The Daughter She Never Chose Chapter 02

The Daughter She Never Chose Chapter 02

Dad stared down at his plate.

“This… yeah, this is on you. Everything was fine until you had to go and ruin it.”

The gold watch I’d just given him was still on his wrist. The wine I’d ordered for him sat half-finished in front of him.

Ten thousand dollars a bottle.

He was happy to take everything I gave him. He just wasn’t willing to defend me over it.

Whatever was left holding me together snapped. I was done.

“Clearly nobody’s enjoying this.”

“So let’s call it. I’ll get everyone a ride home.”

I pulled out my phone and checked the time.

“It’s still early. You can go home and call Julian. Celebrate with him instead.”

Mom’s expression darkened.

“Excuse me? You’re kicking us out?”

“After everything you’ve done, I’m not even allowed to call you out?”

The relatives eyed the spread on the table. Nobody wanted to leave. They turned on me instead.

“Elena, come on. This is on you.”

“Today’s supposed to be about your dad. You can’t talk to your mother like that.”

“Just apologize. Come on.”

Before I could say a word, Mom scoffed.

“Oh, save your breath.”

“Look at her. So petty she can’t take one word of criticism. Julian has more grace in his little finger.”

“Yeah. I could never measure up to him.”

Mom stared at me like I was something stuck to the bottom of her shoe. Every face at the table seemed to agree with her. I laughed.

“Poor Julian. His sister got a good job, and he’s so torn up about it he can’t even come home.”

“But it’s funny how that pride disappears when he needs his sister’s money. He doesn’t hesitate then.”

I looked Mom straight in the eye.

“When he had you come to me for money, for his car, for his girlfriend’s bag, did he think I was showing off then too?”

“Don’t you dare. That is not true!”

Something flickered across Mom’s face. Her eyes wouldn’t stay on mine.

“You and I both know it’s true.”

My voice was steady.

“When he needed a down payment for his car, you came to me for ten thousand dollars.”

“And before that, when his girlfriend wanted a five-thousand-dollar bag, you came to me again.”

“And when he wanted to switch jobs? The two thousand for his new apartment? That was me too.”

“Did you really think I didn’t know?”

I’d found out a while back. I went home to set up their new phones, and I saw the messages between her and Julian.

Most of it was Julian doing what he did best—playing the victim, going on about how hard things were, and guilting Mom into handing over cash.

When she told him she didn’t have it, he texted back, [Then ask Elena. Isn’t she making good money these days?]

And Mom went along with it, lie after lie, coming to me for money every time.

I knew. I’d known the whole time. I just didn’t want to say it out loud.

Some stupid part of me believed that if I never called it out, we could keep pretending we were a real family.

But I couldn’t stomach it anymore—him taking my money while hating me for having it.

He couldn’t even skip a holiday without making it my fault.

Mom’s expression was crumbling, but I kept going.

“All those times he refused to come home, was it really because of me? Or was it because he didn’t want to spend a dime on either of you?”

“Shut your mouth!”

Mom lifted her hand sharply and landed a harsh slap on my cheek.

“Who do you think you are to talk about Julian like that? I must be cursed to end up with a daughter like you!”