After our conversation, Dad and Linda discovered that their pride and joy, their daughter, was actually a poor student. They couldn’t bear to confront me directly, so they decided to investigate the reasons behind my failing grades in secret.
As usual, I hid in my storage room after school to continue my studies. Outside, the noise grew louder, and soon, it was right by my door.
There was a knock.
“Maya, come out!”
Unable to concentrate with all the noise, I reluctantly opened the door and stepped out.
A hand grabbed me and dragged me into the living room. Pointing at a pile of papers on the table, Chloe shouted, “These are all for Maya. She’s hiding them here so no one would find out. I’m totally being framed!”
“You’ve ruined me!” Chloe not only slandered me but took advantage of my distraction to pinch me hard.
Dad scanned me up and down, sneering, “You’re still underage and already know how to mess around with men? What kind of shameless person did we raise?”
“Don’t say things like that. She’s your daughter, too,” Linda feigned sympathy, then switched gears and came over to “comfort” me. “Everyone has different aspirations. Some want to be college students, while others want to be housewives. We need to respect people’s dreams.”
“Well, if Chloe wants to be a housewife, we’ll help her drop out.”
She neatly folded the letters and shoved them into my hands, as though I desperately needed them. There was a hidden threat in her tone. “As long as you quit school, we won’t object to you dating.”
Dad finally caught on, nodding in agreement. “Forget it, forget it. You’re not focused on your studies. You might as well get married early and save us the trouble.”
So, these two were trying to decide my entire life for me?
“Burn it. School is more important.”
I glanced at Chloe before tearing up the letters in my hands and tossing them into the mosquito-repellent dish.
Chloe’s eyes welled up with tears, and she reached out. “Don’t…”
When she saw that everyone was looking, she quickly retracted her hand and pouted in frustration.
Seeing her so pathetic, I couldn’t help but sneer.
Their precious daughter, who they hoped would soar to great heights, was nothing more than a love-struck fool. The future was bound to be full of problems for her!
Seeing that I wasn’t causing a scene or fighting back, they had no more reason to scold me, so they simply went back to their rooms.
I glanced at Chloe’s room and shook my head.
She was using my name to cover her tracks and was dating someone secretly. That’s why it was so easy for her to pin the blame on me today.
From the content of the letters, it was clear that she and her boyfriend were very close. Chloe would definitely go to their date tonight, right?
I returned to my room and waited until midnight before slipping out with Chloe.
Before leaving, I intentionally made some noise near Dad’s room to alert them. They thought they might catch me doing something, so they followed me.
Once we arrived at the destination, I hid. I managed to lose Dad and Linda, and then I watched as Chloe and her boyfriend, thinking the night was quiet and empty, openly embraced each other in the hallway.
Dad and Linda quickly noticed their figures and, mistaking them for me, waited for the couple to part before rushing over.
Slap—
Dad grabbed Chloe and pulled her over, slapping her hard across the face. “You’re shameless! Sneaking out to elope in the middle of the night! Forget about school!”
“Maya, how can you be so disobedient?” Linda added loudly, her voice filled with exaggerated outrage.
Chloe, caught off guard, covered her face with her hair, hoping to hide from them.
It seemed like Dad and Linda were trying to make a scene. The noise got louder, attracting the neighbors, who came to watch the drama unfold.
We lived in a community of relocated houses, where most people knew each other.
“Maya’s running off with some guy in the middle of the night, disturbing everyone.”
“We failed to manage our daughter. We didn’t make her focus on her studies.”
Each of them had a turn, practically broadcasting our “family scandal” for the whole neighborhood to hear. They were trying to use this as an excuse to force me to drop out.
The neighbors began to gossip.
“She’s so young and already messing around? What a disgrace.”
“Running off with a man at this hour? Maya must be out of her mind.”
“I’ve heard her stepmother say Maya is hard to teach—rebellious, always at odds with her family.”
“…”
I noticed the sly smile tugging at the corner of Linda’s mouth as she enjoyed the scene. Rubbing my eyes, I walked into the crowd and, acting clueless, called out, “Mom, Dad, why are you here? Weren’t you asleep? What’s going on?”
“You… What are you doing here?” Dad looked at me as if he had seen a ghost. He shoved through the crowd and yanked at Chloe’s hair, his face pale with fear. He collapsed onto the ground in shock. “Chloe, how is it you?!”
“Chloe…” Linda froze, her face pale as she almost fainted at the sight of her precious daughter.
