After My Family Broke Me, I Vanished with a Full Scholarship Chapter 02
“What did you say?”
Mom went still for a second, then her voice rose into a piercing shriek.
I fought back my tears and slowly turned to face her, my cheek still red and swollen from the slap.
“Is being hit every day supposed to make me happy?”
“If you didn’t deliberately provoke me, why would I hit you?
You did this to yourself.”
This time, I didn’t shrink back.
I stared straight at her.
“Maybe I never deserved any of this.
Maybe you only dare to hurt people you know won’t fight back.”
Mom froze.
Her eyes turned red almost instantly, as though I had just said the cruelest thing imaginable.
“Maybe you’ll finally be satisfied when I’m dead.”
She immediately raised her voice and began to wail.
The door flew open, and Dad stormed toward me, his face twisted with fury.
I couldn’t stop trembling.
He stared at me for two seconds before suddenly kicking me to the floor.
My body slammed into the hard wall, and I cried out as pain tore through me.
The glossy wall tiles reflected my contorted face.
Then he struck me across the face again and again with his slipper.
“Who gave you the right to speak to your mother like that?
Do you have any idea how much we sacrificed to raise you?
All you ever do is create trouble for this family.”
Mom stood behind him with her arms crossed, looking almost satisfied.
“Keep hitting her.
I’ve had enough of her these past few months.
She thinks one hospital stay means she can do whatever she wants in this house.
This is my home, and she has no right to speak to me like that.”
The corner of my mouth split open, and my vision flickered in and out while laughter drifted from the room next door.
Noah and Emily were in there talking.
They knew I was being beaten.
They simply didn’t care because it had nothing to do with them.
I clenched my fists, closed my eyes, and slowly lost consciousness.
Mom arranged for me to miss five days of school because the injuries on my face were too severe.
On the third day, my friends came to visit.
The moment the door opened, every one of them froze.
The wounds on my face had already scabbed over, but the large bruises still hadn’t faded.
Humiliation burned through me.
Before I could say anything, Mom shoved me aside and led them into the living room.
“What are you standing there for?
Go get your friends something to drink.”
“Mom, at least let them…”
“So now you’re embarrassed?”
Mom laughed as though she had finally been handed the perfect opportunity to humiliate me in front of my friends.
“Since you’re Lily’s friends, I won’t hide the truth from you.
She didn’t miss school because she was sick.
Her father taught her a lesson.
If I hadn’t stopped him, she would’ve been hurt much worse.”
My friends stared at me, some shocked, some heartbroken, and others simply unable to believe what they were hearing.
At school, I had excellent grades and never caused trouble.
My teachers had always considered me a reliable student.
At home, I wasn’t even given the most basic respect.
“She brought this on herself.
We gave her everything we could, but she’s still never satisfied.
Now she’s even started blaming her own parents.”
“Mom, please stop…”
I lowered my head, my voice trembling through my tears.
Mom paused, then raised her voice even more.
“We’ve always given in to her.
Now we ask her to do a few simple chores, and she refuses.
Why should we keep tolerating this attitude?”
Dad took the drinks from my hands and placed them in front of my friends with a gentle smile.
“We’re the only people who can still put up with her.
Even Noah and Emily usually try to stay out of her way.
Do you girls always have to give in to her at school too?”
He kept smiling as he waited for them to say something humiliating about me, something that would prove my parents were the real victims.
I stood frozen in place, my entire body shaking.
My friends looked at me, unsure how to respond.
Two of them already had tears in their eyes.
Mom kept pressing them.
“Go on.
You don’t have to be afraid.
Does she always pick fights with people at school too?
Is she difficult to be around?”
No one answered her.
Ava, who was in my class, finally gathered her courage and walked over to me.
She took my hand and spoke softly.
“Come out with us for a while.
It’s Mia’s birthday, and we wanted to celebrate together.”
“She can’t go.
She still has to make dinner.”
Mom shot to her feet, instantly furious.
The moment she failed to get the answer she wanted, her patience vanished.
“It’s getting late.
You should all leave.”
“Mrs. Carter, could Lily come with us and take a break for a little while?”
Mia hesitated, but she still spoke up.
Mom stared at her as though she had made the most ridiculous request imaginable.
“What could she possibly need a break from?
We’re the ones who need a break.”
Then she turned her fury on me.
“What exactly does your friend mean by that?
What hardship have you suffered in this family?
What have we ever done to you?
What have you been telling them?”
“That’s not what we meant.
We just wanted to…”