The Punching Bag in This Loving Family

My family is the most harmonious one around because we're a blended family. Both my parents treat their children and stepchildren "equally". When money goes missing at home, my mother, Jessica Evans, always slaps me without even thinking of suspecting my older sister, Susan Chase. After meals, my father, Damian Chase, allows my older brother, James Chase, to rest. However, he threatens to take away my meal privileges if I don't wash the dishes. Even after they get into arguments, I always end up the sole outlet for their frustrations. Unsurprisingly, my mental state deteriorates. When Mom discovers the scarring on my arms, she looks at me with disgust. "You're too young to be acting depressed," she tells me. So, amid juggling most of the household chores and enduring the most verbal abuse, I slit my wrists one night. As a result, my parents finally stop being biased. For the first time in over a decade, I have my own room, even if it's just a study spanning several dozen square feet. I am also no longer invisible in their eyes, and I am actually allowed some privacy—at least, until James and Susan get into a huge argument. When I come home, my room has been converted back into a study. My belongings are piled up like trash in the living room. Mom informs me calmly, "James and Susan's rooms are too close, so his gaming sessions have been affecting her sleep. Be sensible. We've played along with your suicidal antics for long enough, so stop making things difficult for us." This time, I don't make a huge fuss like before. It's because I can no longer hear anything around me, and I no longer want anything either. Chapter 1 When Mom saw me walking toward the study, she angrily grabbed my wrist, only to then shake me off upon touching the thick layer of scar tissue there. "Do you not understand me? That room will be set aside as James' gaming room from now on!" she yelled before slamming the door shut. She acted as if just allowing me to see the room would somehow dirty it. I suddenly laughed neurotically and asked, "Then, where do I stay?" After a stunned pause, Mom gestured furiously toward different furniture pieces in the living room while looking at me as if I were an idiot. "Do we not have a couch here? Is that not a rug? Take your pick! Cut the pity party!" She sounded like she was talking to a stray dog. "Do I not deserve a room of my own?" I asked softly. Dad abruptly flew into a rage, as if he'd been tolerating my behavior for a long time. "You have everything you need in this family, so why are you trying to fight your older siblings over something as trivial as this? James doesn't have his biological father, and Susan is missing her biological mother! "Stop kicking up a fuss! Everyone's living happily together while you're always walking around with a long face!" I could feel the heat of his gaze from where he stood far above me on his moral high ground. There were fighting words on the tip of my tongue, but I slowly swallowed them back. I'd been hearing the same words ever since I was born 17 years ago. Whenever I dared to protest, I would be called an ungrateful, selfish, greedy, and a heartless wretch. So, I grew afraid. When Susan came home from work, she tripped over my belongings upon coming through the door. She frowned at the sight of me. "What is it this time?" she asked. Mom snorted and replied sarcastically, "She's making a fuss about wanting her own room and giving everyone a headache." Susan hummed in understanding and smiled exactly like Mom. "What need does a kid like you have for a personal space?" She called me a kid in such an airy tone. She'd completely forgotten that when she first joined the family, she'd been just six years old. Yet, despite her age, she'd received her own room, computer, and allowance. All of us were required to knock three times before entering her room. Otherwise, she'd make a huge scene about it. Now, she was not only turning a blind eye to my suffering but openly mocking it. Mom stuffed a laundry basket into my arms, looking impatient and fed up. "This conversation is over. Go and do the laundry." I protested feebly, "My college entrance exam is coming up—" "Don't use the exam as an excuse! James and Susan have both taken it before, but they never made excuses!" They didn't have to, because they didn't need to wash dishes, sweep the floor, or handle endless loads of laundry. Mom was always worried that Dad would be oversensitive about her ordering Susan around. Conversely, Dad was always afraid that Mom would read too much into things if he gave James tasks to do. In that regard, I was the most convenient person around. They didn't need to think about consequences when physically and verbally abusing me or treating me with mistrust, because there was nobody to stand up for me. Angered by my silence, Mom shoved me into the bathroom, then slapped me so hard my head snapped to the side. She looked aggressive and savage under the glare of the overhead lights. She snapped, "Hurry up with the laundry, and keep that mouth shut! James needs clothes to wear for tomorrow. "Do you think I have it easy every day? Everyone in the family looks to me for everything! You're the luckiest one among us, yet you insist on defying me at every turn!" "How am I lucky?" I asked in return. Chapter 2 Mom froze for an instant before shrieking so loudly I felt like my eardrums were about to burst. "What did you say?" Holding back tears, I slowly turned back to face her. My face was still red and swollen from her slap. "Can you really call someone who gets beat up every day 'lucky'?" I asked. "Would you be getting beaten up if you didn't always talk back to me? You asked for it." This time, I didn't cower away like before. Instead, I replied slowly and clearly, "Maybe it's not that I asked for it. Maybe it's because I'm the only one in the family you have the guts to bully." Mom's expression stiffened for an instant, but she quickly descended into a rage. She acted as if I'd said something terribly despicable. "You might as well tell me to die!" she wailed. Dad slammed open the bathroom door and rushed inside. He approached me with a livid expression. I couldn't stop myself from trembling uncontrollably. He looked at me for all of two seconds before kicking me over. I let out a wretched scream as I slammed into the solid bathroom wall. The smooth tiles reflected my tortured expression. Dad then hit my face over and over with a slipper. "How dare you talk back to your mother? Do you have any idea how much effort we put into raising you? And yet, you're constantly causing trouble for us!" he yelled. Mom stood behind him with her arms crossed, looking satisfied. "Don't hold back. I've honestly had just about enough of her over the past few months. She's been taking advantage of her hospitalization to do as she pleases, but it's not her place to give us attitude." My lip had split, and I was overcome by waves of dizziness. Only the sound of short laughter reached my ears from time to time. James and Susan were having a conversation on the other side of the wall. They were aware that I was being beaten, but they didn't care, because it had nothing to do with them. With my hands slowly clenching into fists, I closed my eyes and allowed my body to slide downward. Mom got me five days off from school because my facial injuries were too serious. On the third day, my friends came to visit me. When the door opened, they were momentarily stunned. The wounds on my face had closed up. but the bruises were still visible. I felt embarrassed, but before I could say a word, Mom brushed me aside and led my friends inside. "What are you spacing out for? Go get your friends something to drink," she ordered. I began, "Mom, just let them—" "Oh, now you're embarrassed?" Mom asked with a laugh. It was like she'd found my weakness and couldn't wait to air her grievances to my friends. She told them, "Since you're all Lili's good friends, I'll be honest with you. She's not on leave because she was sick but because her father beat her up. If I hadn't felt bad and stepped in, she'd probably be fighting for her life right now." My friends all looked toward me in unison, each wearing different expressions ranging from distress and shock to disbelief. At school, I was a merit student who excelled in academics and boasted great character. At home, I lived a life worse than an animal's. Mom continued, "She only has herself to blame. We give her all the best things, but she's not satisfied with that and will even criticize us, her parents." I hung my head low and said in a choked voice, "Mom, that's enough…" Mom paused before raising her voice even further. "She's so spoiled that she refuses to do even the smallest of chores when we ask. What's the point of us raising such an ungrateful child?" Dad took the drink from my hand and placed it in front of my friends with a kindly expression. "We're the only ones who can put up with her. In fact, even her older siblings don't have the courage to cross her. Do all of you often have to make concessions for her too?" he asked. He smiled cheerily at them, trying to coax them into saying something that would put me on the spot. It was all to validate their own so-called good intentions. I was rooted to the spot, trembling from head to toe. My friends looked awkwardly at me, unsure what to say. Some of them even looked like they were on the verge of tears. However, Mom continued pressing them enthusiastically. "Come on. Tell us. You have nothing to fear. Are there any stories of her petty behavior and unreasonable demands you'd like to share with us?" Not a single one of my friends answered. My deskmate, Tina Graham, mustered up the courage to move over to me and hold my hand. "You should come out with us for a breather. It's Selene's birthday today, so let's celebrate together," she said gently. Mom stood up, and her expression was dark. "She can't leave. She still has to make dinner later." She didn't get the answers she wanted, so her patience was running out. "It's getting late, so you should all go home," she added. Selene, whose full name was Selene Elmsworth, bit her lip. Eventually, she decided to ask anyway, "Mrs. Chase, could you allow Lili to come out and relax for a bit?" Mom was momentarily stunned. Then, as if she'd just heard something ridiculous, she asked snidely, "Why would she need to relax? We're the ones who need some time out!" The more she thought about it, the more aggrieved she felt, until she eventually shouted at me, "What are your friends trying to imply? Did our family put you through any misery? Did we do wrong by you? What have you been telling them?" Tina piped up frantically, "That's not what we meant. We just wanted to—" Chapter 3 My friends were extremely panicked, but before they could finish explaining, Dad issued an ultimatum. "Enough. Please leave." He looked heartbroken. He added, "Lilian has already led all of you astray. You should keep your distance from her, or you might all become ungrateful wretches just like her." My tears finally started falling, and I yelled brokenly at him, "Why must you insult me in front of my classmates? What exactly have I done wrong?" He retorted, "How about you just don't do anything you don't want to be exposed for, then?" Unexpectedly, Mom grew excited at my reaction. She pointed at me and shouted, "Look! That's exactly how her outbursts go! I was telling you the truth, wasn't I?" She sounded so happy and self-righteous, as if driving me crazy was a great accomplishment to her. My friends, who were unable to stand the situation any longer, scrambled to their feet and fled out the door. Mom exclaimed with a gloating smile, "See? Not even your friends can stand you. That's how serious your problems are." "It was you and Dad that they couldn't stand!" I shouted back. I shoved her aside and rushed out of the house. Just as I reached the doorway, I heard Mom's heavy footsteps coming from behind me. She grabbed me tightly by the collar of my shirt and snapped harshly, "Stop right there! What did you just say to me?" Her lips trembled with rage, but just as she was about to slap me, she glimpsed our neighbors out of the corner of her eye. Her hand paused in midair, after which she slapped herself. "What terrible crime have I committed? Why must God punish me like this?" she wailed. Our neighbors quickly came forward to stop her. "Let's talk things over calmly. Please don't hit yourself." Tears streamed down Mom's face. She looked as if she was burdened with unspeakable sorrows. "It's one thing for her to upset me at home and another thing entirely to get her classmates to upset me. She made me and her father out to be monsters to her friends! I've put up with her time and time again, but I seriously can't deal with this anymore. If not for her, I would've divorced Damian long ago." She burst into tears and hid in Dad's arms. Dad pointed a finger at me, looking anguished. "She's honestly close to driving us crazy. We just wish for her to live a healthy, happy life. Why is that so hard?" For a moment, time seemed to stop. I could no longer hear my neighbors' chiding voices or my parents' aggrieved, tearful complaints. I started crying hysterically and slapped myself across the face multiple times. My parents looked on silently with indifferent expressions. They made it seem like I was putting on an act again. This continued until a scream rang out in my ears, and I fell heavily to the ground. When I next regained consciousness, I was in the hospital. Mom was on the phone outside the ward. She sighed and said to the person on the other end, "You have no idea. She's acting up again. I've really suffered greatly because of her, but what can I do? She's still my child no matter what. Yes, yes. I know you feel bad for me." After hanging up, she revealed a satisfied expression. Just a few seconds later, she called her older sister, who was also my aunt, Melissa Evans. "Lizzie, you have no idea how badly I feel like giving up right now. Hasn't everything I've done up till now been for her? She's the only one with both biological parents in our family. Why isn't that enough for her? This is so tough." Melissa offered her many words of comfort in response to her rant. Mom finally let out a huge sigh of relief and hung up in satisfaction. However, when she turned around and saw that I was awake, her smile faded instantly. She walked coldly up to me and took her time tidying things up. The light streaming in from outside the ward made her look cold and imposing. "Lili, it's useless to play dumb," she said abruptly. I said nothing. She turned to look at me and continued, "Since you're not mentally stable, you should give up on taking the college entrance exam this year." I stared at her with wide, terror-filled eyes. She slowly smiled. "I'm doing this for your own good. It'd be bad if you actually qualified for a university and ended up hurting someone." With that, she turned and left, shutting the door securely behind her. Chapter 4 I cried for a very long time, but it was also late that same night that I figured some things out for myself. There were certain things I could completely free myself of. So, starting from the next day, I returned to what Mom considered my normal state. I obediently did everything that was asked of me without putting up a fight. One week later, she fetched me home. The first sight that greeted me was a mountain of dirty dishes. "Go wash the dishes. I haven't had anyone helping me over the past few days, so I'm exhausted," Mom ordered. Without saying a word, I walked over to the counter to get to work. Next, I was presented with a basket of dirty laundry. Some clothes were made of fabric that couldn't be machine-washed and needed to be hand-washed. As I scrubbed away at the tub, Susan brought two more pieces of clothing to me. She exclaimed with genuine emotion, "You're finally back, Lili." Her smile was genuine, not because she was glad to see me but because she finally had someone to wash her clothes for her again. As I left the laundry room, Mom's smug voice rang out. "A worthless wretch like her needed to be taught her place. Look! Isn't she so much more well-behaved now?" She didn't even bother lowering her voice when she caught sight of me. I remained silent, playing the part of a docile lamb. However, Mom had no intention of letting me go back to school. She wanted to teach me a painfully unforgettable lesson. Three days before the college entrance exam, one of my friends secretly brought me my admission ticket, which I hid at the bottom of my backpack. While Mom was watching television at night, she gazed scrutinizingly at me and asked, "Are you really not envious that everyone else is preparing for their exams?" I replied that I was. She smiled in satisfaction at that and smoothly went on to taunt me. "Well, live with it anyway. You brought all of this on yourself." I said nothing. On the day of the college entrance exam, I kept watching the clock. As soon as my parents and siblings left for work, I took a taxi to the exam venue. I also checked my luggage into a nearby hotel. By the end of the first day of exams, I found 50 missed calls waiting for me on my phone. "Where did you go? Did you go take the exams?" "When exactly will you learn to behave?" "Did I not tell you that you're in no state to take the exams? Get back here right now! Don't make me go and get you myself!" Instead of replying, I spent every spare second reviewing material for tomorrow's exams. Still, my parents spotted me the moment I arrived at the exam venue the next morning. Their eyes promised punishment as they rushed toward me, but I slipped into the hall a step ahead of them. Mom glared fixedly at me, utterly furious. "Just you wait, Lilian Chase!" With my heart pounding in my chest, I turned and rushed inside the hall—the place where I could turn my fate around—without a second glance. I did exceptionally well on three consecutives subjects. In the afternoon, I thought that Lady Luck would continue to smile upon me, but my parents still caught me in the end. Dad covered my mouth, twisted my arm, and dragged me outside. Mom, on the other hand, was suppressing the urge to hit me. "When will you stop giving me cause to fret?" she asked angrily. The parents loitering by the entrance were watching us, but they hesitated to intervene. I bit Dad's hand. The moment he loosened his grip, I took the opportunity to yell at the top of my lungs, "Let me take the exams, Dad! I don't want an arranged marriage! Mom, I'll earn enough money to support both of you in the future, so please let me take the exams!" In an instant, most of the parents in the area surrounded us with a mixture of anger and confusion on their faces. "Your daughter's still so young! How could you two?" "It's the college entrance exam! Surely there's nothing so urgent that you can't wait for your daughter to finish taking the exams?" "Hurry up and let her go, or I'm going to call the police!" Mom turned pale, then red with anger. "Don't listen to her nonsense. She's mentally unstable." Nobody believed her. On the contrary, one parent even said with contempt, "I think you're the mentally unstable one here. What parent would stop their own daughter from taking the college entrance exam?" Feeling intimidated, Dad unconsciously let go of my hand. "Run!" an older lady yelled at me from the crowd. I turned and ran back into the exam hall. My parents could only watch as my figure gradually vanished into the distance. They didn't dare get in my way again for the rest of the day. However, as soon as the exams ended, my parents led my siblings to the hotel I was staying in with lengths of hemp rope in their hands. "Which room is my daughter, Lilian Chase, staying in?" Dad asked the front desk aggressively. This time, they'd come up with a thorough plan to tie me up and take me home. The exams were already over, so nobody could protect me anymore. They felt smug because they were certain they'd planned everything out perfectly, but the receptionist's reply caused them to pale and freeze up.