1 My twin brother Ollie and I got into our sister’s alma mater. On move-in day, she drove him to campus and left me hauling my own heavy suitcases. I gripped my Finance acceptance letter tight, heart pounding with anticipation. My sister had always been my idol, and now I was finally catching up. When I reached the dorms, she had already unpacked for Ollie. They sat together on a bench in the campus quad. She told him she had spoken to the dean and moved him into my spot in the Finance program. She promised to introduce him to her old professors and pave the way for his future. That look of pure, easy affection had never once been aimed at me. Ollie smiled brightly and suggested I take his place in Vocal Performance instead. Years ago, I had thrown myself over my sister to shield her from a collapsing beam in a house fire. The damage left me reliant on a hearing aid for daily conversation. Studying music was impossible for me. She reached out and ruffled his hair, agreeing without hesitation. At that moment, the straps of my backpack felt like they were crushing me. If my entire future was worth less than a casual joke from my brother, then I no longer wanted this family. I pretended I hadn’t seen them and walked straight to the Finance department’s registration desk. The academic advisor took my acceptance letter, scanned it, and handed it back. But when he typed my ID into the system, his brow furrowed. “Your name isn’t in this cohort.” “Let me check the general directory. Ah, here you are. You’re registered in the Vocal Performance program. You need to head over to the Arts building to sign in.” I shook my head. “I’m not an arts student. My medical records clearly state I have a severe hearing impairment. It’s literally impossible for me to be admitted into Vocal Performance.” “Besides, my acceptance letter clearly says I am enrolled in the Finance department.” Growing up, I couldn’t even count the number of times I had to give things up for Oliver. When he decided he liked the floor-to-ceiling windows in my bedroom, my sister knocked down the wall to give him a massive master suite and moved me into the cramped maid’s quarters. When he wanted my limited-edition sneakers, my sister forced me to hand them over, even though I had worked double shifts all summer just to buy them. She always used the same excuse. “Felix, you used to be such a good, selfless kid. You literally saved my life in that fire. What happened to you? Why are you so bitter about sharing with your own brother?” Jasmine was the person I looked up to most in the world. I didn’t want her to look at me like I was a monster, so I swallowed the unfairness. Again and again. But this time was different. To get into this university’s Finance program, I studied from five in the morning until midnight for three straight years. While Jasmine took Oliver on a luxury vacation to the Maldives this summer, I stayed home teaching myself advanced calculus. I sacrificed too much for this. This time, I refused to back down. The advisor gave me a long, sympathetic look. “Give me a second. Let me call the admissions office.” Just as he picked up the phone, Jasmine and Oliver walked up. Jasmine instantly assessed the standoff. “Hi, I’m Felix’s older sister. He’s at the wrong desk.” “Oliver is the one in your Finance program. Just sign him in.” Jasmine clamped her hand around my wrist, dragging me backward. She lowered her voice to a harsh whisper. “Come with me right now. Stop making a scene and embarrassing us. I’ll explain everything later.” Embarrassing us. I repeated those words in my head. That was exactly how she had viewed me for years. Oliver got to attend high-society galas and corporate board meetings with her. I was told to stay home. On our shared birthday, Oliver got a massive, lavish party with hundreds of wealthy guests. I sat alone in the dark living room until midnight, waiting for them to bring back a half-eaten slice of leftover cake. “Felix, you can’t hear well in crowded rooms anyway. You never catch what people are saying. It’s better for you to just stay home.” I used to pretend I didn’t see the disgust hiding in her eyes. I convinced myself she was just being protective. But today, she finally shattered that pathetic little fantasy. I forcefully yanked my wrist out of her grip. “You and Oliver literally stole my university admission. Aren’t you the ones who should be embarrassed?” I took a few steps back, pulling out my phone to call the dean myself. I was going to fight for what was mine. The line connected. My heart pounded against my ribs. My lips trembled as I opened my mouth to explain what was happening. Suddenly, the entire world went violently silent. A sharp, tearing pain ripped through my ear. Jasmine had snatched my hearing aid right out of my ear. A drop of fresh blood smeared across the plastic casing in her hand. The seconds on the call timer ticked by, but I couldn’t hear a single sound. The person on the other end eventually hung up. Jasmine furiously typed something on her phone and shoved the screen into my face. [I bought that hearing aid with my money. You are coming with me right now, and I will give it back to you.] [If you don’t, I am confiscating it. You won’t be attending any classes at all. You can go work a minimum-wage job until you can afford a new one yourself.] 2 I stared at her for a few agonizing seconds, then turned around and walked away. She didn’t care about my future, and I was done begging for scraps of her love. I wrote a simple message on a notepad. [Are you hiring? I am a hard worker and I will do anything.] I walked into every single store, cafe, and restaurant near the campus. I pointed to my ear, then handed the notepad to the managers. Every single one of them shook their heads. By nightfall, the storefronts went dark. I hadn’t eaten a single bite of food all day. Blisters had ruptured on my heels, making every step excruciating. Exhausted, I collapsed on the concrete steps of a closed diner, leaning my head against the cold brick wall. Suddenly, the warm, savory smell of fresh food wafted over me. I looked up. It was the woman who ran the breakfast cart down the street. I had shown her my notepad earlier that afternoon. She pressed two warm breakfast sandwiches into my hands, followed by her glowing phone screen. It was a text thread with Jasmine. [My brother, Felix, is deaf. If he comes looking for a job, turn him away immediately.] [Do not serve him food, do not rent him a room, and do not offer him any help.] The woman typed a new message for me to read. “Your sister owns the commercial real estate on this entire block. She sent that warning to every single business owner. We are all just trying to make a living, kid. No one dares to cross her.” “I waited until it was completely dark to sneak you this food. Please, don’t let your sister find out.” I nodded slowly. Terrified of being seen, the woman hurried away. I took a slow, mechanical bite of the sandwich. When my sister stole my college admission, I didn’t cry. When she ripped out my hearing aid and forced me to wander the streets in silence, I didn’t cry. But right now, reading a few words of kindness from a total stranger, my eyes burned. The tears spilled over, and I couldn’t stop them. Eventually, I curled into a tight ball on the concrete and fell into an exhausted, feverish sleep. I didn’t know how much time had passed when a heavy fist slammed directly into my cheekbone. I jerked awake. A group of street thugs stood over me, cruel grins twisting their faces. Their mouths were moving, but I couldn’t hear a word they were saying. I scrambled to my feet and tried to run. But my blistered feet betrayed me. Before I made it ten yards, a hand grabbed the back of my collar and violently hurled me to the pavement. They pinned me down. Fists rained down on my face and stomach, blurring my vision. Just as I was about to pass out from the pain, they suddenly stopped and backed away. I dug my nails into my palms, forcing myself to stay conscious. I forced my swollen eyes open. Jasmine was standing right in front of me. She was wearing a sleek, tailored black trench coat, looking utterly immaculate and aristocratic. She stared down at me with a faint trace of disgust in her eyes. A suffocating wave of humiliation washed over me. I felt like an absolute clown. Jasmine waved her hand, and the thugs immediately lowered their heads and scurried away into the alley. I understood instantly. She hired them to beat me. Jasmine sighed heavily. She pulled a silk handkerchief from her pocket and wiped the dirt and blood off my cheek. Then, she pushed a new hearing aid into my ear. “I accidentally broke your old one this morning. I bought you a replacement. It’s a top-tier import.” “I didn’t know your exact ear mold measurements, so I just used Oliver’s. You guys are twins anyway.” The earpiece didn’t fit. It was too big, digging painfully into the cartilage of my ear. But it worked well enough for me to hear her voice. “Look at yourself. You’ve been gone for twelve hours and you already look like a stray dog.” “Come home with me, Felix. Tomorrow, you are going to register at the Arts building.” “I will pull some strings and explain your disability to the professors. They won’t make things too hard on you.” 3 She thought I was finally broken. She thought I was ready to submit. Instead, I tilted my head up, looked her dead in the eye, and spoke clearly. “And what if I say no? Are you going to hire more thugs to beat me?” Her eyes darkened. She didn’t say a word. Her silence was a yes. I let out a bitter, self-deprecating laugh. “Jasmine, I never understood why you played favorites.” “Oliver and I are both your brothers. I literally saved your life in that fire…” “Enough.” Jasmine cut me off, her face turning ice-cold. “Stop bringing up ancient history like I owe you my life. It was years ago.” “Oliver is bright, cheerful, and he knows how to make me laugh. He brings life into our house. Of course I favor him.” “Unlike you. You just skulk around the house wearing that hearing aid, trying to make me feel guilty. You are so manipulative for your age.” The blood in my veins turned to ice. Our parents moved overseas to expand the business right after we were born. To me, Jasmine was my only real family. During the fire, I didn’t hesitate for a single second before throwing my body over hers. When the doctors told me my hearing was permanently gone, I was so terrified of making her sad that I voluntarily moved to a boarding school. I only called to share good news, hiding all my struggles. I only went home during winter and summer breaks. I never imagined she despised my presence that much. She harbored a deep, irrational resentment toward me. No matter what I said, she would only see it as a manipulation tactic. I nodded, accepting the reality. “Fine. I understand.” “I’ll buy a bus ticket out of state tomorrow. I’ll get as far away from you as possible.” “Felix, why do you have to be so incredibly unreasonable?!” Jasmine snapped. She opened her mouth to yell at me again, but her phone suddenly rang. The moment she looked at the screen, the ice in her eyes melted into pure warmth. “Hey, Ollie. How was your first day? Are you settling in okay?” “If any of your classes are too hard, just call me. I can help you.” Oliver’s voice chirped happily through the speaker. “Don’t worry, Val! Everyone knows I’m your brother. Nobody dares to mess with me.” “I just got to the penthouse you bought for me near campus. Can you bring me a slice of strawberry shortcake? I want a midnight snack.” Jasmine laughed, the sound dripping with affection. “You greedy little pig.” “Give me ten minutes. I’m on my way.” Oliver continued to whine and act cute, and Jasmine happily indulged him. I sat on the cold pavement, completely alienated from this picture-perfect family dynamic. I started to push myself up to leave, but then I heard Oliver casually drop a question. “By the way, how is Felix doing in the Vocal Performance program?” Jasmine frowned and glared at me. “He isn’t nearly as obedient as you. He threw a tantrum and ran off this morning.” Oliver had always been perfectly obedient to Jasmine. Because everything she ever demanded of him only benefited him. Oliver let out a theatrical sigh. “I just wanted to build his character and test his resilience.” “If he actually manages to become the deaf Beethoven of our generation, at least he won’t be a total embarrassment to the family anymore.” Oliver’s grades were terrible. He had to rely on Jasmine’s money just to get accepted into the Arts program. But he desperately wanted the prestige of the Finance industry. Yet he spun his selfish theft into a noble sacrifice for my own good. A cold laugh escaped my throat. “I have zero musical talent.” “I got into the Finance program based on my own academic merit. If you actually cared about my future, you would give me my rightful spot back.” 4 “Felix!” Jasmine roared. She hung up the phone, her eyes blazing with absolute fury. “Are you doing this just to spite us?!” “Fine. Great. Since you think you can fly on your own, I will personally blacklist you from every single university in New York. I will blacklist you across the entire country.” “Let’s see how far an uneducated, deaf high school graduate can make it in the real world.” She held out her hand, her palm facing up. “If you have any backbone at all, give me back everything I bought you.” I didn’t hesitate. I pulled the oversized hearing aid out of my ear and dropped it into her palm. The world plunged back into dead silence. But I didn’t regret it. She had already stolen my university admission. If I stayed, she would slowly strip away everything else I earned just to feed Oliver’s ego. Being deaf and broke was better than being their personal blood bag. I turned to walk away, but Jasmine stepped in front of me, blocking my path. She furiously typed a sentence on her phone. [The clothes on your back were bought with my money too, weren’t they?] They weren’t! Every time I came home for the holidays, she would give Oliver a massive allowance. “Felix is finally home! Go buy whatever clothes you want,” she would say. “But Felix, your hearing makes it hard for you to talk to the cashiers, and Oliver has a much better fashion sense. Just let Oliver buy things for you.” But the second Oliver walked into a mall, he spent every last dime on designer sneakers for himself. He completely forgot I existed. Or rather, he knew that even if he ignored me, Jasmine wouldn’t punish him. So he did whatever he wanted. I was so terrified of being a burden that I never complained. I just used my academic scholarship money to buy my own cheap clothes from thrift stores. I raised my hands to sign the truth to her. But she refused to look. She rolled her eyes impatiently, looked down at her screen, and typed one word. [Strip.] Every ounce of strength drained from my body. Jasmine shot a look to her bodyguards, and two massive men stepped out of the shadows, cornering me. Her message was clear. Strip, or don’t leave at all. My hands trembled as I took off my shoes. Then my jeans. Then my t-shirt. I stood in the alleyway in nothing but my boxer briefs. The cold night wind bit into my exposed skin. A sudden icy sensation ran down my cheeks. I raised a hand and realized I was crying. Silent, uncontrollable tears were streaming down my face. I reached for the waistband of my underwear, but Jasmine suddenly lunged forward and grabbed my wrist. Her entire body was shaking. Her eyes were bloodshot. She ripped off her own designer trench coat and threw it over my bare shoulders. Her lips formed a single, harsh word. I couldn’t hear it, but reading her lips, it looked a lot like “Leave.” I didn’t argue. I pulled her long coat tight around my body and walked away. The coat fell past my knees, hiding enough so that people wouldn’t think I was a naked lunatic escaping an asylum. I walked all the way to the bus terminal, leaving bloody footprints on the concrete. Jasmine had already frozen every single bank account tied to my name. So I downloaded a predatory payday loan app on my phone, borrowed a thousand dollars at an insane interest rate, and bought a one-way ticket to London. It was an ocean away. Jasmine couldn’t touch me there. I was going to build a new life with my own two hands. That night, Jasmine didn’t sleep a wink. She kept checking her phone, desperately hoping for a text from me. She couldn’t understand why her perfectly obedient, docile little brother had suddenly rebelled. With their family’s wealth, she could have guaranteed both her brothers a life of luxury, regardless of their majors. After hesitating for hours, she finally called her head of security. “Find my brother immediately. He can’t hear, which makes him incredibly vulnerable. Put eyes on him, but stay in the shadows.” “Yes, ma’am.” But five minutes later, the security chief called back. His voice was laced with panic. “Ms. Jasmine, Felix is no longer in the United States. We are still trying to track his final destination…” “What?!” Jasmine shot up from her chair, the blood completely draining from her face. 5 After a grueling international flight, I landed in London. The city was damp and freezing, the air thick with the smell of the River Thames and exhaust fumes. After paying for a cheap hostel, my payday loan left me with exactly thirty pounds. If I ate nothing but instant noodles, it would last me two weeks. Without a hearing aid, my world was completely silent. But there was a deep safety in that silence. There were no harsh lectures from Jasmine, no manipulative whining from Oliver. The toxicity had receded like the tide. I spent three days looking for a job. I walked down street after street, getting rejected by every single pub and retail shop. No one wanted to hire a deaf teenager. Eventually, I saw a flyer pinned to a community board. A wealthy family was looking for a private A-Level math tutor. Thirty pounds an hour. I went to a local library and printed ten copies of my high school transcripts. Top 0.1% in the state. Perfect scores in advanced mathematics. A mother texted me almost immediately. Her daughter, Chloe, was failing math right before her university entrance exams. The mother typed a question on her phone when we met. “You can’t hear. How are you going to teach her?” “I write fast,” I typed back. “I will write out every single step until she understands the core concept.” She agreed to a one-week trial. Every morning at seven, I took the Tube to their flat in Camden and sat in their living room for six hours. I used a pencil and blank printer paper. I broke down complex calculus equations line by line. I derived the formulas, erased them, and wrote them again. I didn’t stop writing until Chloe smiled and gave me a thumbs up. One afternoon, her mother recorded a video of our session and posted it in a parent group chat. That night, I received forty new messages requesting my services. My schedule exploded. I went from tutoring one kid to three kids a day. I took the train across London, from Soho to Greenwich. I carried a bottle of tap water and a pack of plain biscuits in my backpack for my daily meals. In two weeks, I saved up twelve hundred pounds. I went straight to an audiologist clinic in Central London and bought a mid-range hearing aid. It wasn’t a luxury import like the one Jasmine bought, but it worked perfectly. The world flooded with sound again. I felt like a whole human being. The next morning, I walked onto the campus of London University. I didn’t have an appointment. I just sat on a bench outside the admissions office for four hours. Eventually, an older man in a tweed jacket noticed me and asked what I was doing. I handed him my portfolio and clearly explained my situation. “I don’t have the money for international tuition. But I have perfect test scores. You can test me right now if you want.” The man was Professor Chen, the Vice Dean of the Mathematics department. He looked over my transcripts, then read my audiology report. He was quiet for a long time. Finally, he asked me why I traveled across the ocean all by myself. I thought about it for a second. “Because my family didn’t want me anymore.” Professor Chen didn’t pry. He took me inside and spent the entire afternoon discussing my case with the admissions board. The next morning, I received an email. “Given Felix’s exceptional academic record and extenuating circumstances, the university board has unanimously agreed to grant a full-tuition scholarship for the four-year program, alongside guaranteed on-campus employment.” I stared at the glowing screen. Tears spilled over my eyelashes, hitting the keyboard and blurring my vision.
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