"Please don't get mad, Mr. Peterson," Julia said quickly, stepping forward and gently tugging at Dad's arm with a meek smile.

"Ms. Peterson has had a tough time working in Berrington. Being a manager in such a cutthroat city isn't easy for her. It's very demanding, so it's only natural that she can't keep coming home like you wished she could. I'm sure that she still cares about you two."

Yet, Dad only got angrier at her words.

"So what if she's a manager?" he snapped. "Why is a young woman even working so hard for? Sooner or later, she'll still have to get married and settle down. What's the point of climbing so high anyway?"

Mom agreed with him and chimed in, "You're not getting any younger, Jen. You really should think about getting married.

"A colleague of mine has a son about your age. He's honest and reliable, works here, and comes from a good family. Since you're back, you can go on a date with him. If you think he's a good match for you, you can get engaged."

I rejected her at once. "I'm not going to any blind dates, and I'm not getting married either."

"You're not getting married?" Dad's face was as black as thunder now. "Are you planning to work for the rest of your life?"

"Why not?" I asked, staring back into his eyes.

"You—" Dad's chest heaved with anger. "Your mom and I are getting older. We need someone by our side. If you went on the date and got married, then we'd have someone to rely on. Why can't you just think about us?"

I frowned. "Didn't I already hire Julia to take care of you?"

Dad slammed his hand on the table as he swore in my face. "Since you refuse to get married, then quit your job right now and move back home to take care of us! If not, then don't even bother calling us your parents anymore! Julia can be our daughter instead!"

I laughed in anger.

"Back when I graduated from college, I originally planned to come back here to work so that I could take care of you," I said calmly, looking at him.

"But, you thought that it was embarrassing for a prestigious college graduate to return to the village to find a local job here. You yelled at me for being useless and forced me to go into the city to work there instead.

"I struggled in Berrington for years, and now that I've finally found a foothold and have the life I have now, you think that you can make me give it all up and quit my job just to come back to take care of you? Just because you said so?"

I shook my head and added firmly, "That's not happening."

Dad frowned. His tone rose as he demanded, "What do you mean by 'not happening'? We raised you all these years! We're just asking you to come home and take care of us now. And you're making excuses?"

"I'm not making excuses," I explained patiently. "I worked hard for my position in Berrington. If I just give it up now, all my years of hard work would have been for nothing!"

"So you're not going to care about us anymore?" Mom demanded, her face tight with disapproval. "You're our only daughter. Who else are we supposed to rely on when we're older, if not you?"

"I never said that I wasn't going to care about you anymore," I said, taking a deep breath before offering them another solution.

"Fine. If you want me to take care of you, then you can move to Berrington with me. Then, I can go to work and also take care of you at the same time."

Dad immediately waved his hand dismissively, looking at me impatiently. "Move to Berrington? We've lived in this village for decades. All our friends and relatives are here. We won't be comfortable living in another place at all."

Mom nodded as well. "Exactly! Also, you're living in a rented apartment in Berrington. It's not going to be as comfortable as our own house! We're not going!"

I frowned. "If you don't want to come with me, and I can't quit my job, then there's nothing that I can do."

Dad's face was thunderous. "Nothing you can do? Now that you've spread your wings, you think you can just ignore us? You don't respect us anymore!"

"I'm not resigning no matter what," I said firmly, without the slightest hint of backing down.

Dad opened his mouth to continue yelling at me, but Julia hurriedly stepped in and gently smoothed things over.

"Mr. and Mrs. Peterson, it's rare for Ms. Peterson to come back. Let's just talk things out calmly as a family instead of arguing like this. We should be keeping our peace."

Then, she turned to me with a gentle smile. "Ms. Peterson, Mr. and Mrs. Peterson are just getting old and want someone to be with them. It's only natural that they want someone to rely on. Please don't get mad at them."

Dad's expression softened slightly after hearing what Julia said. He looked at her gently and said, "Julia is very sensible. She understands us better than someone who only cares about work and money."

I didn't have the energy to argue with them anymore. It was exhausting for me to even say another word. So, I turned and walked toward my room instead.

However, I froze the moment I opened the door.

My bed was covered in unfamiliar sheets and blankets. My dressing table was piled high with hair ties and skincare products. There were also tons of unfamiliar clothing hanging up in my wardrobe. Clearly, someone had been living here for a long time.

I spun around and stared at Julia. "Don't you have your own room? Why are you staying in my room without permission?"

Julia's eyes flickered. She lowered her head and looked flustered. "I'm sorry, Ms. Peterson, I—"

Mom spoke up for her before she could even finish. "The AC in Julia's room broke. We tried to fix it a few times, but it can't be fixed anymore. Since it was getting cold a few days ago, I told her to sleep in your room for the time being.

"It's not like you're using it anyway, since you never come back. It would be a waste to keep it empty."

My anger flared up again. "Even if I don't come back often, it's still my room! What right do you have to let her move in without getting my permission first?"

"What right?" Dad roared, his face thunderous. "This house belongs to your mother and me! We can let whoever we want stay wherever we want them to! And if we can let Julia live here, we can just as easily kick you out!"

I trembled with rage at his words. I stared at my parents and suddenly realized that I didn't know who they were anymore.

This was my home too, and yet, I was being treated like an outsider.

I didn't bother arguing anymore. I just turned and headed for the front door, dragging my suitcase behind me.

"Fine, you want to kick me out? I'll leave, then."

Dad scoffed coldly as he glared at me in disdain. "Go ahead. Leave if you dare! Once you step out of this house, don't even think of coming back!"

Mom opened her mouth to say something, but in the end, she just sighed and stayed silent.

Julia stood to the side, anxiously saying, "Wait, Ms. Peterson! Don't be angry! It's all my fault. I'll move out at once…"

I couldn't be bothered to listen to her anymore and just dragged my suitcase out with me, leaving the house without another backward glance.

I dragged the heavy suitcase with me, eventually flagging down a cab that took me to a nearby hotel.

…

The next afternoon, I got a call from my cousin, Sonya Peterson.

"Genevieve? We're going to the cemetery now for Great-Grandpa's death anniversary. Didn't you say that you were back? Hurry up and come over. Everyone's already here."

"Got it. I'll be right there."

After hanging up, I quickly got ready and rushed to the cemetery.

When I arrived, I saw that all of our relatives were already there, including my parents. However, when I got closer, I stopped in my tracks.

Julia was there too, standing next to Mom.

Sonya spotted me first. She waved and beckoned me over. "Over here, Genevieve."

I walked over to her and asked in a low voice, "What's she doing here?"

Sonya sighed. "Uncle Randy and Aunt Marie insisted on bringing her along."

It was my parents. They insisted on bringing Julia along.

After paying our respects to Great-Grandpa, everyone then headed to the family-style restaurant they'd booked in advance for dinner.

Everyone sat together in a private room. During dinner, Mom suddenly said, "Since everyone is here today, Randy and I have an announcement to make."

"We've decided to adopt Julia as our daughter," Dad announced as he looked around the table.

The room fell silent instantly. I could see our relatives exchanging bewildered glances with each other.

Mom then said, "Julia is a very thoughtful child. She's always by our side, serving us and taking care of all our needs, doing the laundry, the cooking, and the cleaning—she's more attentive than our own daughter."

At that, my relatives instinctively turned to look at me. I gripped my knife and fork, remaining silent.

Dad just shot me a sideways glance, his tone turning serious. "Julia is unlike some people, who are nowhere to be seen all year round, only coming home to talk about money without caring about us at all.

"We asked her to quit her job and come back to take care of us, but she refused. We asked her to go on a blind date and settle down, and she refused that as well.

"She's all grown-up now, after all. She doesn't care the least bit about us old folks anymore."

Seeing this, Sonya immediately tried to smooth things over.

"But Uncle Randy, Aunt Marie, it's not that Genevieve is being unfilial or disrespectful to you. She's just really busy with work and under a lot of pressure. Please don't say such things about her."

Mom waved her hand dismissively, her face darkening. "Busy? She's always busy, isn't she? What's the point of earning more money anyway if she can't be there for us?

"But Julia is different. She's very caring, and she's always there for us when we're sick. She's far more reliable than our own daughter."

Dad became even more agitated, his voice rising as he spoke. "Since we can't rely on our own daughter, then we'll just find someone else more caring to take her place!

"If Julia can take care of us in our old age and see us off in our final days, I don't see why we shouldn't leave the house and assets to her!"

Everyone in the room was completely stunned. They stared at each other in shock, not daring to breathe even too loudly.

Some of them wanted to advise them against it, but they decided not to after seeing how resolute my parents seemed about it.

Dinner ended in a very awkward atmosphere.

Afterward, Sonya pulled me aside, her face full of concern.

"Genevieve! Did that Julia put a spell on your parents or something? How could they say that they'd leave the house to her!

"You should go back and talk to them properly. We can't let them continue making a huge mistake like this!"

I looked at Julia, who was chatting and laughing happily with my parents in the distance, and gently shook my head.

"Maybe all they want is just a sweet, obedient daughter who can always be by their side every single day. I can't be that person. And if they want someone else to be that for them, then there's no way I can stop them either."

The long weekend was coming to an end, and I needed to return to Berrington.

I called Dad before leaving, but he didn't pick up. I called Mom next, but my calls ended up being rejected.

I called them several more times, but I kept getting rejected each time.

I stared at my phone and decided to give up. I just dragged my suitcase with me to the train station and caught the train back to Berrington.

…

Over the next couple of weeks, I kept seeing my parents post updates about their daily lives.

There were photos of them going out to barbecue restaurants and posing intimately together and walking in the park with Julia's arms linked with Mom's as they smiled sweetly at each other.

Their captions were always about how warm and lovely their new life was as a "family" of three.

I scrolled through their posts, neither liking nor commenting on them. I just pretended not to have seen anything.

However, a few days later, a phone call suddenly came in. It was from Mom.

I'd only just answered the phone when I heard her disgruntled voice on the line at once.

"Why haven't you wired us the money for this month's living expenses, Genevieve Peterson? And why haven't you paid Julia her wages yet?"