Chapter 2

The next morning, Mom went to unusual lengths and laid out a big spread for breakfast.

She'd even bought a large cake.

Nadia looked surprised. "What's the occasion? All this good food."

Mom lifted her brows lightly. "Your thesis got accepted. That deserves a proper celebration."

"And a little celebration for your sister's emotional disorder being cured, too."

Nadia hugged her happily and gushed, "Wow, when Rosalind gets home and sees a breakfast like this, she's going to tear up for sure."

I stood off to the side, looking at all the food.

They called it a celebration for my recovery, and yet not one dish was anything I liked.

Even the cake was chocolate, the kind Nadia liked.

All because my condition meant I never expressed my own preferences.

So my parents simply decided that whatever Nadia liked, I liked too.

After all, I'd never refused anything, never said I didn't like something.

But if they had ever really watched what I did, they would have noticed I never touched anything bitter.

Not even something faintly bitter like chocolate mocha.

In their eyes, though, there was only my condition.

All they cared about was whether my emotional shifts could give Nadia more to study.

"Aren't you sweet. All right, the zoo's opened by now."

"Your sister should be home in about half an hour."

Nadia tilted her head toward Mom. "Then should we wait for her before we eat?"

"No need to wait. Your stomach's bad as it is, and there's plenty of food, no worry about running out."

"Your sister won't go hungry."

I watched them settle in and start on breakfast, and I gave a bitter smile.

Sorry. This time, you won't get to wait for me to come home.

More than half an hour passed, and when I still hadn't come home, Mom finally remembered to call me.

But the call rang for the longest time with no answer.

Several tries, all the same, until she threw the phone down on the couch in anger.

"That rotten girl actually has the nerve not to pick up?"

Nadia spoke up, sounding worried. "Could it be Rosalind's upset, so she doesn't want to come home or answer?"

At those words, Mom got angrier still.

"She has the nerve to be upset? Everything we did was for her own good, wasn't it?"

"So ungrateful!"

"If she's so full of herself, then fine, she can just never come back!"

Dad spoke up then. "Enough. Maybe the kid's still in the python enclosure. Have that staffer go take a look."

He pulled out his phone and contacted the staffer, asking him to check the python enclosure for any sign of me.

A few minutes later the reply came: no sign of me, probably left long ago.

With a definite answer, Mom threw up her hands in exasperation. "What did I tell you?"

Mom was about to keep going, when Dad got another message from the staffer.

【Boss, I just found a cage inside that wasn't shut properly. The python inside is gone!】