Escape from the Toxic Family
My r
sister was diagnosed with loukemia during a routine hospital check–up, and my bone marrow was a perfect match. Driven by irrationality lied to my family, claiming that I was the one who was sick. They all immediately rejected the idea.
“Donating bone marrow is risky; we can’t let your sister take that risk.”
“You fell ill on your own, don’t drag your sister down. Life and death are determined by fate; you must accept it.”
My sister, citing her plans to become pregnant, firmly refused to help. The fragile threads of our family ties were finally severed.
In that moment of clarity, I left the medical report behind and walked away from home for good.
When I learned that my bone marrow was a match, I had just discovered I was pregnant. My mentor called me aside with a grave expression. He explained that if I wanted to donate bone marrow to my sister, Emily Johnson, I would likely have to terminate the pregnancy. He urged me to consider it carefully and discuss it with my husband.
I was indeed torn. I had been taking herbal medicines and preparing for this pregnancy for a long time. My husband was so thrilled upon hearing of my pregnancy that he wanted to announce it to the world. How could I possibly consider ending it?
However, Emily Johnson was only twenty–nine. Unlike me, she was our parents‘ cherished daughter, raised with them. If anything were to happen to her, my parents would be devastated. After an afternoon of inner turmoil, I decided to visit home after work.
When I arrived, the family was joyfully having dinner. Besides Emily’s family, my brother Ethan Johnson and his girlfriend were there too. They were clinking glasses, clearly celebrating something. My presence shattered the warm atmosphere.
The dining room fell silent, and everyone awkwardly set down their glasses. Only my mom awkwardly laughed and pretended to warmly invite me to join them.
“We thought you were busy, so we didn’t call you. But it turns out you’re the lucky one; come sit and eat with us.”
Despite her words, the politeness and distance in her actions were unmistakable.
Suddenly, I felt like playing along. I did something out of character and gently took the hand that was lightly supporting my arm.
“Mom, I’m sick.”
Moms hand stiffened, but she let me hold it
“Uh, well, if you’re sick, eat more, and you’ll get better.”
She was dismissive, not even asking what was wrong, and used the excuse of moving a chair to withdraw her hand.
Ethan frowned.
“Nora, did you come back just to bring bad luck? Every time something good happens, you ruin it”
“Today, Emily got a spot for an overseas tour. Don’t tell me you did this on purpose.”
I ignored him and sat in the chair Mom had pulled out for me.
Thave leukemia:
Ethan stopped talking.
Mom’s hand trembled as she handed me chopsticks, and they fell to the floor. The dining room was silent.
Mom’s eyes turned red, and she started to wipe her tears.
Finally, Dad, who had been silent, spoke up.
11:30 AM
“We need to inform your In–laws; their family can afford the treatment.”
He looked at me disapprovingly.
“Stay calm in the face of things. Don’t be reckless, or you’ll give your mom a hypertension attack.
Mom wiped her face and started putting food on my plate.
“Your dad’s right, eat first, and then we’ll talk about big matters”
Emily also added food to my plate, smiling like a cheerful little girl.
“Yeah, you’re too worried, that’s why you’re sick. Eat more and smile, and everything will be fine
I didn’t pick up my chopsticks, my gaze sweeping over each of them.
“I’m not here to ask for money for treatment
“I just want to ask if my sister can donate bone marrow to me.”
The dining room went silent again.
After a long pause, Dad slammed his chopsticks on the table
“That’s ridiculous!
He furrowed his brows tightly.
“Don’t you know donating bone marrow is risky?”
gave a bitter smile.
“Isn’t it worth taking a small risk to save my life?”
Dad stubbornly turned his face aside.
“We can’t let your sister take that risk. A one percent risk is a hundred percent when it happens to Emily.”
I wasn’t surprised by Dad’s answer.
As the middle child who was fostered elsewhere, Dad wasn’t welcoming of my birth nor my return. But at least Mom and Emily were somewhat friendly to me.
I turned my gaze to Mom.
Mom was already in tears.
I looked at her hopefully, thinking we might break the previous estrangement and she’d hug me like she did my sister.
But instead, she said something even more heartless while crying.
“Honey, life and death are matters of fate. You must accept it even if you’re unwilling!”
She clutched her chest, her voice sorrowful.
“You got sick on your own, don’t drag your sister down. If I lose both of you, how would I live?”
At that moment, I finally realized that Mom wasn’t afraid of losing two daughters. She was just afraid of losing my sister.
I lost interest and turned my gaze to Emily, the main person Involved.
Since I was brought back home, Emily had been somewhat friendly to me. Although she often said grandiose things, that was probably because she was raised in a sheltered environment. At least she would scold Ethan when he bullied me.
I still held onto a sliver of hope.
However, Emily’s attitude was completely different today. Her eyes were full of anger as she glared at me.
“Nora, you’re doing this on purpose!”
She stood up emotionally, as if she had tolerated me for a long time.
“Tve wanted to say this for a long time. You always felt that our parents wronged you by sending you away. So, you return with a sullen face, eager to upset everyone.
“You pretend to be cowering as if you suffered greatly outside. Don’t think we don’t know. You just want to make our parents feel guilty.”
She was so angry that her chest heaved violently, as if she suffered a huge injustice.
After a
a moment, she managed to suppress her sobs.
“But everything has a limit. We’ve tolerated the small stuff, but now you’re talking about donating bone marrow so casually. You just want to put our parents in a dilemma”
“If they refuse, you accuse them of being heartless. If they agree, they face losing two daughters”
“Why are you so malicious, always ruining our happiness?”
Emily said as she hugged Mom.
Hearing her words, Mom finally began to cry.
“Emily, stop talking. It’s all your dad’s fault, insisting on having both a son and a daughter. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have…
She didn’t finish, but everyone knew what she meant. She was implying that they wouldn’t have had me.
Ethan stood up too. They both stood by Mom’s side, looking at me with identical resentment.
Emily lifted her chin, looking righteous.
“Nora, I won’t let you hurt Mom and Dad. I won’t donate bone marrow to you.”
She proudly protected Mom.
“This has nothing to do with Mom and Dad. If this gets out, don’t say they are heartless. It’s my selfishness. I can’t let Mom lose two daughters.”
“It’s my decision, and I’ll take the blame!
Emily’s expression was so determined it seemed like she was about to sacrifice herself heroically.
1twisted the medical report in my pocket and couldn’t help but chuckle softly.
After a moment, I stared at Emily and asked slowly “Are you sure you won’t donate no matter what?”
Emily gently wiped Mom’s tears, looking even more like she was about to sacrifice herself.
“I absolutely won’t donate!” she said.
“If you want to blame someone, blame me, not our parents. I’m preparing for pregnancy, and I can’t risk my child’s life for yours.”
I laughed until tears came, then looked at her with pity.
Then I softly said, “You’re right. How can you save someone by killing your own child?”
Emily y didn’t understand, comforting Mom with her head down.
On the other side, Mom was already crying so hard she was gasping for breath. She nestled in her children’s arms as if she were the one with
<
She weakly soothed her chest.
ault, Old Wen. You insisted on having both a son and a daughter!”
“It’s all your fault,
Father, annoyed by the scolding, slammed the table and stood up.
He walked over to me and pulled out a large red envelope from his pocket, tossing it in front of me like he was shooing away a beggar.
“Whether it’s real or fake illness, take the money and get lost”
“If you
you upset your mom, don’t blame me for disowning your
The red envelope was beautifully wrapped, clearly prepared with care. When I picked it up and looked closely, it even had beautiful handwritten words.
[Wishing my beloved daughter a successful performance and lots of fun.
I laughed at myself, then looked up and asked.
“Won’t giving me this money for treatment delay your daughter’s fun overseas?”
Dad looked at me with disdain, his tone devoid of any warmth.
“Don’t get sarcastic with me. You’re not aware of your own limitations, insisting on fairness. I don’t mind falling out with you”
“I didn’t want to have you, but I entrusted someone to raise you, never lacking food or clothing. You should be content, not constantly finding
fault.”
He turned his face away decisively
“I always listened to your mom and endured you. But since you were unreasonable first, don’t blame me for not recognizing you as my
daughter”
He finally issued an eviction order.
The dining room fell silent again.
They silently cleared a path for me to leave, and everyone quietly watched.
“I never wanted to have you, but I still made sure you were raised without lacking the basics. You should be grateful and stop causing trouble.”
He turned his head away decisively.
“I’ve always listened to your mom and put up with you patiently. Today you were out of line first, so don’t blame me for cutting ties with you as my daughter.”
