My Mother Stole My Future to Secure My Cousin’s Success

Introduction

After returning from a holiday trip, my mother suddenly told me my cousin was studying abroad.

She used my savings.

I strongly objected, but my parents ignored my protests and handed my bank card to my aunt.

Three years later, my cousin returned, having completed her studies. She met a wealthy man in Atlanta City and built a successful career and a comfortable life.

Meanwhile, my parents’ interference cost me both my postgraduate entrance exam and my civil service exam. I was forced into an arranged marriage with a man my aunt introduced, becoming nothing more than a "yellow-faced woman" burdened with endless housework.

During Memorial Day, when I returned home to pay respects to our ancestors, I overheard my mother kneeling before my grandfather’s tomb, crying:

“Dad, don’t worry. I took good care of my sister. I did everything you wanted me to.”

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Main Text

I silently made my way up the hillside toward the middle of the mountain, where my grandfather’s tombstone stood.

From a distance, I saw my parents kneeling before the grave, burning paper money in their hands.

“Dad, don’t worry. I did as you asked—to be patient and care for my sister.”

“Now, her daughter Julia Long has returned from studying abroad. She has a good job and married well. She’ll have a lifetime of happiness.”

My father, busy preparing offerings, bowed to my grandfather’s tombstone.

“Dad, please watch over us and bless Nadia Nolan from heaven.”

My mother scoffed. “Enough. Don’t mention that unlucky girl. Just look at Julia and then at her—what an embarrassment. She failed the civil service exam, failed the postgraduate exam. At least Julia had the drive to stay abroad and bring back a rich husband. If we let her come, she’ll just bring bad luck.”

My father chuckled, trying to calm her down.

“Yes, yes. Don’t be angry. Dad is still watching.”

But my mother was indifferent. “If I hadn’t paid for Julia’s education, would she be this successful now? Julia was destined for wealth. It proves my decision was right.”

“You can’t blame the child,” my father sighed. “It was Nadia’s money you used for Julia’s studies. Of course, she’d feel resentful.”

“But I couldn’t let Julia suffer. My sister is my only sibling!”

I had heard these words too many times to count. Each syllable cut deep, each sentence lashed at my heart. I thought I had grown numb to their cruelty. But standing there, I still felt the unbearable ache.

It should have been me. I was supposed to study abroad.

I still remember that moment—how my mother forced my aunt to take my bank card in front of me.

All the scholarships I had earned, the money from my part-time jobs, the savings I had set aside for my postgraduate studies—gone.

My mother tricked me into handing it over.

She had always loved Julia more. That much I had known since childhood. But watching her give away my future so effortlessly, with my father’s silent approval, made me wonder:

What was I to this family? A mere stepping stone? A burden?

To my mother, I was nothing but a fool.

I was her biological daughter, the one closest to her by blood, yet she always chose others over me. All she left me were wounds and sharp edges.

Lost in thought, I almost missed a step. The mountain path was damp, and overgrown with weeds. As I made my way up again, I slipped. Pain shot through my ankle as it swelled instantly.

“Who’s there?”

My mother’s voice rang out sharply, snapping me back to reality. They had noticed me.

The moment my mother saw me, her face twisted in anger.

“I told you not to come, and yet here you are!”

Without a word, I placed a large basket of gold ingots on the ground—the ones I had carefully folded, one by one.

She looked at me with nothing but disgust.