Chapter 14 : Driving Her Out
Sherrie stopped, caught off guard and embarrassed.
Nigel hadn’t actually meant to give the necklace to me. He had only been using it to provoke Allison.
Since when did he care this much about Allison’s reaction?
Sensing the tension, Sherrie hesitated before speaking. “Then I’ll just keep it for Allison. If she wants it later, I’ll give it back to her.”
Nigel waved her off. “No need. Giving it to her is just a waste of feelings.”
After Nigel left, Sherrie glanced at Allison, then hurried after him.
Allison thought for a moment, then followed them as well.
In the dining room, Nigel noticed Sherrie had come in alone. He was just about to scold Allison for not showing up when Allison walked through the door.
Sherrie looked a little surprised. Allison had learned her lesson.
If she’d walked in even a second later, I would have told Nigel that she didn’t want to eat. With Nigel’s temper, he would have immediately banned her from joining meals in the future.
But Allison had already seen through Sherrie’s little games.
A crying child always gets attention. In the past, I suffered because I didn’t know when to bend. That wouldn’t happen again.
I no longer expected anything from this family, and I no longer hoped they would comfort me.
Living under someone else’s roof, what was so hard about lowering my head for now?
Once I took back my identity, I would leave the Rogers family immediately.
The dining table was long. Ruth and Nigel sat on one side, and Sherrie sat across from Ruth.
By tradition, Allison should have sat behind Sherrie.
But the idea made her feel sick, so she left an empty seat between them and sat farther away.
Nigel’s lips pursed in annoyance as irritation rose in his chest.
Ruth stood up and gently placed a piece of chicken in Allison’s bowl.
Allison glanced at the others’ bowls. Both Nigel and Sherrie had drumsticks.
I already knew how things worked in this house, but seeing the proof laid out so plainly still felt like being cut by a dull knife.
I was born during the worst period of conflict between my parents.
My mother refused to hold me because she was angry. After that, she left and never came back.
Growing up in a single-parent home, I was always the target of cruel words and rumors.
“Your mom ran off with another man.”
“She left because she didn’t want you.”
“Why didn’t she leave when your two brothers were born? She only left after you came along. It must be your fault.”
These words had followed me throughout my childhood.
Even so, no matter what anyone said, I still held onto hope for my mother. But now, that childhood dream had simply shattered.
Lost in thought, she flinched when a drumstick landed in her bowl.
She looked up in surprise. Nigel only glanced at her before pulling his chopsticks back.
Seeing this, Sherrie quickly smiled and placed her own drumstick into Nigel’s bowl. “Nigel, you can have mine.”
Nigel’s expression softened into a gentle smile.
Ruth’s eyes turned red. “Seeing you, siblings care for each other like this makes me so happy.”
As the three of them laughed together, Allison looked at the drumstick in her bowl and felt the irony of it.
Was a drumstick really that valuable? Did they have to pass it around just to show affection?
No, they had never thought to prepare one for me initially.
At the table, the three of them continued chatting about their plans for the day. Sherrie brought up the bracelet incident again, gently vouching for Ella and saying she couldn’t have stolen it.
“I must have misplaced it. I’ll save up and buy Allison a new one.”
Allison didn’t even look up. She simply let out a gentle humming in response.
But to the others, it sounded careless.
Nigel noticed her sitting away from the others, as though she didn’t want to be part of the family at all. Then his eyes fell on her untouched food.
Anger rushed through Nigel’s mind. Suddenly, he stood up and knocked her bowl to the floor.
Rice scattered everywhere, some even landing on Allison’s clothes, but she didn’t move to brush it off.
Startled, she looked at Nigel in confusion and wondered what had provoked him this time.
Nigel glared at her, saying, “Sherrie had already apologized, and you ignored her. Mom and I gave you food, and you didn’t take a single bite. We’ve done everything to accommodate you, yet you act so proud and distant. Who do you think you are?”
He kicked her bowl aside and said coldly, “If you can’t stand living here, then leave. No one is stopping you.”
Allison glanced at Nigel with her eyes full of resentment and protest.
This house was left by Dad.
I am also a daughter of the Rogers family. What right did Nigel have to drive me out?
No one had the right to throw me out of Dad’s house.
Dad had made a will. The family estate was divided into three parts: the real estate belonged to me, the savings went to Toby, and the hospital shares were given to Nigel.
Dad had said that since I was a girl, I would need a home of my own when I married. Toby, with the cash, could support his drug research. Nigel, with his medical connections, could support the hospital’s pharmaceutical sales. And I could help Toby by offering feedback for his research.
The three of us were meant to support each other. A cycle where everyone helped one another. But now that they had achieved success, they saw me as useless and wanted to push me away?
Allison was so angry she could barely breathe. She clenched her fists and shot Nigel a fierce look.
She wanted to argue, but she forced herself to swallow her resentment; she couldn’t confront them directly this time.
At this point, I couldn’t even prove my identity. If I mentioned the will now, it would only end up helping Sherrie.
And after three years in the psychiatric hospital, I had no connections and no backing. With no money and no support, who would help me fight a lawsuit?
Allison closed her eyes, frustrated. Anger without power meant nothing. If she pushed too hard, they would only send her back to the psychiatric hospital.
When she opened her eyes again, every trace of emotion was gone. She lifted her arm and brushed the rice off her face.
Then she crouched down and picked up the chicken drumstick from the floor. She hesitated for a moment when she saw the bright red chili oil smeared on it.
But only for a moment. She took a large bite and swallowed it with mechanical movements, like a doll with no life in her eyes.