Kelsey's POV
Cold sweat broke out across my body from the pain. I tried to pull my hand away, but Belinda didn’t budge. In fact, she pressed down even harder.
Unable to take it anymore, I shoved her just to free my hand. But she stumbled backward and fell to the floor, clutching her belly and crying out in pain.
Seeing that, Francis rushed over and immediately helped her up, his face full of panic.
“Belinda! Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself?”
Before he could accuse me, I immediately lifted my injured hand and explained, “Look! She stepped on my hand! That’s why I pushed her!”
“So she accidentally stepped on your hand. That gives you the right to push her like that? You know she’s pregnant!” he roared, not caring about the truth, as all he could see was Belinda clinging to his arm like a frightened child.
Then my mother slammed her hand on the table and glared at me.
“Filth like you will never change. If I’d known this is how you’d turn out, I never would’ve adopted you. A woman who abandons a child at an orphanage is trash, and trash like that only gives birth to more trash.”
Her sharp words and Francis's indifferent attitude made my entire body tremble with rage and humiliation.
I clenched my fists under the table, and the years of pent-up pain and frustration exploded all at once.
“I told you, she stepped on my hand first! You keep calling me petty, but look at yourselves. You’ve never treated me fairly!”
Tears streamed down my face as I shouted, my voice cracking with emotion.
“My whole life, I was just Belinda’s accessory. When she hit me, insulted me, I wasn’t even allowed to fight back. When I did better in school, you forced me to teach her until she surpassed me. Did you ever treat me like your daughter?”
With a face twisted with rage, she snapped, “Ungrateful brat! Letting you grow up in this house was a mercy! You were unwanted in the first place. You have no right to compare yourself to my daughter!”
I staggered back, clutching my arm. Just as I tried to speak again, Belinda stepped up and slapped me hard across the face.
“Watch your mouth when you talk to my mom. If being in my family is such torture for you, then leave.”
Francis quickly pulled her into his arms, gently soothing her. “Belinda, don’t get worked up. She’s clearly lost her mind. Just ignore her. She’s not worth it. Let’s finish lunch with your mom, alright?”
Then he turned back to me, grabbed my arm, and dragged me into the bedroom.
Once the door shut behind us, his gentle act vanished.
“I told you to take care of Belinda. Why can’t you just stay out of trouble?”
He crouched slightly to look at me, his tone cold and accusing. “You’re hurt and didn’t say a word. What’s the plan here? Trying to guilt-trip me?”
I turned my body to hide my injured arm, my heart sinking even deeper.
Now he noticed the wound?
I couldn’t help but let out a dry, bitter laugh.
“Let me bandage it,” he offered flatly.
“Don’t bother,” I coldly refused.
His brows creased with irritation. He clearly didn’t like being rejected.
“Fine. Then just stay in the room. Wait until Belinda and your mom finish eating. Then you can go get something from the kitchen.”
When the door closed behind him, I collapsed onto the bed, completely drained.
The pain in my arm made me tremble.
If he were his old self, he would’ve rushed me to the hospital at the first sign of a scraped knee, even in the middle of a thunderstorm.
But now, even with a deep wound, all I got was a cold, distant offer just for the sake of appearances.
All his tenderness was saved for Belinda.
The next day, the injury started to swell and throb. I was worried about infection, so I went to the hospital.
While waiting to be treated, I heard two women whispering behind me.
“Isn’t that the girl from the photos? Her personal life is a mess. She might be here to get tested for HIV.”
“I think so, too. With those kinds of pictures online, what do you expect?”
Overhearing their conversation, I didn’t know for sure if they were talking about me.
After I finished getting the wound cleaned and bandaged, my phone rang.
It was my best friend.
“Kelsey, you need to check our college group chat and your work group, too. Someone just posted a ton of... personal photos of you.”
