My mother, Sarah Murphy, mistook me for a loan shark, so she kicked me out of the house.

Besides, she transferred all the compensation for demolition into my brother James Murphy's name.

But Sarah didn't know that the debt collection call she received was actually from a lottery store.

I won ten million dollars on a lottery ticket.

As Sarah unintentionally received a call for a tax withholding reminder, she panicked and asked, "Did you borrow from a loan shark?"

I lied to her on purpose, and I nodded with an upset look on my face.

She looked pale.

As I was just about to laugh at her for falling for it, I saw her take out a bankbook from a drawer with determination and hand it to me.

"This is all I have, and you can take it. Don't come back."

There was only three thousand dollars in the bankbook.

We had obviously received a half a million dollars for demolition and two additional apartments. While the prices in the small and remote cities weren't high, our family fortune was quite a lot for an average family like ours.

I was stunned for a moment and felt a little uncomfortable.

I forgot for a moment that I was only joking, so I subconsciously asked, "Where's your money?"

Sarah's tone was unnatural and looked embarrassed.

"Your dad invested all the money in the business."

No sooner had I almost pulled the lottery ticket, which I was holding tightly, out of my pocket than I tucked it it back.

I took a deep breath, suddenly not knowing what to say.

Sarah turned around and walked out.

I stared at the pictures of our family hanging on the wall in bewilderment and frustration.

My father, Patrick Murphy, pushed the door in.

He had a cup of mango juice in his hand.

I loved mango juice, so he would always buy many boxes and keep them at home.

Then, Patrick would prepare a glass for me every day.

The mango juice he bought me was always wonderful, not too sweet and flavorful at the same time.

My depression had subsided a lot.

"Don't be upset. You know your mom's temper, and she can't take a lot.

"Listen, I'll try to transfer the funds to help you pay back the money first.

"You need to think things through from now on and never touch loan sharks, okay?"

Patrick's gentle tone soothed my aggrieved and anxious feelings.

As I was just about to clarify the facts, Patrick took my glass, sighed deeply, and said, seemingly unintentionally, "We didn't have a hard time, but James recently quit his job. He was going to start his own business, so he just borrowed my money."

My hand froze in my pocket again.

When I looked up, Patrick looked meaningfully into my eyes.

I forced a smile. "Dad, it was just a scam call, and I was joking with my Mom."

Patrick sighed in relief, his eyes filled with a relieved smile.

"I knew you wouldn't be that inconsiderate.

"Go to bed early."

The next day, Bryce knocked on my door, holding a bouquet of flowers.

Bryce Wellington was my boyfriend.

We had a fight over something not long ago, and we had been in a silent treatment for two or three days.

He apologized to me humbly.

"Eleanor, it's all my fault, okay?

"Please forgive me.

"I'm just upset that your parents favored James. They transferred the house to James' name, so I was defending you, and I was genuinely being nice."

"My parents transferred the second house to James' name because the taxes on it were too high."

I couldn't resist using Patrick's rhetoric.

However, after what happened yesterday, it was as if a thorn had grown in my heart, and I felt a vague pain.

Bryce hesitated and kept his mouth tightly shut.

His hesitant look made me even more annoyed.

I pushed Bryce out the door and threw the flowers he had brought with him into his arms.

I don't want to think about anything, so I start playing with my phone alone in bed.

Then, I saw James showing two property deeds in Instagram, both with his name on them.

In addition, there were several massive transfers from Patrick.

It was another one of my Instagram accounts.

I had never chatted with James since I added him, and he had probably long forgotten it was me.

That was why he dared to flaunt it so recklessly on Instagram. "It's a blessing to be favored by my parents!"

I was stunned, feeling so frustrated.

Even until my tears fell drop by drop on my phone, I still couldn't understand what favoritism meant.

Did they favor James?

I was trying hard to remember the past.

When I was a little girl, all the toys in our house were double.

They never treated me poorly with any of the necessities of life.

Sarah had even always bought me tons of dresses because of the wide variety of girl's clothes.

James was envious of me for a while, and he even cried a few times and wanted to wear my dress.

I never felt my parents were biased.

I had no doubt even when Patrick told me he was going to transfer a house to James' name to reduce taxes after this demolition.

I even stupidly reassured James, "Even though it takes up your first home purchase, it may cost you more to buy a house later. Don't be mad at Mom and Dad.

"They transferred the house to your name because they trusted you.

"As their children, it is proper for us to sacrifice something for our parents."

The words were still ringing in my ears like a slap in my face, which was extremely painful.

Therefore, the only person who knew nothing was me.

I could remember a hint of sympathy and pity in James' eyes when I said that carefully.

What was he thinking at that time?

Was he thinking that I was such an idiot? Patrick and Sarah were treating me like an outsider, but I was completely oblivious. It was just my constantly wishful thinking, and I was afraid of a crack in their relationship.

As I squeezed the lottery ticket tightly, I cried so hard I was shaking.

I was so excited when I first found that I had won the lottery.

I had fantasized countless times about what Patrick and Sarah would be like when they knew it.

I even laughed out loud every time I thought about it.

I would give Patrick and Sarah all of the ten million dollars without any reservation and let them spend it as they wish.

I never worried that they owed me anything, so I felt that we were so close that I didn't need to think in terms of money.

However, I feel like a joke at the moment.

No, it might not be this moment.

I had always been a joke, stupid and unaware of it.

I downloaded the original pictures James posted on Instagram, organized them, and posted them all on the family chat group by my phone.

Sarah, who had always loved to play with her cell phone, was silent all the time.

Two hours later, Patrick forwarded a news item to the chat group, so they started a heated discussion about it, and Sarah and James expressed their opinions.

My message was covered almost instantly.

That was their attitude, tacitly avoiding the topic.

I felt heartbroken and angry.

My pride persuaded me inexplicably inside, "Don't push it. Isn't it clear enough? Is their attitude not cruel enough?

It would be a shame for you to keep pestering them."

But I couldn't control my hands, frantically tapping on the keyboard. Eleanor: [Are you just going to ignore my message without even a word of explanation?]

The lively chat group fell silent again.

The dialog box stopped at my question, and there were no more replies.

I had wanted to rush to my parents countless times to ask them why they were doing this to me.

The silence in the chat box was so embarrassing to me.

I felt that all questions would be asking for humiliation.

It was obvious that they didn't care about me.

But I still cared about them.

The extreme embarrassment restrained me.

I returned to my workplace early with my bags.

I took the lottery ticket and cashed it in. Looking at the balance in my bank account, I was not delighted at all.

I couldn't control myself from spending my days alone playing with my cell phone.

Besides, I checked that chat group page over and over again.

I was obviously so desperate, but I didn't know why I was still looking forward to it, let alone what I was really expecting.

Looking at the dark night sky outside the house, my tears fell so unexpectedly.

Maybe family members were telepathic.

It wasn't long after I woke up that I got an urgent call from Patrick.

"Something's happened to your mom!

"She's suddenly gone into shock. We're at the city hospital now, so hurry up and get over here."

There was a sob in Patrick's voice on the phone.

I was trembling with fear.

I forgot all my grievances for a moment and immediately drove to the hospital.

When I arrived at the hospital, I quickly ran to pay the bill.

Sarah finally came to her senses after first aid.

She was never very well and always gone into the hospital a few times a year, but nothing could be traced to the root of the problem.

I always suspected that her shock was the result of a heart problem, with intermittent insufficient blood supply.

I had repeatedly urged her to have a checkup at a well-known hospital, but she always shrugged it off.

I watched Sarah lying on the hospital bed, pale and skinny.

I felt extremely upset and worried.

All the dissatisfaction in my heart had long vanished.

For the next few days, I took time off work and spent days and nights at the hospital looking after Sarah.

At night, I would help her with her urinal, and I took her upstairs and downstairs in the hospital during the day to do tests and pay bills. I was so tired and out of breath.

Watching Sarah get better and better, something occurred to me.

"Where's James? Why didn't he even call?"

"I didn't tell him," Sarah answered me absently as she ate the apple I had just peeled for her.

"Why didn't you tell him?"

"Well, what is the use of my telling him? He's careless, doesn't know anything, and can't be relied on at all."

"He's not careful and considerate like you. Thank you, or I couldn't handle all this on my own. Now we need to self-pay at the hospital, and I can't even read what's on the screen," Patrick praised me with a smile.

His praise didn't make me feel any joy. On the contrary, I felt even more lost.

I stopped smiling.

I took out my cell phone and was stopped by Patrick before I could press it. "Don't call him. He can't help much now that your mom is almost better."

"How could he not help? I've taken a few days off, and I have to get back to the office, so he should stay here instead."

"He doesn't need to do that. If you have a problem, you can leave, and I can take care of your mom."

I couldn't hold back the anger inside me any longer.

I forced a call to James and tried to tell him what had happened in a calm tone.

Once James had expressed his urgent concern, he emphasized his inability to help.

"My career is rising, I just can't afford to take time off. Eleanor, it's going to be the same as before this time, and I'll thank you for it later."

I also suddenly realized that every time Patrick and Sarah needed someone to take care of them, they would subconsciously turn to me.

Whether it was something as small and worthless as buying medication, helping with online toilet paper purchases, or something as big as being sick and hospitalized, they would only come to me.

It seemed like James was always absent.

The only thing that wasn't absent was his skill at talking.

I paid money and energy to solve everything, no matter how big or small.

Why did I never think it was a problem before? I was even complacent with the fact that Patrick and Sarah relied on me more and couldn't live without me.

I even thought it all showed that they loved me more.

Before I could answer, Patrick was already beside me eagerly replying to him, "It's okay, no worries. You don't have to come back, and I can take care of your mom."

"I've spent eighteen thousand dollars in the last few days on Mom's hospitalization. I advanced that money, so you have to transfer nine thousand dollars to me," I said through gritted teeth.

James quickly agreed on the other side of the phone.

Patrick, however, grabbed my phone and told James directly, "You don't need to do that. Neither of you need to spend any money for your mom, and I'll give the money to Eleanor."

He hung up the phone and started complaining about me.

"What are you doing? I didn't say I wanted you to pay for it, but why are you so eager to ask James for money?"