Chapter 3
751 Words
After I got back, I stopped by my grandmother's house before going anywhere else. When I pushed open the front door, she was sitting beside the old landline, talking on the phone.
My eyes landed on the dark red telephone that only rang a few times during the holidays each year. A knot tightened in my chest. That phone was older than I was. The receiver leaked so badly I could hear every word from several feet away.
"Mom, how many times do I have to tell you? Don't let Lily come to Avermont City and cause trouble. Do you know how hard I worked to build the new life I have now? Are you trying to destroy everything? I told you back then to send her to an orphanage, but you refused. Look what almost happened. She nearly ruined everything!"
My grandmother turned and stole a careful glance at me. She cupped the receiver and whispered, "That's enough. I'm hanging up."
"I don't care. You were the one who insisted on keeping her, so keep an eye on her. If she dares interfere with the family I have now, she'll pay for it."
My grandmother fumbled with the phone and quickly ended the call. "Lily, your father didn't mean that."
I forced a smile and set my backpack on the chair beside me. "Grandma, I'm sorry. I didn't bring you anything back from my trip."
My grandmother swallowed the words she wanted to say. In the end, she turned and went into the kitchen, then came back with a bowl of Chicken Noodle Soup. "Have something first. You must be hungry after traveling."
I answered quietly and went into my small room alone. One by one, I took out everything my father had mailed over the years.
Only then did I realize those packages he had casually sent weren't the precious gifts Grandma said he had saved up to buy for me. The Chanel bag had someone else's name embossed inside.
The floral dress I had treasured for years wasn't even my size. Even the latest iPhone everyone admired was still signed in with someone else's Apple ID.
When I was little, I always found excuses for him. I convinced myself he was too busy to pay attention when buying things. Only then did I understand that everything I had cherished for years had once belonged to someone else.
I was no different from a scavenger, living off what others had thrown away.
I dumped everything into the trash and looked up at the moon. The moon above Avermont City was probably shining just as brightly.
From then on, I never told my father another thing. I would become my own source of strength.
*****
Throughout four years of college, more than 1,400 days, I never gave myself a single day off. After coming back from Avermont City, I buried every ounce of energy into studying.
I completed in three years what most students needed four to finish. I graduated first in my department with dual degrees in Computer Science and Finance. During the summer before my senior year, I secured an internship at one of Avermont City's top financial firms. After graduation, I joined the company full time with a monthly salary of $30,000.
In my second year on the job, I was recruited by the industry's leading investment fund. A journalism major from my university managed to track me down and asked why I had driven myself so hard.
I paused for a moment, opened my desk drawer, and took out a phone. It was the same phone I had tossed into the trash, then quietly picked back up.
"My reason at the beginning was pretty childish. I wanted to buy a phone that truly belonged to me someday. I wanted to prove I deserved more than the things other people threw away."
He didn't fully understand what I meant, but he carefully wrote every word into his interview notes.
During my third year at work, the company appointed me to represent our lab at an industry summit in Avermont City.
"Lily, you're the youngest investment manager we've ever had. Senior leadership personally selected you to give the keynote speech at this summit. Stay sharp. The audience will be filled with the biggest names in the industry."
The instant I saw the summit venue printed on the invitation, my hand started trembling on the mouse.
I had been waiting for this day for seven years, maybe even longer.
- Writer
