Chapter 6
In my memory, there was no mother, only my father as a relative.
I heard that my mother ran away with someone when I was one year old.
Dad was addicted to alcohol.
When he didn’t drink, I felt that he loved me.
He would buy me yogurt to drink.
But when he drank alcohol, he would throw yogurt on my face and physically assault me.
I could only feel a faint sense of fatherly love when he was sober.
I silently endured the unavoidable violence, greedily seeking the only bit of warmth in my life,
stubbornly refusing to escape the confinement of my original family.
It was not until one day in the second year of junior high school that I realized life could not get any
worse, but only worse.
My father developed a gambling addiction, lost our house, and even gambled me away to someone
else.
A group of heavily tattooed men barged into the classroom and loudly asked who Jaqueline
Pennington was.
The security guard could not drive them away.
Before the police arrived, everyone knew that Jaqueline’s father had gambled and used her as a bargaining chip to someone else.
At one point, everyone pointed and gossiped about me, classmates deliberately isolated me, rumors swept through the whole school, and everyone avoided me.
They talked about me, the malice in their eyes shattered me.
Jaqueline’s father wanted to give her up for adoption.
Jaqueline went out to sell.
Jaqueline had become a hooker.
She used to go to school during the day and work at night.
I hid in the corner of the playground, covering my ears and burst into tears.
Negative emotions almost overwhelmed me.
At the age of fourteen, I stood on the edge of an abyss, teetering.
Chapter 6
What did I do wrong?
I never harmed anyone.
Why did everyone want to hurt me?
Suddenly, the shoulder was lightly tapped from behind by someone.
I wiped away my tears and turned around.
The sunlight leaking through the clouds fell on the young boy, as if he had walked out of a dream.
The soft and fluffy hair danced in the wind, revealing the extremely gentle eyes beneath the bangs.
The young boy reached out his hand towards me, with stars shining in his eyes.
“Jaqueline, don’t cry. Tonight, I will take you home, and from now on, my home will be your
home.”
That night he brought me home, convinced his parents, and let me stay.
That day, I moved into the guest room of his house.
His parents resolved the family matter for me through legal means.
I silently accepted their kindness and silently vowed in my heart to work harder.
The starlight did not disappoint the traveler, and I got admitted to a prestigious high school.
The child without an umbrella had to run even harder.
Alvin and I consistently held the first and second positions in our grade.
He was naturally intelligent, while I was diligent in making up for my shortcomings.
