Spent All 99 Favor Cards, The Unwanted Daughter Escaped Chapter 02

Spent All 99 Favor Cards, The Unwanted Daughter Escaped Chapter 02

When I got home, I opened my journal again.

The first 96 boxes felt like knives dipped in wolfsbane.

Even after all these years, I could still feel the sting.

The 96th read:

[Sabine threw away my competition notes.]

A month before the Inter-Pack Biology Olympiad, I’d spent an entire year collecting and organizing my study materials.

I kept them all in a canvas backpack.

But that night, when I came out of the shower, the bag was gone.

I searched my entire room.

Nothing.

Finally, I ran to Sabine.

“Where are my notes?”

She wasn’t even nervous.

Instead, she smiled and pulled the 96th No-Refusal Card from her pocket.

Then she handed it to Mother, who had come running after hearing the noise.

“Mother, I’m using my No-Refusal Card.”

“I don’t like Tavia doing nothing but study all day. Just let those books go. Tell her to stop yelling at me.”

Mother took the card and immediately stepped in front of Sabine.

Then she turned on me.

“It’s just some notes. Print them again. Organize them again.”

“Why are you scaring Sabine like this? You made her head hurt and her ears ring. What if something happens to her?”

My eyes stung.

My voice shook.

“I spent a whole year collecting those lab records and study materials. You can’t even buy most of them!”

“The competition is in a month. How am I supposed to start over?”

Father sat on the couch and issued a cold command.

“Enough. Sabine was just playing around. Stop making a big deal out of it.”

“She used the No-Refusal Card. It’s over. Don’t bring it up again.”

I ran outside and searched through the bushes.

It was pitch-black.

Rain poured down.

Branches scratched my legs, leaving one crimson slice after another.

I didn’t find the materials until after midnight.

By then, they’d been soaked through.

They were ruined.

I crouched in the thorny bushes, picking up the torn pages one by one.

The cold wind hit my face.

Tears ran down with it.

A neighbor passing by saw me and kindly stopped to help.

Mother and Father stood at the door.

They were too busy comforting Sabine to even look my way.

That night, I went home soaked to the skin.

My legs were covered in slices from the branches.

I was searing up, too.

Still, I asked one last time.

“Mother, could you give me some cash to replace my study materials?”

She waved me off.

“We need to save our cash for Sabine’s education.”

“You’re smart. Figure it out yourself.”

“You were the one who picked a fight with her over a few notebooks.”

In the end, I stayed up until three every night, rebuilding my notes from scratch.

I still won first place at the Inter-Pack Biology Olympiad.

It earned me a spot at Royal Ashbourne Academy.

But back then, I wasn’t studying medicine for myself.

I thought that if I could cure Sabine’s hearing one day, I could finally make up for everything I’d done to her.

Now I knew better. I had never owed her anything.

My phone buzzed.

It was Mrs. Calloway.

“Tavia, Stonepine High School gives a scholarship to one outstanding graduating student every year.”

“Your name is at the top of the list this year.”

“If you need the cash, come to school tomorrow and sign the paperwork.”

“Yes!” I said immediately.

After hanging up, I let out a quiet breath.

I needed that cash.

At least it would give me a way to leave this Pack with some dignity.

I was about to head out when my bedroom door opened.

Sabine stood outside.

She’d heard the entire call.

She didn’t look embarrassed.

She simply ordered me around.

“Tavia, give me that scholarship.”

Her hand was already reaching for the pink cardholder filled with No-Refusal Cards.