When I was fourteen, you took my brother out to celebrate his birthday—just the two of you. You spent the entire day and night laughing, eating, playing.

And I?

I was locked out of the house.

It rained that night—cold, relentless. I huddled under the eaves, soaked to the bone, stomach growling.

The streetlights at the intersection flickered on and off. Every time headlights approached, I lifted my head in hope. Every time, it wasn’t you.

Hope came and went with every car.

Disappointment settled in like the cold.

It wasn’t you who came for me. It was the old neighbor grandma who found me, shivering and drenched.

She wrapped me in a warm quilt and handed me a bowl of steaming rice. The rising heat blurred my vision and stung my eyes.

I clutched the bowl and choked on tears.

“Grandma… why do Mom and Dad only love my brother? Why don’t they care about me?”

Her weathered hand patted my head again and again.

“Good child,” she said, “if you’re good enough, your parents will see you.”

So I believed her.

I tried. I tried so hard.

I studied until my eyes burned, always ranked first in class, filled the house with awards and certificates. I placed them where you couldn’t miss them, hoping—desperately—that maybe this time, you’d smile at me.

But you didn’t.

You frowned.

You swept my trophies into the trash like garbage.

Then came the parent-teacher meeting.

Every student had someone beside them. Except me.

Behind my back, the whispers started.

“So what if she’s top of the class? She’s still an orphan.”

“Elara, are you unwanted?”

“She's just a pitiful stray no one loves.”

That day, I snapped.

I threw away the good manners I'd held onto for years and lashed out. I flipped desks, hurled chairs. Chaos erupted. A heavy water cup struck the back of my head.

In the office afterward, parents rushed to defend their children.

“It was just a joke—no need to blow things out of proportion.”

But then you arrived, Mom.

You wrapped an arm around my shoulders like a mother should, and said coldly, “It’s all in the surveillance footage. If they don’t apologize, I’ll call the police.”

For a moment, I felt warmth. Safety.

She’s protecting me, I thought.

Maybe Grandma was right. Maybe I was finally good enough.

The bullies apologized—awkward, humiliated.

And I? I walked out of that office with my chin high, like a proud little peacock.

My heart ached with hope.

Then, outside, your hand grazed the back of my head, where the swelling throbbed. Your voice was like ice.

“Does it hurt?”

Of course it hurts. Every inch of me did.

I looked up at you, wanting to say, ‘No, Mom. It doesn’t hurt.’

But before I could speak, your hand cracked across my face.

Your eyes were full of disgust.

“Elara, have you no shame? You're a girl, and you brawl like some gutter rat. Why didn’t she beat you to death?”

“They were right. What’s the point of good grades if you have no manners? You’ve embarrassed me. I should’ve never given birth to you.”

“You’re always such an eyesore.”

And just like that, I understood.

You weren’t protecting me.

You were protecting your pride.

After that, I stopped trying to shine.

The teachers who used to praise me now looked at me with pity.

I became the student who made people sigh.

But how could you expect me to keep blooming when you were the one crushing me?

You broke me—and then you looked down on the pieces.

Ten o’clock in the morning.

Twelve hours had passed since my death.

My body lay cold and stiff on the attic floor, already beginning to rot.

Outside, the world kept turning.

My brother left for school with his friends, laughing like nothing had changed.

My father went to work, briefcase in hand, as punctual as ever.

And my mother? She dressed herself up beautifully—flawless makeup, a fitted dress—to bask in the glory of her career.

By four o’clock that afternoon, the Golden Grace Dance finals came to a close.

Serena, her prized student, didn’t disappoint. She danced her way to the championship and stood beaming on stage, golden trophy in hand.

The crowd cheered. Applause thundered.

With a radiant smile, she handed the winner’s bouquet to my mother and said, “Thank you for everything, Teacher. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

My mother’s face lit up with pride. She was glowing—like this victory was her own.

And as I watched from the silence of death, I couldn’t help but remember the first time I ever gave her flowers.

I was seven.

It was her birthday, and I had seen other children buying little cakes and flower bouquets for their moms. I watched the neighborhood aunties lean down, kiss their children’s cheeks, and say “Thank you, baby. Mommy loves you!”

I wanted that too.

I wanted one kiss. One gentle hug. One kind word.

So I saved every coin from my meager pocket money for weeks. I picked out a bouquet of the prettiest flowers I could afford—bright and cheerful, just like the ones I’d seen in the movies.

I ran home, bursting with excitement, clutching those flowers like a treasure.

Naively, I imagined she would open her arms and smile at me. That she’d kneel down, hug me close, and whisper, “Thank you, sweetheart. Mommy loves you so much.”

But the moment she saw me, her face twisted into something monstrous.

She snatched the bouquet from my hands, flung it to the ground, and crushed the petals beneath her heels.

The scent of crushed flowers mixed with her fury.

“Who told you to show your face?” she screamed. “Get out! Every time I see you, I want to strangle you!”

I ran as fast as I could, slipping on the scattered petals and sticky flower juice. But even then, even after that, I still hoped she might change.

That was the day I learned the truth:

My mother didn’t love me.

And she never would.

But I was just a child, and children always ask the same question when they’re hurt:

Why?

Why didn’t she love me?

Why would a mother not love her own child?

And why—if she hated me so much—did she choose to bring me into this world in the first place?

At the height of her glory, just as the applause for Serena reached its peak, a group of police officers pushed through the crowd.