The Invisible Daughter Chose Herself

Summer break. My parents, both high school teachers with far too much free time on their hands, struck gold and snagged discounted tickets to London.

They counted down the days on their fingers, systematically going around the circle—my older sister was working, my younger brother had sports camp—deliberately ignoring me, who had just finished high school exams and was idling around the house with nothing to do.

And just like that, they were gone for seven days.

Seven days later, when they rolled back through the front door looking polished and glowing, the three of us were hunched over…