After the final exam, I was the first to walk out of the examination hall.
Just as I was about to be interviewed, a splash of water hit me.
Dad and a woman were helping a girl who had tripped and fallen behind them, completely ignoring me.
Ah, so he's helping his illegitimate daughter?
...
The final exam was over.
I was the first to leave the hall.
But as I stepped outside, I noticed a woman standing next to my dad. She looked vaguely familiar.
"Anna!"
Dad called my name and waved at me with the woman beside him. A reporter from the TV station walked over, ready to interview me.
Suddenly, I felt the wetness on my head and back, followed by a muffled sound of someone falling behind me.
The reporter froze for a moment, and Dad and the woman’s expressions shifted instantly.
They both ran toward me but then bypassed me.
"Yvette? Are you okay? How could you be so careless?"
The reporter looked awkward, as they were supposed to interview the first person out of the exam room, but now they were stuck with a drenched candidate.
"Uncle Shaw, I’m fine. I just accidentally spilled water on Anna. She must be mad at me."
Only then did they notice me still standing there, frozen in place. Dad, Walter Shaw, looked at me with a somewhat embarrassed gaze.
But still, he chose to help the culprit up first.
"Anna, this is Aunt Lydia. She wore a qipao today just to meet you after your exam."
Dad’s eyes held a hint of appeasement as he looked at me. As for Lydia…
Oh, I know her.
She was Dad’s first love, the woman he talked about most during the years he and Mom were fighting.
She was the one who had dumped him back then, but after Dad married Mom and became successful, she came back, wanting to rekindle their relationship.
It didn’t take long before Dad had an affair.
"I know her. She's the woman Mom hated the most."
So of course, I hated her too.
If it weren't for her, Mom wouldn't have fallen into severe depression and ended up jumping to her death last year.
Lydia looked at me, clearly embarrassed, clearly not expecting me to say that.
"Anna, I’m sorry. I was just trying to drink some water, and I lost my balance, spilling it on you."
The awkwardness lingered, and Yvette, sensing the tension, spoke up again.
"Yvette’s fine. You know Anna is very generous. She won’t stay mad at you."
Dad tried to sound casual, forcing a smile.
"Why would I be mad? We're even now."
As soon as I finished speaking, I twisted open the bottle and poured the remaining water over Yvette’s head.
Having witnessed what happened to Mom, I knew that endlessly tolerating people would only let them take advantage of me.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
Yvette’s eyes immediately reddened, as if she had suffered some great injustice.
Lydia and Dad clearly hadn’t expected me to do that. With so many people around, they hurriedly pulled us aside, trying to escape the growing attention.
"Anna! Apologize to Yvette!" Dad shouted as we got into the car, his voice filled with disbelief.
"Why should I apologize? Isn’t it ‘an eye for an eye,’ like you taught me, Dad?"
Dad was taken aback, unable to respond. His professor persona was momentarily crushed by the very student he had raised.
"It’s my fault. I was careless and spilled water on Anna first. Uncle Shaw, please don’t blame her."
Yvette was still crying uncontrollably, while Lydia, sitting in the front passenger seat, remained eerily calm.
She didn’t speak, simply waiting for Dad’s decision.
"Anna, you’re the older sister. She’s the younger one. What’s wrong with apologizing?"
"My mom didn’t give me a sister. That’s your affair with Lydia, right? I don’t acknowledge her."
You want me to recognize the daughter of the woman who broke up my family? Dream on!
"Who says I had an affair? What is wrong with you, kid? How did you turn out like this?"
"Yeah, how did I turn out like this?"
