Spent All 99 Favor Cards, The Unwanted Daughter Escaped Chapter 06

Spent All 99 Favor Cards, The Unwanted Daughter Escaped Chapter 06

On the other end, Mom collapsed onto the floor after the call.

She sat there for a long time, unable to process what she’d just heard.

At some point, her daughter had learned the truth.

She stumbled into my room.

It was already empty.

But there was an old notebook sitting on the desk.

Mom’s hands trembled as she picked it up.

The first page listed the first No-Refusal Card.

Then the second.

Then the third.

Page after page recorded what Sabine’d used each of the 99 cards for.

The handwriting changed as the years passed.

At first, the letters were crooked and uneven.

Later, they became neat and steady.

Some of the ink had run.

Water stains blurred the words in places.

Mom knew what they were.

Tears.

Something inside Mom twisted painfully.

The truth was, they’d always known Sabine’s hearing loss had nothing to do with Tavia.

They’d known from the very beginning.

But instead of facing the truth, they’d blamed Tavia.

Maybe they thought they could lie to themselves long enough to believe it.

Now, 18 years of lies lay bare in front of her.

For the first time, Mom saw just how badly they’d failed Tavia.

When Dad came home, he found his wife sitting there in a daze.

And the medical report lying on the table.

Then he listened as Mom told him everything.

He didn’t say a word for a long time.

Memories kept coming back.

Tavia alone in her room late at night, sorting through her training notes.

Tavia crouched in the bushes during a storm, picking up the papers someone had thrown away.

Even when she was the one being hurt, she’d always lowered her head and said the same thing.

“It’s okay.”

But they’d never stopped to ask if she really was.

Their rental apartment was cramped and dim.

The paint was peeling from the walls.

There was barely any decent furniture.

Sabine’s delivery bags and makeup were scattered everywhere.

Mom and Dad sat in silence for a long time.

Their fingers kept running over the newborn medical report.

The edges had gone soft from years of handling.

Mom’s throat tightened.

Her voice was barely a whisper.

“I always thought Tavia was smart and healthy. I thought she could handle a little unfairness.”

“Sabine couldn’t hear from birth. I thought she was the one who needed everyone to protect her.”

“I thought I was only favoring her a little.”

“Thever thought all those little things would pile up until they crushed Tavia.’

Dad lowered his head.

His fingers tightened around the pages of the journal.

99 crossed-out lines.

Each one a reminder of something they’d taken from Tavia.

His eyes burned.

He remembered the day the rankings came out.

Tavia had quietly stayed in her room.

She hadn’t bragged.

She hadn’t even mentioned her score.

They’d gathered around Sabine and comforted her over her B-level rating.

Then they’d turned around and told Tavia to give up college and get a job.

She’d had the best future of the three of them.

And they’d still chosen Sabine.

He remembered the moment Mom slapped Tavia.

The light in her eyes had disappeared almost instantly.

He remembered watching her quietly pack her suitcase.

She hadn’t even said goodbye.

Back then, all they could think was that Tavia was cold.

That she was bitter.

That she was holding a grudge.

Now they finally understood.

They hadn’t lost her overnight.

The door creaked open.

Sabine sauntered in, her heels striking hard against the floor.

She looked annoyed.

“Someone’s texting me again about the debt. The house is gone, and even our savings can’t cover

this mess.”

“It’s all Tavia’s fault anyway. She just disappeared without saying a word.”

In the past, Mom would’ve agreed immediately.

She would’ve joined Sabine in blaming Tavia for being selfish and ungrateful.

But this time, she only looked at her daughter.

There was nothing left in her eyes but exhaustion and disappointment.

“Sabine, you were born deaf. Tavia had nothing to do with it.”

“The 99 No-Refusal Cards were all based on a lie we made up.”

“All these years, Tavia was the one paying the price for it.”

Sabine froze for a moment.

Then she shrugged.

“So what if it was a lie?”

“You were supposed to give me whatever I wanted.”

“I’m over a hundred thousand dollars in debt and homeless now. Isn’t it only right that she help the family?”

For the first time, Mom and Dad truly saw her for who she was.

She had never understood what it meant to give something up for someone else.

Growing up, all she had to do was pull out a No-Refusal Card.

Whatever she wanted, she got.

Getting pregnant before marriage.

Selling the house.

Blowing through borrowed money.

None of it seemed like a big deal to her.

In her mind, someone else would always clean up the mess.

Her parents.

Or Tavia.

“Enough!”

Dad finally snapped.

“We gave you everything we could for 18 years. We never treated you unfairly.”

“Tavia supported herself from the beginning. She worked part-time just to get by. She got through

countless miserable nights alone.”

“We never lifted a finger to help her.”

“So why should she have to pay for your mistakes?”

“You stole the deed and sold the house.”

“You ran up the debt.”

“Now you deal with the consequences yourself.”

Sabine had never seen Dad this serious.

Her eyes immediately filled with tears.

“My hearing is bad, and you’re not protecting me?”

“You’re taking Tavia’s side? She’s the one who’s always against me!”

Crying had always worked before.

This time, no one comforted her.

Mom and Dad stood there, staring at their younger daughter throwing a fit.

Then they thought of Tavia.

The guilt inside them only grew heavier.

From then on, life became a struggle.

To pay off Sabine’s debts, Mom and Dad left before sunrise every morning to pick up whatever work

they could find.

There had been a time when they could buy Sabine expensive clothes, jewelry, and the latest gadgets without a second thought.

Now, they had to think twice before buying a new winter coat.

Every night, the tiny apartment fell silent.

They would lie awake in bed, tossing and turning.

And every night, they thought about Tavia.

Mom dug out the few old family photos they had left.

In one of them, Tavia stood quietly off to the side.

She watched as the whole family gathered around Sabine.

There was a small flicker of hope in her eyes.

That hope was slowly crushed by them, piece by piece.

One painful memory after another came back.

Tears quietly soaked their pillows.

Mom wrote apology after apology.

Long messages filled with guilt.

She asked Pack relatives to pass them along, hoping Tavia might at least reply once.

Anything.

Just one chance to apologize to her face.

But every message disappeared into silence.

Until one day.

Dad got a chance to travel to Boston for work.

On the way, he made a detour.

He went to Royal Ashbourne Academy.