Chapter 2

2.

I thought that maybe as I got older, things at home would change.

But I never expected that my silence would only make them bolder in their cruelty.

In middle school, I studied like my life depended on it. I became the model student in my teachers' eyes. I believed knowledge could change my fate.

One day, after a major exam, the results came out. I was ranked first in the entire grade.

I was invited to speak as the student representative at the morning assembly. When I got back to class, even my homeroom teacher gave me a pep talk.

That same day, Bennett got into a fight and injured a classmate.

At home, my parents gave him everything he wanted. Over time, he became arrogant and entitled, always needing to be on top. So, when a classmate challenged him, he used his fists.

When the teacher found out, she gave Bennett a harsh lecture. "You and your sister came from the same womb. How can you be so different? She's top of the class, a model student. And you? You're the complete opposite!"

Bennett was furious. He clenched his fists, his whole body trembling with rage.

After school, he dragged me into a deserted alleyway.

He had always been the golden boy at home, while I was lower than the dirt beneath his boots. How could he stand being humiliated like that?

His fists rained down on me like a storm. He hissed as he hit me, "You just had to be number one! You had to go out there and show off!"

"Willa Blake, what are you trying to prove? Don't forget, I'm the reason you're even alive!"

He shoved me hard against the brick wall and slapped me across the face.

"Who told you to be first? You useless burden! Try showing off again and see what happens!"

Bennett was fourteen now, tall and strong. I, on the other hand, barely ate enough to survive at home. I was so thin a strong wind could knock me over. I had no chance against him.

He slammed his knee into my stomach. The pain was so sharp that cold sweat broke out on my forehead. I couldn't even make a sound.

I clutched my stomach, only for him to punch me in the arm. It burned like fire.

Bennett growled, "Willa, you know your birth was a mistake, right?"

In his eyes, I was just a piece of meat to be carved up, or a stray dog they kept around to do chores.

Every inch of my body went numb with pain. My face was deathly pale as I took the beating in silence.

He only stopped when I was half-dead on the ground.

I leaned against the cold bricks of the alley, watching him walk away. Finally, I let out a breath and slumped onto the filthy ground.