20
Hearing this, I scoffed: “Does being pitiful give you the right to be unreasonable? Because I’m not as pitiful as her, I should be bullied, I should sacrifice everything for her?”
“I don’t agree.”
99
“They say when a family can’t treat everyone equally, only by sacrificing the kindest person can there be peace. Once she stops being willing to sacrifice, she gets labeled as
unharmonious.”
“I just wanted to take back what was originally mine, but you accused me of being selfish, vicious. How ridiculous. You say I’ve
changed, maybe I have, but I don’t want to be
sacrificed anymore.
99
“Mom and Dad, you gave birth to me, and I
thank you for that. But besides providing food
く
and shelter, you never, ever cared about me,
always making me Willow’s stepping stone.”
“I won’t agree to it anymore.”
“So, from now on, you only have one
daughter.”
With that, I turned and left.
Mom instinctively reached out to me: “Rose
But I didn’t look back.
Not once.
Out of the hospital, my phone rang.
Ethan’s clear voice came from the other end: “Rose, which school are you choosing?”
Stanford and MIT both called us.
This sentence, more than an inquiry, felt like a
hint.
I looked into the distance, the sky a fiery
sunset.
Red like blood.
Fallen leaves danced in the wind, lightly,
yonly.
Like my fate.
But eventually, they would land.
Take root, turn into soil, support a forest.
I smiled and said seriously:
“I choose myself.”
“Ethan, let’s both choose ourselves.‘
99
There was a moment of silence on the other
end.
Then he said: “Okay.”
“Let’s both choose ourselves.”
Follow our hearts.
Listen to our inner voices.
That’s the path we should be taking.
Not changing for anyone, not compromising
for anyone.
One path, all the way to the end.
