My father, David, and my stepmother, Linda, forced me to drop out of school and work to pay for my stepsister Chloe's college tuition.
It wasn't until I discovered that Chloe was just pretending to be a top student that I realized their plan: once I got into college, they were going to have Chloe take my place.
Once I knew the truth, I just gave up.
They tried everything they could think of to convince me to keep studying.
I was less than six months old when my mother passed away. After that, I was sent to live with my grandmother for many years, only returning five years ago when she passed away.
My father had moved on with a new partner, and he also had a stepsister, Chloe, who was a year younger than me. He showered her with love, and my arrival was not exactly welcome. I was treated unfairly and with blatant favoritism.
I endured it all in silence, hoping to escape by getting into college, working hard to prove myself.
We were both daughters, but when I was born, my father called me a financial burden, while Chloe was his “gift from heaven.”
Chloe lived in a grand Disney Princess-style room, while I was stuck in a small, cramped storage room.
My father and Linda kept a close eye on Chloe's studies, never once bothering to care about my grades.
Then one day, they called me into their room.
“Maya, there’s more than one way to succeed in life. You don’t have to rely only on your studies.”
After giving me a few suggestive glances, my father cleared his throat and continued.
I clearly remembered them telling Chloe that studying was the only way out of our small town.
Regardless of whether they were right, their double standards were undeniable.
I responded coldly, “Studying is my only way out. I want to continue my education.”
“You…” My father was so angry that his face turned red. He raised his hand to slap me, but Linda quickly pulled his arm down.
Then, for some reason, she grabbed my hand and lightly stroked it. “Look at your hands, Maya. You’ve got calluses from all the studying. It must be so hard for you.”
“It’s not that your father and I don’t want you to study. It’s just that you’re struggling. It’s already your senior year, and you’re still falling behind. You’ll never get into college. You’d be better off coming with me to the factory and becoming an apprentice. At least you’d start making money sooner.”
I yanked my hand away from hers, glaring at the fake sympathy on her face. I let out a cold laugh. “Linda, you make a fair point, but you’re advising the wrong person.”
“I have great grades.” I pulled out my report cards from previous years, smiling as I handed them to her.
Linda’s face twitched when she saw them. Her hands began to shake as she stared at me in disbelief. “You… Chloe has shown us your grades before. Are these real? Or did you make these up?”
She questioned me, but deep down, she knew the truth. She knew I wasn’t someone who liked to boast about my achievements.
After all, I had never shown them a report card before.
My father, too, was visibly uncomfortable. Trying to maintain his authority, he glared at me. “Your grades should speak for themselves. Don’t falsify them for the sake of vanity. Otherwise, you’ll never get into college.”
With that, he dragged Linda out of the room.
I nodded quietly as they walked away.
They were right about one thing: Chloe, who had been faking her top grades all along, didn’t deserve to get into college and certainly wouldn’t!
