Chapter 2

My sister and I decided that we would never beg them for parental love again.

All we wanted was to escape this suffocating family as far away as possible and never look back.

After my sister woke up, we squeezed onto one bed and discussed what to do next.

According to the doctor, we would need a long recovery period.

Even after our wounds healed, we might never be able to return to the competition circuit.

We had only just received our admission notices, but overnight, both our dreams had been destroyed for nothing.

There had clearly been a chance to save us at the beginning.

My sister clenched my hand and silently cried for a long time.

Only afterward did she force herself to speak lightly. “I don’t think my grades are bad either. Once my body heals, I can go back and repeat senior year. I should still be able to get into a decent college.”

This injury had not only destroyed both our dreams, but also cut off our escape route.

Both of us were wrapped in bandages, and we couldn’t even return to school.

I had no other options, so I thought about asking a teacher for advice to see whether there was any alternative.

But when I picked up my phone, I saw dozens of messages appearing in our family chat.

Dad and Mom had already gone back to work today, so Ethan took all kinds of photos and sent them to the chat.

He said the dog was doing better and had started eating again.

I looked at its drooping tail and knew it must have been abused again.

But Mom, who was supposedly a professional trainer, couldn’t see it at all and kept praising Ethan for being so loving.

I didn’t want to watch them praise each other anymore, so I left the chat.

But then I noticed a post Ethan had uploaded.

It was a screenshot of three plane tickets with the caption:

【The dog hasn’t been doing well lately, so Dad and Mom saw how sad I was and decided to take time off to travel with me and cheer me up. I really love them so much!】

I looked at the comments below.

【Love goes both ways. You must love your parents just as much!】

【Your parents are so good to you. They’re taking you on an international vacation just because you’re feeling down!】

【I’m a clown crying in secret. I hope I can be born into such a happy family in my next life!】

My sister couldn’t stand it anymore and snatched my phone away.

With reddened eyes, she sent our homeroom teacher a message briefly explaining what had happened.

Afterward, she tossed the phone to the end of the bed. “The three of them have their own private chat, but Ethan insisted on posting this in the family chat we’re both in. He clearly posted all of it for us to see! We can’t fall into his trap!”

I comforted her. “Our parents’ jobs should make them the kind of people most capable of recognizing Ethan’s lies, but they still chose to believe him again and again. At least this time, they’ve finally shown us exactly who they are.”

We had both decided that we would never contact them again for the rest of our lives.

But that evening, Dad suddenly called me.