In Their Shadow: The Daughter They Forgot Chapter 03

In Their Shadow: The Daughter They Forgot Chapter 03

Even in my sleep, I couldn’t escape the memories of being trapped in this family.

Mirelle had never truly considered me part of the family.

When she was in elementary school, I once saw her fill out a student information form.

In the box for household size, she carefully wrote 5.

Mother smiled and asked, “Who does that include?”

Mirelle counted on her fingers. “Father, Mother, Leander, Corwin, and me.”

Everyone burst out laughing.

I, her own sister, was sitting right beside her.

No one corrected her.

Once, I ordered a new set of training gear.

When the package arrived at the Pack House, Mirelle stared at my name on the box for a few seconds, then tossed it in the garbage.

I dug through the dumpster for hours before finding the crushed box among soggy paper and filth.

I took it back and asked her why.

Holding Pippin, she blinked at me without a trace of concern. “Wasn’t it garbage?”

As I clutched the stained clothes, I finally understood. To her, I was garbage too.

Leander treated me a little better.

At least he remembered I existed.

When he gamed until three in the morning, he’d text me: [Make me something to eat.]

I’d bring it up, and he’d never look away from his screen. “Leave it there.”

That was it.

Not even a thank-you.

As if serving him was simply my job.

And that wasn’t all. Picking up packages, hanging laundry, taking out the garbage, cleaning litter boxes…

Every chore no one else wanted became mine.

By middle school, Leander was already a famous youthful esports player.

Whenever his matches were livestreamed, everyone at school talked about him.

One day, I couldn’t help saying, “He’s my brother.”

The whole class laughed.

“You expect us to believe that? You think you can claim him just because your last name is Dacre?”

“Who knew quiet little Tamsin was so desperate for attention?”

After school, I went to Leander with red-rimmed eyes and asked for an autographed photo.

He didn’t look up. “What would you even do with it?”

So I went to Mother.

She interrupted me with an irritated frown. “Tamsin, when did you get so vain?

“We send you to school to learn. Stop showing off to your classmates.”

I returned to school empty-handed.

It became a class joke. People mocked me for it until graduation.

Later, while cleaning Leander’s room, I saw an autographed photo on his desk. It read, ‘To Milo.’

Milo was another dog owned by a family in the pack.

I stood there holding the broom, laughing and crying at once.

And my little brother, Corwin?

He despised me most of all.

He won a junior coding championship at seven, coauthored his first research paper at ten, and took gold at the International Physics Olympiad at fifteen.

All his life, Greyhaven had praised him as a genius.

Beside him, I faded into the background.

Once, he studied me for a long time.

“Tamsin, is it possible there was a mix-up at the hospital? Do we really share the same lineage?”

Later, I found a DNA test in his desk.

I smacked the test down in front of him.

He showed no guilt. “I was just checking. Don’t you think you’re different from the rest of us?”

When he later won an international gold medal, the school held an awards assembly.

He took the microphone onstage. “I’d like my family to join me up here.”

Father, Mother, Leander, and Mirelle went up.

The emcee looked toward me in the corner of the third row. “Anyone else?”

Corwin said, “No. She’s our maid.”

Applause thundered. Cameras flashed.

The four of them beamed. Their eyes swept over me, then moved on without a care.

I lowered my head and dug my nails into my palms.

As for my parents…

It wasn’t as if I’d never tried to win their love.

When I came first in my class as a child, I rushed home to show Father my report card.

He was on the phone. He glanced at it, murmured, “Mm-hm,” and kept talking.

Later, he shoved it into a magazine and never looked at it again.

The day Corwin won Math Olympiad gold, Father canceled every engagement and opened a bottle of wine he’d been saving.

I stood beside him and filled his glass.

When he raised it, he looked straight over my head at Corwin.

He never looked at me.

Not once.

Mother was one of Greyhaven’s most renowned healers, specializing in surgery.

She had saved countless lives, but she had never stayed with me when I was sick.

The winter before I graduated high school, I came down with a high fever.

I went alone to Greyhaven hospital, where she worked.

A nurse asked, “Where’s your family?”

I said, “Dr. Dacre is my mother.”

The nurse called the operating room for me.

Mother sent back one line.

“We’ll talk when I’m done with surgery.”

The surgery lasted six hours.

I spent all six in an ER bay with an IV in my arm.

I waited there alone until the treatment was finally finished.

From the bed, I saw Mother rush outside without even taking off her white coat.

She wasn’t coming to see me.

That night, from my ER bed, I saw Mirelle’s latest video, ‘Pippin Has a Cold. Mama’s Heart Is Breaking.’

She cradled Pippin with tears in her eyes while Mother and Father hovered around her.

I was alone in the ER.

No one remembered me.

The dream tightened around my throat.

I jolted awake.

The room was pitch-black, but my face was soaked with tears.

I checked my phone. It was only three in the morning.

I couldn’t fall asleep again, so I opened my suitcase and started packing.

Two days until I left Greyhaven for good.