They Gave Her Eight Thousand And Me Eight Hundred And Called It Fair Chapter 08

They Gave Her Eight Thousand And Me Eight Hundred And Called It Fair Chapter 08

My words had barely faded when the back doors of the auditorium were suddenly shoved open with force.

Mom, Sean, along with Grace and Evan—a group of four—burst past the freshman orientation volunteers at the perimeter and rushed directly to the stage.

“Megan! Mom finally found you!”

Mom’s eyes were red-rimmed. She gripped the edge of the podium and sobbed loudly into the microphone in front of me.

“You’re seventh in the whole state! Your dad and I worked so hard to raise you, to cultivate you into such an outstanding student—do you know how difficult that was?!”

“You’ve been angry long enough. Come home with Mom!”

The thousands of students and teachers below instantly fell silent. Every gaze converged on us.

I watched their tearful performance and took a step backward.

“You miss me?”

I spoke into the microphone. My voice rang clearly through the entire auditorium.

“If you care about me so much, why on the day of the graduation party did you throw a grand celebration for my sister, yet wouldn’t even buy me a single dress?”

“I left the family group chat. I blocked every single one of you. For an entire day and an entire night, not one person noticed I was gone.”

“It wasn’t until the reporter exposed your lies in front of everyone that you finally learned I scored 1520.”

“So what are you really here for today? Do you actually care about me as your daughter? Or do you care about the honor that ‘state seventh’ can bring you?”

Mom’s sobs choked off abruptly. Her eyes flickered.

Evan stepped forward, frowning, positioning himself in front of Grace. His voice carried that habitual lecturing tone.

“Megan, don’t be so extreme.”

“Your parents have always treated you both equally. You can’t completely deny them just because they overlooked you at one graduation party.”

Grace also began to cry, tugging at my sleeve with a wronged expression.

“Megan, Mom and Dad really do love you. Ever since we were little, whenever there was anything good, you always got your share too…”

“Equal?”

I flung off Grace’s hand. My gaze swept across every single one of their faces.

“Who was there when I was ten and Grace had a low fever? The whole family took time off work to hover around her.”

“I had acute appendicitis. I was alone in my room in pain for three days. In the end, it was our neighbor Grandma Wang who called 911 to get me to the emergency room. Where were all of you then?”

Grace’s sobs cut off abruptly.

Evan froze in place, a flash of bewilderment crossing his eyes.

I didn’t give them a moment to breathe. I kept going.

“Sophomore year. The whole family went on vacation to Miami. You left me home alone to watch the house. The reason was ‘we already bought the tickets, it’d be a waste of money.'”

“Grace’s clothes are all designer gowns. What I wore were always her hand-me-downs and the free canvas totes that came with shopping bags.”

“Even the one tiny bit of sweetness my grandmother left me—you gave it away to Grace unconditionally.”

“Evan—is this the ‘equal treatment’ you’re talking about?”

The expressions on the surrounding students and teachers completely changed. The murmurs suddenly grew louder.

“Appendicitis for three days and no one cared? Is she even their biological child?”

“This is beyond favoritism. They’re using their own daughter as free childcare.”

Evan opened his mouth as if to say something, but not a single word of rebuttal came out.

Mom’s face completely changed color.

With her mask ripped off in public, her patience ran out. She finally tore away the disguise of the loving mother.

“You ungrateful wretch!”

She jabbed her finger at my face, seething with rage.

“No matter how we treated you, I gave birth to you! Without us giving you food to eat, could you be standing here stealing the spotlight?”

Sean also turned on me.

“Exactly! We raised you this big—you think you didn’t spend the family’s money?”

This was exactly the line I’d been waiting for.

I unzipped the bag slung across my shoulder. I pulled out the thick stack of A4 paper I’d printed just the day before.

SMACK.

I slammed the stack directly against Sean’s chest.

“These are every single cent of support you’ve spent on me over eighteen years. I’ve calculated it clearly and precisely. A total of eighty-three thousand dollars.”

I looked at their ashen faces and spoke, word by word.

“I’ve already received the university’s hundred-thousand-dollar freshman scholarship. I’m transferring this eighty-three thousand back to your account today. In one lump sum.”

“To buy out the blood ties between us.”

“From now on, don’t ever come near me again.”