Chapter 5
The moment it touched my tongue, I realized…
It was bitter.
+25 BONUS
Chocolate is bitter. Cream is sweet. The bitterness weighed heavy, the sweetness clung like grease.
I never looked forward to my birthday, never spoke of it, deliberately erased it from my mind. No one ever remembered. No one ever celebrated. If I mentioned it, I’d only expose myself to more humiliation.
I waited outside the door until the guests had all left. Just as I was about to step in, I heard Fiona complaining to Mom.
“Mom, why haven’t you coaxed Jolene back yet? You probably weren’t serious when you apologized last time. It’s such a hassle without her. No one to cook, no one to clean. Your cooking is awful, and you never clean as well as she does.”
I stopped in my tracks.
So that was it. Their sudden warmth back then wasn’t real. They just wanted me back as a housemaid.
I kicked the door open.
No pleasantries. No hesitation. I looked straight at my dad and said, “Grandma is sick. She needs to be hospitalized. You take her.”
Fiona stiffened, probably worried I had heard her. But embarrassment flickered only briefly before vanishing. In the end, she never really saw me as a person who mattered.
With shameless ease, she latched onto my arm and whined, “Jolene, if Grandma’s sick, you should just move back home.”
No concern for Grandma, no fear for her health. She only cared whether someone was there to serve her.
Spoiled. Selfish Completely self–centered.
