On New Year’s Day, Aunt Barbara’s entire family taught me a lesson. Her grandson burned my custom-made wedding dress, and her daughter stole my $15,000 diamond necklace. When I demanded compensation, Aunt Barbara slapped me and said, “What do you mean steal? Taking your stuff is doing you a favor!” So, I filed a lawsuit and took her entire family to court. On the day of the verdict, Aunt Barbara got down on her knees and begged for my forgiveness. I just smiled and said, “Forgive you? Taking you to court was doing you a favor.” My name is Emily Shaw, and I’m a designer specializing in custom wedding dresses. After wrapping up a project, I packed my car with gifts and drove home through the night. I finally made it just in time for New Year’s Day. Before I could even park the car, my phone rang. It was my mom. “Sweetheart, could you pick up a pack of chocolates on your way home?” I was confused. “Mom, since when do you eat chocolate?” She chuckled, “It’s not for me. Your Aunt Barbara is here with Zach, and he wants some chocolate.” Hearing this made my temples throb. Aunt Barbara hadn’t set foot in our house since my uncle passed away. Why had she shown up out of nowhere this year? Feeling uneasy, I stopped to buy the chocolate. The closer I got to the house, the stronger this sense of foreboding grew. And sure enough, the moment I opened the door, something rammed into my stomach. I stumbled backward, hitting the doorframe hard enough to make my head spin. Before I could recover, an obnoxious voice cut through the pain. “Worthless brat! Worthless brat!” Zach Wells, all right. At just 8 years old, this kid already weighed a solid 120 pounds. If I hadn’t known better, I’d have thought a pig had learned to fly. He snatched my bag, dumping everything out onto the floor, frantically searching for the chocolate. “Where’s my chocolate, you worthless brat?” I was too furious to respond, but when I didn’t react, Zach raised his foot, aiming for my hand. “Have you lost your mind?” I jerked my hand back just in time. The lipstick Zach had thrown earlier hit the ground and shattered, its bright red color splattering across the floor. If I had moved any slower, it wouldn’t have been the lipstick breaking—it would’ve been my bones. “I want chocolate! I want chocolate!” Zach’s ear-piercing shrieks overpowered the chatter in the living room. Finally, someone noticed the commotion at the front door. Aunt Barbara was the first to rush over, unleashing a string of curses before she even saw what was happening. “Are you out of your mind? Picking on my grandson on New Year’s!” I leaned against the doorframe, barely managing to stand. “Your grandson ran into me, dumped out my bag, couldn’t find the chocolate, and tried to stomp on my hand. Look at that lipstick—if I hadn’t moved fast enough, it would’ve been my hand!” Aunt Barbara paused for a second, surprised. “Zach, did you break that lipstick?” Zach, still nestled in her arms, boldly replied, “She didn’t give me the chocolate, so I stomped on it! I stomped on it!” I thought to myself, at least the kid’s honest. He admitted it; now let’s see what Aunt Barbara has to say. But once again, she surprised me. Aunt Barbara beamed and patted Zach on the head, “Wow, my clever boy! One stomp and it’s shattered!” I stared in disbelief as she continued to praise her grandson like he’d just won a trophy. I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly. Aunt Barbara hadn’t changed one bit from the woman I hated as a child.
The noise in the living room brought the rest of the relatives over. Seeing me clutching my stomach in pain sent my mom into a panic. “Sweetheart, what happened to you?” I answered honestly, “Zach almost knocked me out cold.” Zach, emboldened by the adults around him, raised his chin and spat back, “Shut up, you worthless brat! You deserved it!” The room fell silent. Everyone was shocked that such venomous words had come out of an 8-year-old’s mouth. Aunt Diane gently patted Zach’s head, trying to calm him down. “Zach, you shouldn’t talk like that. She’s your elder.” But Zach wasn’t having it. He burst into tears. “You old hag! How dare you touch me! I’ll have my grandma beat you up!” At that, the house erupted. Even Aunt Diane, who was usually so patient, was speechless. But Aunt Barbara wasn’t even paying attention to us. The moment Zach started crying, she lost it. “What kind of elder is she supposed to be?” “Our Zach is the pride of the Wells family, the only real man left in the bloodline. And you think you, a woman married off, have the right to scold my grandson?” Aunt Diane’s hand trembled in mid-air, her bad heart clearly struggling with the stress. Sensing things were about to spiral, my mom jumped in to diffuse the tension. “They’re just kids, they don’t know any better. Let’s not ruin the holiday over this.” She gave me a look, signaling for me to help out. “Didn’t you say you missed Aunt Diane yesterday? Why don’t you two catch up?” I got the hint and helped Aunt Diane back to the living room. But Aunt Barbara wasn’t about to let us off the hook that easily. She stormed over and started yelling again. “Don’t pretend to be nice! If you’re not going to live long, hurry up and die already! Stop cursing my grandson with your bad luck!” That was the last straw for my mom. She stepped up to Aunt Barbara and firmly said, “Watch your mouth. You can’t just say anything that comes to mind.” “And who do you think you are, acting all high and mighty?” Before Aunt Barbara could throw out more insults, her daughter, Cassie, pulled her aside. For a brief moment, mother and daughter locked eyes, and Aunt Barbara’s anger seemed to simmer down. She sat down with Zach, stuffing his arms with candy like a peace offering. Ah, the magic of New Year’s. As long as no one crosses the line completely, there’s nothing a good “It’s the holidays” can’t fix. My mom led me into the bedroom. When she lifted my shirt, sure enough, a massive bruise covered my back. “Why are we even letting her stay after this?” I asked, frustrated. Mom sighed, “Ever since your uncle passed, life’s been hard for her. Plus, your cousin just went through a nasty divorce, so she’s not in a good place.” “Try to remember how she looked after you when you were little. Don’t hold it against her.” I bit my tongue as Mom went back to the living room to play the gracious host. But the more I thought about it, the angrier I got. When I was a kid, both my parents worked out of town, so I was left in Aunt Barbara’s care. With my uncle always busy, I spent most of my time with her. And all those buried memories, the ones I swore I’d forget, started resurfacing, making me sick to my stomach. I pulled out the chocolate I had just bought and tossed it into the trash without a second thought. She started it, and I sure wasn’t going to let it slide.
When I stepped back into the living room, the first thing I saw was Aunt Barbara sitting on the couch, barefoot, her feet propped up on the coffee table, spitting sunflower seeds everywhere. She was criticizing everyone and everything, bragging like her son was the only successful person in the world, while the rest of us were losers or good-for-nothings. But everyone knew the truth. Aunt Barbara had two kids. Jason had cheated on his wife and lost everything in the divorce, and Cassie had dropped out of high school and hadn’t found a job since. If I were her, I wouldn’t even have the nerve to open my mouth. Trying to keep my cool for the holiday, I decided to just ignore her. But of course, Cassie wasn’t about to let that happen. No sooner had I sat down than she sidled up next to me like a leech. “Emily, that bracelet you’re wearing is so beautiful. Could you give it to me?” I smiled but didn’t respond, instead calling over Buddy, our family dog. He trotted over, and his fluffy head landed right on my lap. Cassie wasn’t giving up. She pointed to my necklace and said, “Emily, that’s a diamond necklace, right? I love diamonds! How about giving it to me as a New Year’s gift?” I calmly stroked Buddy’s head, pretending Cassie wasn’t even there. After failing twice, her fake smile cracked. Raising her voice so everyone could hear, she shouted, “You’ve got so much jewelry, what’s one piece to give me? I bet you could get any man to buy you more in no time. Why be so stingy?” At that point, staying quiet would’ve been too polite. “No matter how much I have, it’s mine. What does that have to do with you?” “Do you think I owe you something just because you want it? Did I wrong your ancestors in a past life?” Cassie was stunned. She clearly didn’t expect me to hit back like that. “Emily, how can you say that? We’re family!” Family? When was that ever the case? I smirked and asked, “Weren’t you the one who said I was nothing but a dog your family raised? Told me to know my place and stay away from you? And now you’re stooping so low as to call me family?” Cassie’s face flushed red, her eyes welling up with tears. “At least… we grew up together. Doesn’t that count for something?” “Grew up together?” Back in elementary school, we were in the same class. She used to force me to do her homework, and if I ever hesitated, she’d run home crying to Aunt Barbara. What followed was always the same—starvation or a beating. One time, I took too long buying her a bottle of water, so she and three of her friends pinned me down and smashed my head against the ground. When blood started pouring down my face, they got scared and let me go to the teacher. Cassie even threatened me afterward, making me say I fell on my own or she’d have Aunt Barbara throw me out to freeze to death. I still have a scar by my left eye to remind me of our so-called “sisterhood.” “Crying won’t work on me. If you want someone to buy you a necklace, go cry to them.”
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