A Rich Parent's Regret for Their Biological Daughter

On New Year's Eve, which was also my twentieth birthday, my parents left an egg as a birthday present and went to work overtime. 

I ran out secretly to buy an instant noodle for extra food, but I only found out that my parents were celebrating a girl’s birthday. 

They had chartered a luxury restaurant for her and invited many classmates. They drove luxury cars. They also had a private driver. Their birthday gift to her was a villa, a pink super car and a back card with a hundred thousand dollars.

Dad smiled kindly as he touched her head. “My good girl, when you graduate from college, I will hand over the entire group to you to manage.”

Mom hugged her with tears in her eyes. “My good child, although you are not mom and dad's biological child. In the future, we will love you for the rest of our lives, more than our own daughter. All the best are reserved for you.”

I tried to get closer, but I was beaten by the bodyguard and thrown out. 

The egg I cherished most rolled to the ground. Then it was crushed by their feet, as they had crushed the ionic bond between my parents and me.

——

I struggled to get up from the ground. My face was covered in dirt. My body also became filthy. 

I tried to call out to my parents, but their next words hit me like a hammer in the heart. 

My throat felt like it was being pinched. I couldn't say “Mom and Dad”.

I could see my mom and dad hugging that girl. Their eyes pointed at me, who was lying on the ground with a mocking smile.

Dad said, “My Evelyn, look at how pitiful that little beggar is. If you don't work hard in the future, you will be as pitiful as her.”

Mom replied, “Yes, that's right, such a cheap bastard can only look up to you.”

They didn't recognize me and just laughed uncontrollably. 

Evelyn Ainsworth was my college classmate. She recognized me. But she just cast provocative and pitying glances at me. She then acted coquettishly at Mom and Dad.

“Mom and Dad, don't worry. I'll be competitive and strive for success. I swear that I'll be your proudest little princess.”

‘Little beggar, you are a bastard.’ Every word hurt my heart. 

I picked up the trampled egg on the ground. Then I stuffed it into my mouth, chewed it, swallowed it and left it in a mess.

On the way home, I found that my feet were as heavy as lead. It felt like I had walked for a century on that short ten-minute walk. 

My tears wet my clothes. I couldn’t stop flowing down. 

Since I was born, my home has always been so dilapidated in my memory.

There was no TV, no refrigerator, no microwave or oven and even the furniture was picked up by my parents from the garbage dump. My dad worked hard as a labourer. His hands were covered with blood every day when he came home.

In the first grade, his arm was hit by a heavy object and swelled to a blue-purple colour. 

That day, I secretly hid in the corner and cried like a tearful girl. 

It was also after that time that I began to mature earlier than my peers.

When I was a child in school, I borrowed tuition fees to go to school.  I could only go to the construction site at night to pick up nails to sell them to help and support my family. Once I was discovered by my employer and beaten half to death. 

I could only look at the dolls I liked in front of the window for a day. It made me feel as if I had seen them, I had owned them.

In college, I worked hard as a part-timer and wore a piece of clothing over and over again for several years. I even went to the garbage cans of garment factories to pick up waste fabrics to stitch themselves into clothes. 

I was used to the mocking looks of my classmates. When I saw my favourite male classmate, I could only avoid him from a distance for fear that my presence would stain his eyes. 

All of that was because my parents often kneeled in front of me and cried bitterly. “My daughter, our family is poor. It's your parents who are incompetent. We are ashamed of you.”

But now I realize that it was just a realistic show of bitterness. My parents, whom I had always respected the most, turned out to be the CEOs of wealthy families. They gave me a poor life and also gave the fake daughter a rich life.