Mom was a top student at a prestigious school and had always been determined to be the best at everything.

She demanded that I learn to walk by seven months, speak fluently by eighteen months, and master all addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division by the age of three.

I did all of it. Yet Mom still felt it wasn’t enough.

However, when my younger brother, Liam, didn’t speak until he was five, Mom clapped and cheered when he finally did, celebrating his “late-blooming brilliance”.

I didn’t think anything of it.

Until one day, I was wearing headphones, memorizing Spanish words, and accidentally let the sound leak out, scaring Liam. He clutched his chest and cried, saying his heart hurt.

Mom’s eyes turned red as she stormed over and slapped me. Then she grabbed my ear, twisting it a full 360 degrees with all her strength.

The pain in my ear was so intense that I lost all feeling, and the fear made me nauseous to the point of vomiting.

Still, Mom forced the headphones back on, cranked the volume to the maximum, and locked me in the storage room to reflect.

“How could I give birth to such a terrible child? You’re just jealous of Liam. No matter how much I do for you, you’ll never appreciate it!

“Love listening to words, huh? Then listen all you want.”

But seven days later, when she opened the door, she completely lost it.

The high-frequency sound waves kept vibrating inside my head, filling me with fear and agony. I couldn’t hear anything around me, even though I screamed until my throat turned hoarse.

Outside the room, it was empty and silent. There was no response at all.

I tried to take off the headphones that were clamped tightly around my head. However, Mom had installed an anti-slip locking device on them. No matter how I struggled, I couldn’t remove them.

I was in so much pain.

The sharp, piercing noise wouldn’t go away, no matter how I shook my head. Soon, a headache set in, and anxiety rose uncontrollably, as if someone was gripping my throat tightly.

I began to lose the ability to breathe. My heartbeat gradually sped up, and my whole body lost its balance.

Meanwhile, outside, Mom and Dad had already taken my little brother, Liam, who kept crying about the pain, to the hospital to have his heart checked.

No one responded to my cries for help.

Because of my screaming and crying, my ruptured eyeball bled even more.

Later on, the pain slowly turned numb. The wound began to rot, and I developed a high fever that wouldn’t go down.

My consciousness started to scatter, and all I could see was a blur of blood-red and dark shadows.

It hurts. It’s so loud… I just want some quiet…

“Mom, I didn’t mean to disturb Liam…

“I love you both so, so much. I love my brother so much, too…

“I really wanted to become your pride, but… I think I don’t have the strength anymore…

“I still have so much homework to finish. I haven’t finished memorizing my Spanish words…

“Mom, I want to do my homework… but I don’t have the strength anymore…”

…

Then, my consciousness began to rise.

My perspective shifted in a strange way, and the sharp pain from the headphones disappeared.

The feeling was so wonderful…

From the surveillance camera Mom installed to monitor the house came a burst of static, and her voice followed.

“Ellie, it’s a little cold outside. Find a jacket for Liam. We’ll come back to get it later.

“You little brat. I only said a couple of things to you, and now you won’t even respond?

“If you won’t get it, then forget it. We’ll just buy Liam new clothes!”

Hearing Mom’s voice from the other side of the monitor, I desperately tried to respond loudly.

However, I couldn’t make a sound.

‘Mom, did you forget I’m wearing headphones? I can’t hear you.

‘I’m not ignoring you. I just can’t hear anything!’

I waved desperately at the camera in the living room. When there was still no reaction, I returned to the storage room where I had been locked up.

There were so many rats surrounding me.

The big eyes Mom always praised as beautiful were now covered in blood and scabs.

If Mom saw this, she would definitely be angry. She’d say I ruined my own eyes.

What should I do?

With a creak, the door opened.

Hope had arrived!

It was Mom and Dad. They had come back with Liam, carrying big and small shopping bags.

Mom was holding Liam in her arms. He was wearing a brand-new outfit and clutching the latest Transformers toy.

Liam waved the toy around excitedly in her arms.

Mom’s back hurt easily, so whenever I asked for a hug, she would frown and tell me that girls shouldn’t be so clingy.

Since I felt bad for Mom, I never asked for a hug again.

Today, however, she was holding Liam, her eyes full of doting affection. Why was it so different from how she treated me?

“Ellie, look! Mom bought me the newest toy!

“And you don’t have one!”

Liam stood in the doorway of the storage room with his hands on his hips, showing off.

I clearly saw Mom smiling, about to take out the Barbie doll I had stopped to stare at countless times in front of the store display.

My heart instantly felt warm, and a small spark of hope lit up inside me.

But when she heard no response from me, Mom stopped what she was doing and shouted angrily, “She’s been spoiled with no limits!

“Liam is talking to her, yet she’s still acting dead in there!

“Looks like the punishment wasn’t enough!”

At that moment, Dad grabbed Mom’s arm and sighed. “Let it go, Winnie. Ellie is a girl after all. It’s nothing if she’s a little spoiled.”

As he spoke, he picked up the Barbie doll and started walking toward the storage room.

“You’re not giving that to her!” Mom rushed over and snatched the Barbie doll from Dad’s hand.

“I was even thinking about her. I thought she would reflect on herself. Instead, she’s getting worse!”

After saying that, she grabbed the scissors from the table and cut the Barbie doll into pieces.

I looked at the Barbie doll lying on the floor, its golden hair scattered everywhere, its delicate princess dress torn apart. My heart hurt in waves.

That doll was so expensive.

Every time we passed the store window, Mom would see me staring through the clear glass, my eyes full of longing for the doll. She would smile kindly and say that once she got her paycheck, she would definitely buy it for me.

Now that she had finally bought it…

Mom, why did you destroy it?

It would have been better if I had never had it.

Even after cutting the doll to pieces, Mom still wasn’t satisfied. She set it on fire.

In an instant, the doll turned into ashes.

I closed my eyes in pain and didn’t dare to look.

Mom, on the other hand, was still cursing.

“I spent so many years raising you. Do you know how much effort I put in?

“I stayed up late with you night after night, and this is what I get? What an ungrateful child!

“I say a few words, and you ignore me? Fine! Stay in there for the rest of your life! Don’t come out!

“I hired so many tutors for you. Do you know how much that cost? You’ve had it way better than Liam, and you’re still not satisfied!”

Mom’s chest heaved violently. Dad stood beside her, timidly patting her back and softly comforting her.

He only glanced toward the storage room, but he didn’t dare take another step closer.

After she finished yelling, Mom still wasn’t satisfied. She looked up and saw the certificates and trophies I had earned over the years through hard work.

Every time I brought home a certificate, Mom would beam with pride and cook a huge meal for me.

Whenever I saw the proud looks on Mom and Dad’s faces, I worked even harder than before.

Mom used to carefully wipe each certificate and every trophy.

Now, as if she had gone mad, she waved her arms wildly and knocked the certificates down one by one.

The certificates with my name printed on them were torn into countless pieces. Then she smashed the golden trophies I had worked day and night to earn, one after another.

The noise alerted the neighbors downstairs.

Our neighbor next door, Mr. Thompson, loved watching drama. He rushed over to our house right away.

I didn’t like Mr. Thompson.

He was short, with a face full of wrinkles when he smiled. He always smelled strongly of cigarettes, and when he opened his mouth, there were two rows of yellow teeth.

He always looked at me with a strange expression, too.

Sometimes he would grin and offer me candy, asking if I wanted to go to his house to play.

I would nervously glance into his house and notice it was empty. Mrs. Thompson was probably out, and Mandy, who usually played with me, wasn’t home either.

I would always timidly say no.

Because one time, when I went to his house, he did something strange to me.

He even threatened me and warned me not to tell Mom, but I still ran home crying and told Mom everything.

Mom was chopping vegetables at the time. She grabbed the kitchen knife and went straight to his house. Later, she had a fierce fight with Mrs. Thompson.

After that, our two families rarely interacted. Mandy and I even stopped talking at school.

Now Mr. Thompson leaned his head in from the doorway, peeking inside with a look of undisguised gloating as he asked what had happened.

“That damn girl doesn’t know what’s good for her! First, she deliberately bullied Liam. Then, when we came back, and Liam took the initiative to talk to her, she started putting on airs!

“Thompson, looks like I wronged you before. That wretched girl is just shameless by nature. Born bad!”

“Heh, kids make things up all the time. You really need to discipline her properly.”

“Yeah… shameless, born bad! I told you my dad isn’t like that!” Mandy lifted her chin proudly beside him, repeating the adults’ words.

‘No! That’s not true! Mom, he bullied me!

‘Mom, I didn’t lie. What he did was really strange!

‘Why did you defend me before, but now apologize to him?

‘Mom, I really didn’t lie!’

I spun anxiously in midair.

Mr. Thompson continued with a righteous expression, “When a child starts lying young, that’s no small matter. It’ll only worsen if you don’t correct it now.

“For her own good, you have to punish her properly this time.

“But don’t go too far. She’s still just a child, after all!”

After the neighbors left, Liam seemed even more pleased with himself. He would linger by the storage room door, deliberately making noises now and then.

Sometimes he even whistled at me smugly.

Until one day, a foul stench began to seep out from the doorway.

There were also the squeaks of rats and the sound of gnawing.

I knew that the sealed space had sped up the decay of my body. My eyeball was already crawling with dense little white maggots.

Liam covered his nose and shouted, “Mom! The storage room where Ellie stays smells so bad!”

Mom’s face changed instantly.

She immediately pulled Liam away, her face filled with indescribable disgust.

“Liam, stay back. Don’t let it get on you.”

Her eyes fixed on the storage room door. She reached out her hand several times, but each time she pulled it back.

“Just open the door. If the little girl dirtied her clothes with poop and pee, that’s not hygienic at all,” Dad said from the side, seizing the chance to persuade her.

After hearing that, Mom’s hesitant look suddenly turned firm.

“A child needs to be disciplined from a young age. She’s getting more and more outrageous!

“She actually relieved herself in the room and still refuses to come out. Isn’t that just deliberately going against us?”

At that moment, the sound of rats came again from inside.

My heart filled with hope, thinking Mom would notice something.

I was always afraid of rats.

Every time I saw one, Mom would immediately pull me into her arms. Then she would pretend not to be scared and chase the rat away.

Only after it was gone would her body start trembling slightly from fear, while I would hug her tightly and give her a big kiss.

“Mom, don’t be scared. When I grow up, I’ll protect you!”

Mom would instantly calm down and hug me tightly, her eyes glistening with tears.

Just now, I saw a brief moment of distraction cross Mom’s face, only for it to be quickly replaced by blazing anger.

She pointed at the storage room door and cursed loudly, “Ellie, are you even a girl? Do you have any shame?

“You can even poop and pee in your room?

“And you’re still in there giggling? What are you laughing at? What right do you have to laugh?

“I told you to stay in there and reflect on your mistakes, and this is how you take revenge on us? By doing something this disgusting?

“I really raised you for nothing! I might as well have spent all that effort on Liam. All these years of feeding you. It’s like I was feeding a dog!”

Seeing Mom’s body trembling from extreme anger, I felt so wronged.