The Disowned Daughter

My father dotes on his illegitimate son.

My mother favors her adopted daughter.

They compete with each other, and no one wants me.

On the eve of my college entrance exams, they suddenly agreed to meet me together.

I thought they finally remembered their parental duties and wanted to wish me luck.

But when I arrived, each of them pulled out a document: a "Voluntary Renunciation of Inheritance" agreement.

They wanted me to sign.

It turns out they remembered I was about to turn eighteen.

But their only fear was that I would fight their precious children for the family fortune.

I sat on the sofa, looking at my parents' cold expressions.

Finally, I just whispered:

"Then, can you give me some money?"

I needed money. A lot of it.

Both my parents had stopped supporting me long ago, each assuming the other was paying my living expenses.

Since my junior year of high school, my savings had run dry.

I had gone hungry many times, filling my stomach with plain water.

When hunger made my vision blur, the desire for money outweighed love.

I wanted enough money to finish college, to have a place to live, and to eat.

My parents were surprised by this request.

Especially my mother. She raised an eyebrow, seemingly disgusted by my mercenary attitude.

Sitting next to her was her beloved adopted daughter, Bella.

My mother had pampered her for years, grooming her into the perfect debutante.

As I spoke, Bella glanced at me. Her posture was elegant and reserved.

Without saying a word, her gaze conveyed her disdain and contempt.

Thankfully, my mother didn't dwell on me.

Her focus was still on my father. She sneered at him:

"So, wasn't Chloe your 'only little princess'? And now you let her live in poverty? Fifty thousand dollars? You wouldn't even tip that little."

She clicked her tongue and sighed. "Chloe, a real heiress, yet her vision is narrower than my Bella's. This is all due to your responsible parenting."

My mother patted Bella's hand, proudly displaying her masterpiece to my father.

She didn't care if her biological daughter felt awkward hearing this.

My father's face darkened. Next to him sat Liam, my illegitimate half-brother.

For the past two years, Bella had crushed Liam in every aspectmanners, grades, everything.

Every time my mother flaunted Bella's excellence, it was a slap in the face to my father and Liam.

My father understood the mockery.

Furious, he sneered back: "You're the mother who abandoned the child from her own womb. Why should I care if you don't?"

"Chloe is rotten from the root; I can't save her." My mother smirked, her glare piercing my father. "With a cheating father, her bloodline is tainted. She's destined to be flawed."

"Samantha, you think you're any better?"

"Look closely, William. I raised Bella to be exceptional, while you raised Liam into a degenerate. The problem isn't me. It's your genes. You were always inferior to Robert."

Eventually, they couldn't contain their anger.

Right in front of me, they started arguing again.

I trembled, wanting to bury my head like I used to.

But I couldn't. I knew once they vented, they would leave.

They would leave me in the mess they created, uncaring.

I didn't want to go hungry anymore.

So I screamed, stopping the war.

"Save your arguments for after you give me the money!" I slowly extended my hand, palm sweating. "I need to go to college. Give me fifty thousand each."

My whole body shook as I spoke.

I didn't know if it was nerves or excitement.

This was the first time I stood up to them.

I knew if I didn't fight now, I would never have another chance.

My father had always favored his illegitimate son, the product of an affair with his first love.

Liam was only six months younger than me.

Before his existence was revealed, we were the perfect family in everyone's eyes.

Successful father, gentle mother, adorable daughter.

Everything changed when I was fifteen.

Father brought Liam home.

That was when my mother learned that for years, my father had essentially built a second family.

He often used business trips as an excuse to visit them in a neighboring city, living a sweet life with his mistress and son.

But as Liam grew older, his mother wasn't satisfied with him being just a secret.

She wanted to move to our city to be closer to my father, but he refused.

Undeterred, she secretly followed him with Liam.

But they got into a car accident on the way.

That woman used her life to knock open the door of my home for Liam.

At first, when my father brought him back, he didn't dare look my mother in the eye.

Deep down, he didn't think his mistake was that grave; he thought showing weakness would earn forgiveness.

But my usually gentle and understanding mother went crazy on the spot.

She cursed my father, cursed Liam, and cursed the woman who nearly broke them up years ago.

Initially, my father humbly coaxed her, saying, "Liam's mother is dead; she can't hurt you anymore."

But my mother wouldn't let it go, and eventually, he got angry too.

He shoved her to the ground, pointing at her nose. "Why are you being so unreasonable!"

That was the first time I saw my parents fight. It lasted for a year.

No consensus was reached.

Over that year, the more my mother raged, the more guilt my father felt toward his mistress and Liam.

In the end, his last shred of guilt for us was worn away.

Standing before my hysterical mother, he calmly said: "Let's divorce."

The divorce never happened.

Over the years, our families' business interests had become deeply intertwined.

Divorce would mean mutual destruction.

But my mother refused to swallow her pride.

So soon, she brought home a child too.

The daughter of her childhood sweetheart.

That man was also my mother's first love. In her youth, she thought she would marry him.

Then my father appeared, viewing Robert as his biggest threat.

Even after my parents got together, my father was often jealous of him.

Later, Robert married too, but divorced shortly after. His ex-wife left him with a child.

Then, Robert had to go abroad for a few years, but his daughter, Bella, needed to stay for school.

My mother stepped in, adopted Bella as her goddaughter, and brought her home.

I had seen photos. Bella looked just like Roberttall, fair, striking features.

Seeing a face so similar to Robert's, my father couldn't look happy.

My mother knew this upset him, and the more upset he was, the happier she became.

Another year of grinding conflict.

Living under the same roof, they competed to spoil their respective "chosen" children.

They tried their hardest to prove their child was superior.

But Liam was a disappointment.

Knowing his biological father was a wealthy CEO, he stopped being considerate.

He demanded the best of everything.

He bullied others at home and acted like a prince at school.

He was unpopular and had terrible grades, constantly embarrassing his father.

My mother reveled in this. She said cheating men carried inferior genes.

She cursed Liam, calling him the son of a cheater and a homewrecker, destined to be trash.

My father fought back. They knew each other best and knew exactly where to hurt.

He mocked her, saying Bella's biological mother was still alive, yet she rushed to play mom. If Robert reconciled with his ex, my mother would be left with nothing.

Provoked, they started another round of fighting.

But the problem actually had a solution.

My grades were better than Liam's and even Bella's. I was kind, friendly, and loved by everyone at school.

I loved my mother too. Once, I wanted to be the one to protect her until the end.

But faced with me, who carried half of each of their bloodlines, they tacitly chose to ignore me.

Once, I was the crystallization of their love, the princess they both cherished.

Now, they refused to be good to me because it felt like bowing to the other.

Ignoring me was the best solution.

So for six months, though I lived in my own home, I couldn't eat or sleep well.

Those two intruders claimed everything I had.

My bedroom was turned into Bella's piano room.

Liam complained that I had lived better than him before, so the gifts my father once gave me were transferred to him one by one.

Later, when I was starving and wanted to sell some jewelry for food, I had nothing left.

I had nothing. No love, no money.

Now, for their precious darlings, they wanted me to sign away my inheritance.

Before coming here, I secretly harbored hope. I thought they finally noticed me, noticed my excellent grades, and my heart that naturally loved them.

With exams approaching, maybe they called me to give me a surprise, to cheer me on.

I hid my secret joy, cleaned myself up, and walked to them.

Only to be met with two cold agreements.

"Sign it." Their voices were icy commands. I froze, feeling cold all over.

In that moment, I remembered a lot.

I remembered how they used to love me.

I remembered crying alone in the corner during countless unknown nights.

Tears soaking my homework, biting my pen to stifle my sobs, swallowing my grievances before continuing my studies.

In this instant, I finally accepted it. The parents who used to call me "baby" and wanted to give me the world were gone.

I could only love myself. I had to move forward alone, go to college, go far away.

They didn't want me. They wanted Liam and Bella.

Then, I didn't want them either.

Faced with my firm demand for money, my mother's expression cracked first.

She scrutinized me, trying to read me.

I looked back openly.

No coquetry from the past, no begging, no acting out for attention.

I just simply wanted money.

Besides money, I wanted nothing from them.

"Are you resenting us?" As if just realizing my existence, my mother pursed her lips, subconsciously turning away to avoid my gaze.

Rarely, she acknowledged I had emotions and deigned to explain.

"This is indeed a bit harsh on you," she said. "Blame your father. He brought in this bastard and wants to leave everything to him, giving you nothing. I have no choice. You are his daughter. If I leave my assets to you, he'll trick you out of them. Chloe, you have to understand Mom."

Hearing this, my father slammed the table and roared: "Don't slander me in front of my daughter! At least I'm leaving my assets to my own blood. Liam is Chloe's biological brother! And you, Samantha, you're using our family's money to subsidize an outsider's daughter! You've lost your mind!"

"What? You can take care of your first love's son, but I can't take care of my first love's daughter?" My mother sneered back. "You spend a fortune on that tramp's son, so I'll spend just as much on Robert's daughter. If you hadn't interfered back then, Bella would have been my daughter..."

She stopped abruptly, glancing at me guiltily. Seeing my expressionless face, she secretly sighed in relief.

"I don't want to hear your meaningless arguments. Fight later." I spoke numbly. "Give me the money first. Then you can argue about bastards and wild seeds all you want."

"Money, money, money! All you care about is money! How did I raise such a shameless thing?" Triggered by my disdain, my father turned his fire on me, pointing a trembling finger at my nose.

I didn't get angry, just kept my hand extended. "Give me the money, then pretend you never had me."

Laughter came from behind. It was my mother, laughing hysterically, clapping her hands.

"William, you're not human! Even your own daughter disowns you! This is your karma!"

She laughed exaggeratedly, tears in her eyes.

Bella quickly went to support her, wiping her eyes with a tissue, softly calling: "Godmother?"

Then, she turned to glare at my father. "Don't bully her."

This seemed to wake my mother up. She calmed down, looking at Bella with infinite tenderness.

My gaze fell on their joined hands. My mother gently patted the back of Bella's hand.

She used to comfort me like that.

Now, she used the same gesture to be someone else's mother.