Mom and Dad keep claiming that I'm their firstborn, so they need to love me with all their hearts. Already, they're saving up for my college funds and keep taking me on vacations abroad just to explore the world.

This time, I've gotten a full score on my exams. My parents decide to take me and my four-year-old sister, Amelia Orson, on a trip. Worried that I might mind Amelia's presence, they even specifically explain to me that no one is capable of taking care of Amelia in their stead, so she has to come along. I accept the explanation immediately.

But Amelia falls sick right before the trip. There isn't any cough syrup left at home, so I use my pocket money to buy some imported cough syrup and feed Amelia with it.

I thought I'd get praised for my efforts. Instead, Mom rushes over to induce vomiting for Amelia.

With red-rimmed eyes, she scolds me, "How dare you feed her medicine without checking the source! Do you have any idea how lethal that is? When I was young, I almost died from a dose of misused medication fed by my own sister! How dare you try to harm Amelia, you wretched child!"

After that, Mom tells Dad to bring out his suitcase so that she can lock me up in it.

"You want to go on a trip because you've scored full marks in your exams, right? Fine! Have all the fun you want in the suitcase!"

What they've forgotten is the fact that Dad often uses this suitcase on his business trips, so there's a TSA-approved lock on it. I can't even open the suitcase from inside.

The air was growing thinner by the second, and I began to kick at the walls of the suitcase with everything I had.

The lock didn't budge at all, letting out only a cold, metallic click in the silence of the room.

Just then, the door was pushed open, and I heard hurried footsteps rushing in. In that instant, hope surged through me.

Mom and Dad heard me. They came to save me.

But the next second, Mom's voice sounded, laced with irritation, "This is all Ninette's fault. We exchanged all our cash for foreign currency just to take her abroad, and now we don't even have enough left for Amy's medical bills!"

A sharp, jarring crack rang out.

I didn't even need to see it to know what had happened.

It was my ceramic piggy bank with the little white rabbit on it, the one I had carefully saved for three years.

Mom sounded relieved. "Good. There's still quite a bit here."

"How did she save up so much?" Dad asked in surprise.

"Save?" Mom sneered. "She must've stolen Amy's allowance. I knew I wasn't wrong about her today!"

Dad sighed. "How did Ninette turn out like this? I always thought she'd grow up to be a good sister."

I heard the rustling of coins and the crinkle of a few loose bills being swept up.

As the door shut, I felt an icy gaze bore into the suitcase.

"Stay in there and think about what you've done," Mom said, her tone frigid. "If you can't learn how to be a good sister, then get out of this house!"

No…

That money wasn't stolen. I had saved it one bit at a time by skipping breakfast because I wanted to buy my sister, Amelia Orson, a birthday gift.

I wanted to scream and defend myself, but my oxygen-deprived throat could only produce a faint, rattling wheeze.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I got out of the suitcase.

At that moment, the door swung open once more. Mom and Dad walked in, talking and laughing, and it looked like Amelia was fine now.

The tension in my chest finally eased.

I rushed forward, wanting to hug Mom and cling to her the way I used to, but my arms passed right through her.

They went to the couch and started discussing the itinerary.

I stood in front of them, waving my hands and shouting, "Mom, Dad, I'm over here!"

Their gazes passed through me and landed on each other.

Dad frowned as he spoke, "The cancellation fee is half the ticket price. It's such a waste of money."

Amelia immediately wrapped her arms around Mom. "I'm better now! I don't want you guys to waste money. I can go on the trip!"

Mom nuzzled her forehead against Amelia's affectionately. "My sweet girl, you're so much better than your sister."

I froze, then turned to Dad and begged, "Dad, can you take me with you? I know I messed up…"

At that moment, Dad looked toward the storage room door and said hesitantly, "Maybe we should bring Ninette along, too. She's just a kid. The punishment we gave her is enough. Besides, didn't she use to be your favorite? You often say a girl needs to travel and see the world."

My heart leaped, and a tiny spark of hope flickered to life.

Alas, Mom took the phone from his hand, her voice firm. "We're not taking her! What's the use of good grades if she's so twisted? This time, we have to teach her a lesson she'll never forget!"

Her fingers moved quickly across the screen, and without hesitation, she canceled my ticket.

I stood there, my transparent figure unmoving.

I watched Dad nod in agreement, and Amelia lean against them, receiving all their love and attention.

Only then did I understand that from the moment they locked the suitcase, Ninette Orson had already been completely erased from this family.

After settling Mom and Amelia, Dad turned and made his way toward my room.

My heart leaped as a spark of misplaced hope flickered alive in my chest.

Dad came to look for me!

He pushed the door open, his brows knitted together. "Ninette, are you still upset? Come on out. Let's talk."

In the room, that brand-new suitcase stood perfectly still against the wall, its zipper tightly sealed. It sat there in silence, a mirror of the voice I could no longer find.

When I didn't respond, Dad let out a sigh.

"Ninette, you've truly disappointed me. Your mom has always treated you and Amy the same. How could you… have thoughts like that? Amy is still so young."

I shook my head fervently.

That wasn't true.

I tasted it before I fed it to Amelia. I just wanted her to feel better. I wasn't trying to hurt her.

"And all that money…" Dad's voice dropped, heavy with disappointment and sadness. "Ninette, your heart is in the wrong place."

I was overwhelmed by how wronged I felt.

The broken pieces of the ceramic piggy bank still lay scattered on the floor.

Dad had given it to me for my birthday last year. He had ruffled my hair back then, beaming. "Ninette, you got another perfect score in math! You need to learn how to manage your own money now. Use this to buy some nice stationery."

Back then, his eyes had been so full of pride and tenderness. Now, he subconsciously nudged the fragments on the ground with the tip of his shoe, sending the rabbit's head rolling into the shadows of the corner.

At that moment, Mom pushed the door open and strode in. She didn't even glance at the suitcase and merely frowned at Dad as she said, "Why are you wasting your breath on her? Amy's coughing again. Come take a look."

"Mom!" I sobbed and rushed toward her, wanting to throw myself into her arms the way Amelia always did, but I passed right through her.

Mom felt nothing and simply hooked her arm through Dad's before leading him out of the room.

The door clicked shut.

I stood in the middle of the freezing room, standing over the shards of my piggy bank with the sealed suitcase behind me.

The last spark of light went out.

They would never know that the money in the piggy bank was a year's worth of lunch money I'd saved and that I had planned to buy Amelia the star projector she had always wanted during the trip.

I didn't know how long I had stayed curled up beside the cold suitcase when I suddenly heard the sound of a key turning outside the door.

An uncontrollable surge of excitement washed away the resentment and numbness I felt.

They must've come back for me because they couldn't bear to leave me!

I knew it. Mom and Dad wouldn't really leave me behind.

I immediately floated up from the ground and rushed toward the door, my heart hammering in my chest.

I imagined Dad pushing the door open, saying in that helpless yet doting tone, "Come on, Ninette. What are you waiting for?"

I imagined Mom still looking strict but eventually reaching out to take my hand.

The door opened.

Dad looked exhausted as he threw the suitcases aside and let out a heavy sigh. "Don't even mention it. This awful weather canceled the flight. This was such a total waste of time."

Mom followed behind him, her voice thick with annoyance. "What a nightmare! Amy has been looking forward to this for so long. She cried the whole way back, and it broke my heart to see her like this."

They weren't back because they missed me. They were back because the fight had been canceled, and they had no other choice but to return.

My arms, which were about to pull them into a hug, froze in midair.

Amelia cried even harder, her tone laced with disappointment. "My castle… It's gone…"

"Sweetie, don't cry. We'll make it up to you next time," Mom said gently, patting her back as she gazed at Amelia tenderly.

Dad rubbed his temples, his gaze instinctively shifting toward my tightly closed door at the end of the hallway. "I'm going to go check on Ninette."

My heart instantly leapt into my throat.

I tried to wrap my arms around Dad's legs, desperately attempting to stop him. "Dad, don't go in there!"

By now, the suitcase had already begun to give off an unpleasant smell.

"Leave her alone," Mom said sharply. "The food I left on the table hasn't been touched. It's sitting there exactly how I left it. She's clearly determined to fight us on this!"

Dad's hand slowly dropped from the doorknob.

Amelia looked up then, clutching Mom's neck with a timid grip.

"Dad… I'm scared to share a room with Ninette… She was really scary yesterday. I want to sleep with Mom instead," she murmured.

Those words were the final straw, snuffing out the final trace of hesitation in Dad's eyes. He turned away, not sparing the door another glance. "Forget it. Let her cool off by herself. She's so stubborn. She's nothing like us!"

With that, they turned and made their way to the living room.

From beginning to end, no one looked back at the door.

I slumped against the wooden door and could faintly smell what was seeping out through the cracks. It was a smell that even I was frightened by.

They were all blaming me.

They blamed my stubbornness, my immaturity, and the fact that I'd scared Amelia, but they would never know that I wasn't throwing a tantrum.

I just couldn't leave this room anymore.

Late at night, Amelia suddenly started crying in the master bedroom, and I jolted awake.

I had spent the night curled up on the rug in the entryway, terrified of scaring her, so why was she crying?

Mom quickly pulled her into an embrace as she asked gently, "What is it, sweetie? Did you have a nightmare?"

Amelia sobbed, her words coming out in broken snatches. "I… dreamed we were on that big plane. There was a beach and a castle, but I woke up, and we're still at home…"

The weight of her disappointment made her cry even harder.

Mom's expression darkened. She turned toward my bedroom door, her voice rising into a shout.

"Ninette Orson! Can't you hear your sister crying? How can you be so heartless that you won't even come out and check on her? She's your sister! Don't you care about her at all?"

Dad was woken up by the commotion.

When he saw Amelia crying uncontrollably and an angry Mom, his face turned cold.

"Ninette, it seems your mom was right. We spoiled you far too much, and it turned you into someone cold and selfish. Maybe a real lesson is the only way you'll finally grow up!"

I stood just outside their door.

The injustice felt like countless needles were pricking at my very soul.

It wasn't that I didn't care or that I was cold. It was just that they simply couldn't see me anymore.

…

The next morning, the doorbell rang. Mom quickly went to open it with a flattering smile plastered on her face.

Standing on the other side of the door was Lauren Wilcox, who lived downstairs with her son, Micah Jones.

I stiffened.

The memory was still fresh in my mind. A year ago, when Micah pushed me down the stairs and I had scraped my knee, Mom sprang into action like a lioness protecting her cub.

She stormed down to their apartment to give them a piece of her mind and even ended up slapping Micah in the heat of the moment.

From then on, Mom and Lauren had been on bad terms and hadn't spoken a word to each other since.

So, why would Mom invite her over?

Curiosity pulled me closer.

Mom served her a cup of coffee with uncharacteristic eagerness. "Lauren, I heard you work at an airline. Amy was so heartbroken that she couldn't go on her trip. Is there any way you could help us get a couple of tickets for the next available flights? We don't mind paying extra."

Lauren sat there, holding her cup with an air of superiority.

I watched Mom lower herself in front of someone she used to hate just so Amelia could go on a trip, and the spot where my heart used to be throbbed so painfully that it felt like my heart was splintering.