Chapter 46
Chapter
46
Felicia said, “I can take care of myself. After all, I’ve managed to get inrough all these years, haven’t I?”
Felicia smiled faintly, like a figure shrouded in mist. Though she stood right in front of them, she seemed unreachable.
Myra and Dexter understood her meaning clearly. Felicia didn’t want to get close to them and certainly didn’t see them as family.
Myra didn’t dare to push further, afraid of straining their relationship even more. She reluctantly said, Well, at least you can come home on the weekends, right?”
“Sure.” That was Felicia’s final compromise.
It was getting late, and as Felicia prepared to return to her room, Myra hesitated and asked, “Licia, how did you manage to attend school all these years? How did you pay for the tuition?” The conversation circled back to where it had started.
Myra quickly added, “I don’t mean anything by it, Licia. just feel heartbroken over what you went through. I hate myself for not knowing sooner…”
Felicia’s memories flashed back to her childhood.
Everything matched the investigation. Howell and Tabitha had treated her like a slave, someone to beat and scold at will. They would never have allowed her to attend school.
“When I was very young, they took me to live in a rural area. There was a small school there, set up in a converted house. The tuition was one hundred dollars and a piece of smoked ham.
“I had no money, so I would quietly crouch outside the window and listen, from spring to summer and from summer to winter. That’s how I learned for two years.
“When I was eight, a kind old woman from the village gave me one hundred dollars and a piece of smoked ham to pay for my tuition.”
Felicia could still remember the old woman’s warm, gentle smile. She was like a fairy godmother from at
storybook.
She had patted her head softly and said, “A child who loves to learn should never be let down.”
“I didn’t take the money. That hundred dollars was all she had saved from weaving baskets, earned little by little. When she handed it to me, it was in small bills-fifty cents and one-dollar notes-wrapped in a thick bundle.
“Later, Howell made a bit of money from scamming people and took us to live in town. There, I met a wonderful principal who accepted me. In return, I earned the top grades each semester and won various competition awards in both the town and the city. “After that. Howell and Tabitha realized they had another way to make money-through me. Each time I brought home awards, they saw me as a source of income. That was how I earned the right to continue my education.”
With such a resilient spirit, Felicia had made it to where she was today. Myra’s shoulders trembled, while Dexter’s brow furrowed in concern.
Felicia spoke so lightly of her struggles, without a hint of complaint or resentment, as if recounting. someone else’s story. Because she had faced so much Indifference, she didn’t want her world to be confined to this small space,
In her previous life, Felicia yearned for the familial love and affection she had never truly experienced. In the end, she lost herself, humbly pleading for affection and ending up in a tragic situation.
In this life, it didn’t matter whether her parents loved her. She needed to learn to love herself first.
After finishing her thoughts, Felicia returned to her room.
Myra finally couldn’t hold back her tears, feeling heartbroken.
Kayla wanted to comfort Myra several times but was ignored. Usually pampered by her parents, this time, she felt utterly invisible.
She couldn’t help but laugh in frustration. She had to admit that Felicia’s act of playing the victim was impressive. With just a few words, she made Myra and Dexter want to give everything to make up for it.
It was quite touching.
Kayla smiled coldly. A moment of guilt and sorrow couldn’t compare to 18 years of careful nurturing and protection.
She thought to herself, “Just wait and see. I wouldn’t lose.”
Especially with the college starting soon, she had more than one surprise gift prepared for Felicia.