“Where did you get this fake medical report? Who was the doctor who gave this out, don't you know that this is against the law? I can't believe you are so cunning!”
Mom's muffled voice slowly reached my ears. She seemed to be speaking from far away even though I was less than a foot away from her. Coupled with the agonizing ringing, I could barely catch a single word she said.
“What? I can't hear you, Mom. Can you come closer?”
“I raised Erica with my own sweat and blood. Don’t you think I know what kind of person she is? A girl who cries if she accidentally steps on an ant is supposed to have schemed to hide your cancer? Is that what you expect me to believe?”
“Erica has been feeling guilty and trying to make up for everything, since you came. But look at you—scheming, tricking her, playing the victim when it was your lies that got exposed! You’re really have the nerve playing with fire!”
I stood frozen, my face burning with the weight of their accusations. The pieces of my medical report, torn and crushed, felt like a silent mockery. Erica’s feigned guilt, her insecure little act, had turned into a symbol of her victory.
“Mom, I didn’t—” I tried to explain, but my voice was so weak it was barely a whisper.
“Get out! I don’t have a daughter like you!”
My mother’s roar shattered the air. Dad and Everett stared at me with disappointed eyes, as if I were nothing but a criminal in their eyes. I shook my head, tears blurring my vision. I couldn’t understand it—why didn’t they believe me?
Erica knelt beside me, her voice soft but laced with venom. “See? You’ll never be better than me. No matter what you do, they'll only hate you more.”
“Erica, stay away from her,” Everett snapped. “From now on, I don’t ever want to see her set foot in this house again!”
With trembling legs, I forced myself to stand up and staggered towards the door. But it seemed Erica wasn't done with me yet.
She suddenly pulled out a piece of paper and exclaimed, “Oh, what's this?”
“Evangeline!” Her eyes widened in fake shock. “Why do you have this? Equity agreement letter. You can’t be… Are you pretending to have stomach cancer so you can scoop up our entire family fortune?”
The moment those words dropped, she hurriedly covered her mouth and acting like it was something she shouldn't have said. Her calculated hesitation unleashed a storm of fury against me.
Everyone turned to glare at me with hatred.