Chapter 3

"What are you doing?" My mom sensed something was wrong and snatched my phone away.

"Are you crazy? You want to find her? You want to ruin her!"

Her voice was shrill, her face twisted with rage.

I looked at her and suddenly smiled.

"Mom, you guessed right."

I pried her fingers open one by one and took back my phone.

"I'm not just going to find her. I'm going to tell everyone, in front of all of them, what kind of person this 'genius designer' really is."

My mom trembled with anger and raised her hand to slap me.

I didn't dodge.

The slap landed on my face, burning and painful.

It also completely woke me up.

"Get out! Get out of here right now!" She pointed at the door, screaming at the top of her lungs. "I don't have a daughter like you!"

"Fine."

I turned and walked away without any hesitation.

At the door, I stopped and looked back at her.

"This house is in my name. Move out within a month."

I said this, opened the door, and walked out.

Behind me, I could hear my mom cursing furiously and the sound of things being smashed.

I didn't look back.

The night outside was cold.

I hailed a taxi and headed straight to the airport.

Sitting in the departure lounge, I finally felt the lingering pain on my cheek.

I took out my phone. The screen reflected my disheveled face.

My right cheek was swollen, with a clear handprint.

I laughed bitterly at myself.

I opened a chat with a college classmate I hadn't contacted in a long time.

He was a local from City A, working at a well-known gallery.

[Are you there? I need a favor.]

He replied quickly: [Well, well, if it isn't our rare guest, Jade the talented one. What's up?]

[Help me get a ticket to the "Starlight Cup" Youth Design Competition finals, preferably front row.]

[The "Starlight Cup"? You're interested in that amateur competition? I heard there's someone called Susan Winters this year who's already been chosen as the winner. Word is she's the competition chairman's goddaughter.]

I stared at the words on the screen. My heart felt like it was being squeezed by an invisible hand.

So it wasn't just theft.

There were deeper deals involved.

[Yes, I'm going for her.]

[Got some drama? Spill!]

[I'll tell you when we meet.]

I closed my phone and leaned back in my chair, closing my eyes.

Scenes from my childhood flooded my mind uncontrollably.

I was eight that year, Susan was six.

I had saved up my allowance for a long time to buy a beautiful cherry cake. I wanted to share it with my family on my birthday.

But Susan didn't like cherries. So right in front of me, she pushed the entire cake into the trash can.

I cried.

But my mom held Susan in her arms, cooing softly to comfort her.

She said to me: "Jade, you're the older sister. You need to give in to your little sister. It's just a cake. Mom will buy you another one next time."

She never bought me another cake.

From that day on, I never celebrated my birthday again.

The roar of the plane taking off pulled me back from my memories.

I opened my eyes and watched the city lights growing smaller outside the window.

Those lights that once made me feel warm now seemed only cold and distant.

Goodbye.

My home.