Falling in Love Too Late

My dad asked me to call him "brother."

I was very angry and refused to call him that.

Zac looked at me and started crying.

Zac sobbed and said, "I better go. I can live in the countryside alone. Sister doesn't like me, I don't want you to argue because of me."

"Nonsense, you are my son, where else are you going? Grace, call him brother!"

My dad was so angry that he slapped me for the first time.

I screamed and cried from the slap, and I saw Zac not far away, quietly smiling at me. He mouthed, "You wait and see."

From then on, my nightmare officially began.

In the banquet hall, they began to toast and congratulate each other.

Zac studied finance at a prestigious university and was naturally the center of attention as he was to take over the company after graduation.

My mom politely told everyone to take care of Zac in the future, and everyone nodded.

In the midst of harmony, someone suddenly asked, "Why hasn't Grace come?"

My mom's face changed instantly.

My dad calmly said that I was "working overtime", and there was a low laugh from the crowd.

Someone whispered, "Why ask that? You're really tactless. All know that Grace is the disgrace of the Berry family. I heard she got involved with a professor in university, was publicly shamed with a poster, and even got beaten up by the professor's wife, she had no choice but to drop out."

"Really? I heard she was a troublemaker in high school, guess it's true."

Zac heard these discussions, he didn't say anything, just took out his phone.

He sent me a message: [Grace, you're not still angry, are you? I was just joking with you, why are you so sensitive?]

He was referring to when I was fired from the company, and he called me "retarded" at the dinner table.

After I dropped out, I went to a Taiwanese company.

The deputy general manager appreciated me and wanted me to be his assistant, but the next day when I went to work, I was fired.

I found out later that the deputy general manager and the general manager were having an affair, and I was made the scapegoat.

They accused me of leaking company secrets and told me to leave immediately.

I cried in grievance for a long time.

When my dad found out, he disgustedly asked me why I couldn't do anything right. Zac said, "Grace, show them your retard certificate, you can definitely sue them for defamation - how can a retard leak company secrets?"

He was smug, thinking his joke was hilarious.

My mom also laughed, while I silently slammed my bowl on the table.

They will never know how much I hate being called that.

In elementary school, I used to get very good grades.

But ever since Zac came to our house, my parents only had him in their hearts. They felt sorry for him for losing his parents at a young age, and gave all their love to him.

The food on the table was always what Zac liked; the clothes were always bought for Zac first.

Even if my grades were better than Zac's, they would say that Zac just didn't study hard, and if he tried, he would definitely be better than me.

At that time, I couldn't help but think, maybe Zac was their biological child.

Under such depression, I messed up one exam. The teacher was so angry that he called me "retarded" and said that I had been copying from my deskmate during previous exams.

All of a sudden, all the students called me "retarded", some even asked Zac if his sister had a brain problem.