I smiled to myself and threw the dirty clothes on my body into the trash can and took a fresh shower. Mom and Dad came home very late. They thought I was asleep. They then walked into the house quietly. They were shocked to see me sitting frozen in the living room.

My mother sat beside me. Her face was full of pity. 

“Audrey Ainsworth, why are you sleeping so late?”

I asked as if nothing had happened, “Mom and Dad, why are you working overtime during New Year's Eve? I've been waiting for you guys to come back.”

My parents smiled with a guilty look on their faces. Then my dad screwed a bag onto the table with a fatherly smile. 

“Audrey, it's good that you didn't sleep early. I brought back a cake just to celebrate your birthday with you.”

I glanced at my mom and dad indifferently. Then I noticed that their faces, which were originally dressed in bright clothes, had returned to paleness again and their brand-name clothes had turned back into patched work clothes. My dad took out a small piece of cake covered with dirt from a bag full of rotten vegetable leaves and brought it to me.

“My daughter, this cake has been dropped on the ground, but it's still edible. You can eat it, sweety.”

In the past, the birthday gift they prepared for me every year was an egg. I would have been happy if there had been a piece of cake, even if they had picked it up from the trash. 

But when I thought that this piece of cake was left over from eating with their baby daughter and not thrown on the ground. They then picked up for me. It made my stomach churning.

Along with the intense heartache, my body could not stop trembling. I pushed the cake back to my dad.

“Dad, you eat it. I've eaten eggs. You guys have never eaten anything good in your life. This cake should be given to you and your mom, especially my mom. You carried me to term and gave birth to me after nine months of pregnancy. My birthday is her day of suffering. So, I give it to my mom.”

The two of them glanced at each other. Although they disguised themselves well, I still saw a hint of disgust and dislike in their eyes. Seeing this made me even more heartbroken. 

My biological parents gave their own daughter food that someone else had dropped on the floor. On the other hand, they had ordered a nine-tiered buttercream cake for their adopted daughter.

Dad's eyes were red at the end and he choked up.  “It's my fault. I can't afford to let you eat this kind of thing on your birthday.”

My mom took Dad's hand and sobbed. “You've tried hard enough, my hubby.”

Seeing them repeating the same old trick, I took the cake woodenly and stuffed the cake mixed with mud into my mouth one bite at a time.

“Mom and Dad, this cake is so yummy and sweet.”

As I said this, I stopped the tears in my eyes from flowing down. My heart was broken to the ground. My parents saw me obediently eat the cake. They were very relieved to turn tears into smiles.

My dad said, “Our daughter has really grown up.”

Listening to these words, I suddenly felt ridiculous. Dad stared at me and suddenly saw a bruise on my face and asked me angrily, “What happened to your face? Was it beaten by someone else? Who dares to hit my daughter? I'll fight him to the death!”

Dad rolled up his sleeves and looked furious. Seeing this, my mind was full of thoughts.

When I was in elementary school, I was bullied by my classmates because I was poor. My face was scratched with blood marks by them. My father was so angry that he went to find the other parents to argue. Unfortunately, the other side was so crowded that he was bruised and swollen. In the end, he forced them to swear that they would never bully me again.

At that time, he became a hero in my heart. Other people were chasing stars. But I only worship him alone. But now when I thought about it, how naive and childish were my thoughts as a child? My father, it was obvious your bodyguard injured your own daughter, but he was still angry here.

I hid the gloom under my eyes and shook my head. “No one bullied me, Dad. I fell by myself.”

My mom then hugged me and cried. “You have to be more careful in the future. You are a piece of flesh that fell from my body. If you get hurt, I will feel my heart out and hurt.”

Taking this opportunity, I spoke up, “Mom and Dad, didn't I give you my scholarship the other day? Can you give it back to me? That is the cost of my study abroad.”

Mom and Dad both were stunned at the same time. Dad was silent for a moment. He only showed a difficult look.

He told me in a serious tone, “Audrey Ainsworth, what's so good about going abroad? You just worship foreign things. We don't want you to go abroad. Why don't you stay at home with us instead of going abroad? This money, Mom and I will keep only for you. So that you won’t be cheated.”

Mom followed the conversation and said, “Your dad is absolutely right. Didn't you have a working part-time program recently? Isn't that money enough for you? I also heard you've got a boyfriend. Did he give you this idea? I advise you not to keep such a man. You have to break up quickly.”

The two of them looked as if they were doing me a favour, but it made me feel even more heartbroken. I handed in all the scholarships and as well as work-study two jobs to earn money. I didn’t have a penny left over in addition to the living expenses, where was there any money left?

I remembered Evelyn in school wearing a famous designer. She also had a driver to pick up and drop off. She usually spent more money on water at other times.

She invited classmates to hold parties in her mansion from time to time. She had even bragged in the class that she spent no less than one hundred thousand dollars a night. But I just wanted to get back my scholarship, but I got a lot of words.

Compared to Evelyn Ainsworth, she was more like a biological daughter than me. They even asked me to give up the love that I got with great difficulty.

In college, I was so poor that everyone knew it. No one of the opposite sex was willing to get close to me. Only Cornelius Holbrook, who was also from a poor family. We sympathize with each other. Although we didn’t officially confirm our relationship, we already regarded each other as our other half in our hearts.

I pulled the corners of my mouth. I felt a deep disappointment in my heart. Seeing my face pale, my father patted my shoulder to comfort me.

“My daughter, please, don't think too much. You also know the situation of our family, right? We have to spend money everywhere. It's not safe for you to keep those scholarships on you.”

My mom also said, “Yes, my daughter. Your previous tuition fees are borrowed. You have not yet returned to others. So, do not think so much. You have to go to bed early. Don’t stay up late all night. It’s not good for your health and body.”

I nodded my head despondently and went back inside the house. Just after I closed the door, I heard my dad's cell phone ringing.

He made a point of glancing at my room first. The two of them sheepishly ran to the restroom. I quietly approached and heard them ask in a very patient tone.

“Evelyn, why are you suddenly calling Mom and Dad? Didn't I tell you, that when we're at home, don't call us.”

Evelyn replied, “Dad, I need a sum of money.”

Mom and Dad exchanged a look. “Didn't I give you a card just now on your birthday? That's a hundred thousand dollars there, Evelyn.”

Evelyn's tone carried impatience, “It’s not enough, Dad. I just now invited a group of classmates to my birthday party. We ordered a few bottles of red wine and it was all gone, Dad. So, please, give another hundred thousand over.”

Dad was still hesitating at that time. My mom pushed his elbow with a dissatisfied look on her face.

“My hubby, why are you still considering it? Evelyn is not like Audrey, honey. Let alone one hundred thousand dollars, even five hundred thousand you have to give her. Evelyn is the future heir of our Ainsworth Family, right? Think about it, Evelyn is prettier and has a good temperament than Audrey. Wasn't she adopted in the first place so that she could give face to the Ainsworth Family?”

Dad silenced for a while. But my mom still said, “Audrey has scars on her face. She can't inherit the family business. Our family can't afford to lose this person.”

“It's also true that Audrey’s face was burned in that fire when she was a child. She is indeed not suitable to inherit the family business.”

When my dad heard this, he thought it was so true. He then smiled dotingly.

“Okay, my lovely daughter. I will immediately give you the money right away.”

Hearing this, my heart was already as if it was dead as ashes. I didn’t want to continue listening to their talks.

I went back to my room. I stayed up all night. All I could think about was the words my parents said in the restroom.

They probably had long forgotten how I got the scar on my face. When I was five years old, mom and dad locked me in the house while I was sleeping. They then accompanied Evelyn to the amusement park.

When they left the house, they forgot that water was still boiling on the gas stove. When the water dried up, it exploded and sparks splashed onto the curtains. It started a fire.

That day, I was woken up by the smoke and cowering alone on the balcony to ask for help. If my neighbours had not broken down the door to save me, I might have died in the fire. But my face was burned by the fire when I rushed out of the balcony, leaving scars and then many of my classmates laughed at me for being ugly.

But what made me sad was when my parents came home. They thought I was naughty and played with fire. They then beat me to death for having been frightened.

They didn't stop until the police investigated the scene and came to a conclusion.

After fifteen years, they still haven't given me an apology to this day. Nowadays, I didn't care anymore.

The next morning, I received a call from my boyfriend, Cornelius Holbrook.

“Hai, my love. I’m here.”

“You're just downstairs in my house?”

I hurriedly crawled out of the comforter, put on my clothes and went downstairs. Seeing Cornelius, my frozen heart finally felt a trace of warmth.

“It's New Year's Eve, my love. Why did you come over?”

Seeing me, Cornelius was also very happy. I led him into the house just in time to bump into Mom and Dad getting ready to go out.

But the moment they saw Cornelius Holbrook, they were both stunned at the same time.

My mom looked him up and down. She then asked in surprise, “My daughter, this is your classmate?”

I nodded to confess truthfully. “He is Cornelius Holbrook, my boyfriend.”

Cornelius was neither humble nor arrogant. He respectfully called out, “Uncle and Auntie, Happy New Year.”

When I was about to give Cornelius some water, I saw my mom mysteriously pulling my dad into the kitchen. While they weren't paying attention, I gently approached them.

“Marcello, that man is so handsome and he talks elegantly. How about introducing him to Evelyn?”

My father frowned after hearing this. “That's my daughter's boyfriend. How can you have such an idea?”

My mother was unimpressed. “The palms and backs of my hands are all flesh. Both of them are my daughters. It doesn't matter who he marries. Audrey’s body is not in good condition. Her face has a scar. She is not suitable for that young man. I think Evelyn has a good temperament and is pretty. The two of them are a good match on the contrary.”

My dad replied, “Anyway, I also like this man. If he wants to marry, he can only marry Evelyn.”

My dad was a bit embarrassed. When he walked out, I hurriedly pretended to fetch water and left. When I carried the water cup towards Cornelius, my hand holding the water cup kept trembling. I didn't know if it was because I was angry or because my heart was broken by my disappointment in them.

I couldn't figure out how my biological parents would snatch away their own daughter's boyfriend for a fake daughter, who was not related to me with no blood relationship.

At this moment, the only trace of warmth left in my heart shattered. I didn't want to stay at home any longer. I then took Cornelius's hand intending to go out to watch a movie.

But my mom stopped us on our way. She had a kind smile on her face and said, “Where are you going? Please, stay at home for lunch.”

I wanted to refuse, but Cornelius happily agreed because he wanted to get on good terms with my parents.