Sold by Blood, Claimed by Fate

She was born under the full moon. The elders said it was a blessing— a child of strength, instinct, and destiny. But blessings mean nothing when love is absent. From the very beginning, the world loved her elder sister more. Her sister cried louder. Smiled brighter. Spoke sweeter lies. And she… she learned early how to stay quiet. “Don’t talk too much,” her sister would whisper, braiding her hair with gentle fingers. “Mom and Dad get tired of you easily.” She believed her. When food was served, her sister ate first. When gifts were given, her sister chose first. When mistakes happened, her name was called first. At night, when hunger twisted her stomach, she told herself she deserved it. Because that was what she had been taught. “You’re slow.” “You’re useless.” “You’re unwanted.” Her sister never raised her voice. Never shouted. She didn’t need to. She planted the words softly— and watched them grow. In front of their parents, her sister cried easily. “She’s mean to me.” “She’s jealous.” “She scares me.” And every time, their parents turned to her with disappointment in their eyes. They never asked her side. They never noticed how she flinched when spoken to. How she stopped asking for things. How she learned to disappear in rooms full of people. By the time she was ten, she understood one truth: Love in her family was conditional. And she did not meet the condition. she often says these lines to herself "I learned my name was never called Unless a blame was near, Their love was loud for someone else, For me, it disappeared. The table held an empty space Where I was meant to be, They fed her dreams with gentle hands And left the crumbs for me. My mother’s words were never sharp, They cut a quieter way, With sighs that said you’re not enough In all she couldn’t say. My father watched but never moved, His silence chose a side, A verdict passed without a word, A truth he wouldn’t hide. My sister smiled like summer light, So warm, so sweet, so kind, But every praise she gave the world Left poison in my mind. She never pushed—she didn’t need, She’d whisper, then retreat, And I would fall all by myself Right at her careful feet. “Why can’t you ever just be her?” Their voices formed a chain, Each question wrapped around my ribs And tightened with the pain. So I became a softer sound, A shadow on the wall, I learned to make my heartbeat small So no one heard it fall. I swallowed tears before they formed, I smiled when I should break, I learned that love was something earned, A prize I couldn’t take. They never struck me with their hands, No bruises showed in sight, They taught me how to hurt myself Each lonely, silent night. With thoughts that said I was the flaw, The reason things went wrong, With dreams I buried deep inside So I could just belong. And yet I lived. I stayed. I breathed. Though hope was thin and frayed, Because if I was broken so, Then something in me stayed— A strength they feared, a light they tried So desperately to tame, For only things that carry power Are worth destroying by name."