to take good care of her at school."

My mom and I just stood to the side in silence.

Before she died, my mom left me a little bit of money. It was the college fund she had managed to scrape together for me over the years.

I signed up for online courses and studied like my life depended on it for a month. Finally, my test scores were no longer completely embarrassing.

Chloe’s birthday arrived. It was her 18th, and my dad insisted on throwing a proper celebration.

However, since we couldn't afford a restaurant, he cooked the meal himself and told Chloe to invite her friends over.

My mom’s portrait was still hanging in the house. It hadn't even been seven days since her funeral.

The kitchen was filled with ingredients my dad had bought. They were all Chloe’s favorites.

"Chloe can't eat spicy food," he said when he saw me chopping Thai chilies.

I ignored him and kept chopping.

He suddenly marched over, grabbed my wrist, and snatched the knife away. "I told you, Chloe can't eat spicy food! She just recovered. What are you trying to do?!"

He yelled for a bit, but apparently, that wasn't enough. He switched to a preachy, earnest tone. "Today is your sister’s 18th birthday. Can we please just not fight? Can we let her have a happy birthday? Just consider it a favor to your dad."

What about my 18th birthday?

I spent my 18th birthday in the hospital with my mom.

He didn't even say "Happy Birthday." He only remembered the next day when he saw the empty cake box in the hospital room, and quickly bought a cheap trinket from a stall outside the hospital to make up for it.

"Serena!" Chloe gasped. "Your hand!"

Only then did I feel the burning sting in my palm. Blood was running down my fingertips and dripping onto the floor.

The knife had sliced a long, thin gash across my palm. It wasn't deep, but it bled profusely.

My dad jumped in shock and hastily threw the knife onto the cutting board.

"Serena, Daddy didn't mean to." His voice trembled as he carefully searched my face. "Daddy will take you to the hospital to get it bandaged right now."

I pushed his hand away. "Today is Chloe’s birthday."

He froze.

"I can go by myself. It's not that serious."

With that, I grabbed my phone and ID and walked out of the apartment.

I didn't see my dad standing by the door, watching my back for a long time, murmuring, "Has Serena... changed?"