Sunshine in Asheville

After my parents stripped me of the last cent I had, stolen in the name of buying my brother a house, and my boyfriend—no, the man I once thought would stand by me forever—betrayed me with an affair, I left everything behind. With nothing but the weight of my own despair, I found myself in Asheville, a city that promised nothing but the possibility of something new. This was where my journey began, and I swore to myself: I wouldn’t just survive. I would flourish. I never imagined that something like this would happen to me. In the living room, my parents sat solemnly in the main seats, my younger brother was sitting on the sofa beside them, his head lowered, silent. I stood alone in front of them, isolated and helpless. “Why…” I couldn’t believe these words were coming from my parents, who had loved me for 23 years. “No why,” my mother said impatiently. “Your brother is getting married, and we’re short on money for the house.” She sighed, clearly irritated. “It’s just $20,000. Why are you acting like we’re asking for your life?” “But Mom, I only have $20,000. I was saving this for my wedding with Lucas,” I explained, my voice shaking. “You only have $20,000 because you’re not making enough. It’s generous enough that we’re not asking for $50,000. After raising you all these years, you can’t even give us this $20,000?” she snapped. “But Mom, you know, Lucas and I are getting married next month. And my brother isn’t just short $20,000 for the down payment. He’s short $20,000 for the entire house!” My heart was breaking as I spoke. “Why can’t he just get a loan?” My mother’s voice was sharp, but I felt like my whole world was crumbling. I had once thought my parents really loved me. Even when they left me in the countryside with my grandmother until I was five and only brought me to the city once my brother was old enough for kindergarten, I had always believed they were just too busy to care for me. When my friends talked about their families’ favoritism towards boys, I would always insist that my family wasn’t like that. My brother was just an unexpected child, not something deliberately planned by my parents. I had been living in this lie for over twenty years. I looked at my parents in disbelief. My brother was getting married in a year, and my parents were already using all their savings to buy him a house in the best area of the city. They didn’t even want him to take out a loan. But I was getting married next month, and they hadn’t contributed a penny—now they wanted to take all my savings. Why was this happening? “Then you can just take out a loan,” my father said from the side. “What kind of nonsense is that? The woman shouldn’t pay for the house. Look at your brother. His wife isn’t contributing anything. You should talk to Lucas and tell him that we’re not contributing,” he added dismissively. It felt like my heart had been crushed by a weight I couldn’t describe. I couldn’t speak, couldn’t even breathe. “I’ll think about it,” I muttered, needing some time to process the blows. “No need to think. I’ve already taken the money out. I was just testing you. I didn’t expect you to be such an ungrateful child,” my mother said coldly. “What?”I was stunned. “What do you mean, ‘what’? I found your card at home, so I just took it out. The password has always been the same, hasn’t it?” my mother said dismissively. I felt like the world was crashing down around me. I rushed into the room, grabbed my bank card, and ran out of the house, barely putting on a jacket. I headed straight to the bank. When I saw that the balance was zero, I leaned against the ATM, slowly sliding to the floor. $20,000. To withdraw it all without alerting the bank would take at least four months. They had been planning this for a long time. Growing up, they always told me that we were a family, and in a family, there should be no secrets. That’s why everyone’s passwords were public. I never imagined they had been setting this up all along. I had always naively believed that all loving families were like that. I had never coveted their privacy or their money, so I never tried to use their passwords. But I never expected that one day, they would take everything I had. In a daze, I picked up my phone and shakily opened my Messenger app, typing in my father’s account number. Times had changed quickly, and they no longer used that app, so I assumed the password hadn’t been changed. A moment later, I saw the “incorrect password” error message and forced out a bitter smile. I tried my mother’s and brother’s accounts as well. None of them worked. It turned out that all these years, the only one whose password was public was me. Chapter 2 Knock knock knock. There was a knock at the door. I looked up and saw a tall, slender man standing outside. “Miss, are you okay? Do you need help?” The man appeared to be in his thirties, wearing casual athletic clothes, his posture tall and straight. I propped myself up and stood, reminding myself that this was a public place, and I shouldn’t delay the normal flow of things. I shook my head and said, “I’m fine, sorry to take up your time.” I turned to leave. A few seconds later, I heard the man calling from behind, “Miss, you dropped your card!” I waved my hand, not turning around. What use could he have for the card? To remind me that I’m a complete fool? To remind me that I’ve been living in lies all this time? I walked aimlessly down the street, surrounded by bustling crowds and the endless flow of cars, but I felt completely detached from it all. Just then, my phone vibrated. Since I started working, my phone had never been set to ringtone mode. The caller ID displayed “Manager Jason.” It might be the result of the year-end evaluations. I had worked diligently all year, taking no more than 30 days off, with countless overtime hours. Manager Jason had promised to help me apply for the year-end evaluation and possibly earn me a bonus. Considering my empty wallet now, any bonus would at least provide some comfort. I took a deep breath to steady myself and answered the call, “Hello, Manager Jason.” “Amelia, there’s something I need to tell you,” Manager Jason’s voice was calm, but I had a bad feeling. “What is it, Manager Jason?” I feigned calmness. “About the evaluation… you didn’t make it,” Manager Jason sighed. “The boss’s nephew got selected.” “Amelia, we can see your effort, but unfortunately, it didn’t work out this time. Keep at it, and next year’s evaluation will definitely be yours.” “Okay, Manager Jason. I’ll work hard,” I said, calmly hanging up the phone. What else could I say? Argue with Manager Jason? What difference would it make? It was just… a little sad. Family was a disappointment, and now work was a disappointment too. Thinking about how I’d have to go back to work tomorrow, I felt an overwhelming sense of frustration. I decided to indulge myself for a moment and pulled out my phone to send Manager Jason a message: “Manager Jason, I’ve finished all the work I had on hand. I’m thinking of taking my annual leave. Do you think that would be alright?” Within three minutes, Manager Jason replied: “Amelia, take a good rest. When you come back, we’ll get back to work. I have high hopes for you.” I gave a bitter smile and quickly submitted a leave request through the company system. Despite many overtime hours going unapproved, I found that I had 15 days of leave plus compensatory time off. I clicked submit without hesitation. Three minutes later, the notification popped up: Manager Jason had approved the request. For a moment, I wasn’t sure whether to feel happy or sad. Happy that I now had so many days off. Sad because it became clear that I wasn’t as indispensable as I thought. The reason I hadn’t taken leave earlier was because I had always believed that the company wouldn’t run without me. But now, I realized it didn’t really matter. I suddenly felt a pang of sympathy for the version of myself who had worked tirelessly. At that moment, I didn’t know yet that this wasn’t the worst of it. Chapter 3 I couldn’t go home, and I didn’t need to work overtime. For a moment, I didn’t know where to go. I checked the time—it was already six. Lucas should be off work by now, so I decided to pick him up. It used to be me working overtime while he waited for me downstairs at the office. This time, I had some free time, so I thought I’d surprise him and go pick him up. On the way, I stopped at a familiar flower shop and bought a bouquet. Romance knows no gender, right? While swiping my card, I pulled up the hidden messenger account linked to a bank card my family didn’t know about. Thanks to my best friend,Sarah, who dragged me five years ago to open a new bank account and repeatedly told me not to tell anyone about this card. She also made me set this card as the default for my bonuses and some freelance income. Over the years, this card had accumulated quite a sum. I was grateful to myself for not telling anyone about it. Otherwise, I’d probably be a truly pitiful person—disappointed in both family and work, with an empty wallet and no home to return to. Though things were still pretty bad now, at least I still had money. I carefully picked out the bouquet, then went to a nearby beauty store and spent some money getting my makeup done. Afterward, I took a taxi to Lucas’s office building. I had planned to surprise him, but what I didn’t expect was that I would be the one receiving the “surprise.” At 6:30, Lucas appeared downstairs from his office. I straightened my clothes, holding the flowers and preparing to give him the surprise. But just as I took a few steps, I saw a well-dressed woman running toward him, spinning around and throwing herself into his arms. The next moment, they kissed. The flowers fell from my hand, and I stood frozen in shock. Two blows in a single day were already too much. Who would have thought that fortune wouldn’t come in twos, but misfortune surely wouldn’t come alone? With trembling hands, I pulled out my phone and recorded a video. At least this way, I wouldn’t have to explain why the money for the house was gone. Now, work had failed me, family had failed me, and now love had failed me too. I couldn’t say I was heartbroken anymore. At this point, I felt numb. The things that used to support me seemed to have disappeared all at once. I once had a happy family, a stable relationship, and a promising job. But today… today, in less than a day—hell, not even twelve hours—I discovered that the once-happy family was a bubble, the seemingly stable love that was supposed to lead to marriage was already shattered, and what I thought was a promising job was just someone else dangling a carrot in front of me. Once, I was busy with work every day, then spent time after work on my relationship, and after that, I’d enjoy time with family. But now, I had nowhere to go, nothing to do. I found a McDonald’s and ordered a kids’ meal. While eating, I played with the toy that came with it, zoning out. After finishing the pitiful little burger and snack, I ordered another burger meal. I hadn’t eaten fried chicken in six months because I wanted to look good for the wedding. But now? Who cares. After eating the fries and licking my fingers, I checked for the next available flight to the city I’d wanted to visit for the past three years—Asheville. I didn’t need to pack anything. I’d buy whatever I needed when I got there. Though I didn’t have much money, I figured it would be enough to get me through the next few days. As for what would happen after that, I’d cross that bridge when I came to it. No use thinking too much about it. Once, I thought about marrying Lucas, about what kind of wedding dress I’d wear and what kind of celebration I’d have. But what was the point of preparing so much? Things that weren’t under my control never would be. Just then, Lucas’s call came through. Thinking about how he had just kissed another woman made me feel disgusted. I wanted to reject the call, but then I thought I should at least hear his explanation, so I answered it: “Hello?” Lucas’s voice was as deep and pleasant as always: “Amelia, what are you doing?” “I’m eating. I’ll be working overtime later. How about you? Have you eaten?” I don’t know if it was my imagination, but when I mentioned working overtime, I felt like Lucas breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m also working overtime. You should rest early tonight and not overwork yourself.” Hearing him say he was working overtime made me sneer internally. “Overtime, huh? You’re too busy kissing your new girlfriend.” After hanging up, I sent him the video I had just recorded and added a simple message: “Let’s break up.” Then, I blocked all his contact details. I didn’t care to go back and figure out when exactly he strayed. It didn’t matter. Just like why I didn’t get the year-end evaluation—none of that mattered now. All I wanted was to enjoy this rare moment of free time. After finishing everything, I let out a satisfied burp, handed the toy to a little kid who had been eyeing it, and left to catch a taxi to the airport. At least I had my ID with me. Chapter 4 By the time I arrived in Asheville, it was already midnight. Recently, it was peak tourist season, and all the nearby hotels were fully booked. After searching around, the only available option was a hostel, but it was just a spot in the common room for backpackers to sleep overnight. Well, I thought, I’ll just find a place to sleep for now and figure things out tomorrow. The hostel had self-check-in. I opened the door with the address and password from the booking message. It wasn’t very big—two floors. The upper floor had four rooms: two for men and two for women, with one room for six people. The lower floor had a common room and a few shared spaces like a kitchen. I entered the door and found the common room empty, though I could vaguely hear laughter and voices coming from upstairs. The sofa was big enough, and I was tired and had no luggage. So, I didn’t bother to freshen up and simply lay down on the couch, fully clothed, and fell asleep. Oddly enough, I often suffered from insomnia at home and would frequently have nightmares when I did sleep. But I never expected to sleep so well in this unfamiliar place on an unfamiliar bed. I slept soundly, and when I woke up, it was already 6 AM. The upstairs was quiet, likely because no one had gotten up yet. I couldn’t sleep anymore, so I got up and poured myself a glass of water. As I turned around, I noticed a man sitting at the dining table by the door. He looked familiar, but I couldn’t immediately place where I had seen him before. When he saw me looking at him, he smiled and greeted me. “Hello, I’m Nicola. I’m the owner of this place.” “Ah, hello, I’m Amelia,” I said, nodding. He looked gentle, and the early morning sun shining on his face made his features appear softer. “Hello, Amelia. You haven’t checked in yet, right?” “Yes, when I arrived yesterday, the customer service said I could stay for the night and check in when the staff came in.” Nicola smiled. “The volunteers went out to play and haven’t come back yet, and I’m still in City A, not back yet.” “I’ll help you check in now,” he said. I nodded. “Okay.” After completing the check-in, I poured myself a cup of hot water and sat on the sofa, looking around. I hadn’t paid attention the night before, being so tired that I just collapsed into bed. There were a lot of things around, though it wasn’t messy—just a cozy and functional setup. In the corner of the living room, there were several suitcases scattered about. The dining table was large with many power strips, all plugged in and filled to the brim. “Nicola, why did you decide to open a hostel?” I asked, feeling curious. There was nothing to do at the moment, and since Nicola seemed free too, I decided to strike up a casual conversation. “I went backpacking when I was in school more than ten years ago, and back then, I stayed in hostels. As I grew older, I thought it would be nice to run a place like that, where I could welcome people like the younger me. So when I had some extra money, I opened this one here,” Nicola explained. He handed me a cup of freshly ground coffee. “Just made it. Try it.” I took the cup. “Thank you.” The coffee smelled amazing, and there was a sun-shaped pattern in the foam. It was clear Nicola was attentive and romantic. “Did you go out on business yesterday?” I asked, recalling that Nicola had said he was still in City A the day before. I found it strange—while this was a hostel, with no staff around, it felt a little too casual. “You and the staff weren’t here. Isn’t that too risky? What if something happens?” I asked. Nicola suddenly laughed. “I was working yesterday. Today is my day off, so I flew here.” “Working?” I must have looked like a deer caught in headlights. “You were working?” “Yep, working,” Nicola said with a grin, his eyes narrowing into slits. “I have my own job. This place is mostly run by volunteers. They don’t get paid, just get free accommodation in exchange.” He really was a genius. I thought to myself, balancing a full-time job and running a hostel, with volunteers as staff. This truly seemed like a no-risk, high-reward business. “Aren’t you worried something might go wrong?” I asked, taking a sip of the coffee. “If something goes wrong, we’ll just solve it. But it usually doesn’t get too out of hand,” Nicola said, leaning back against the sofa. “I only take guests under 30 here. Most people of that age choose to stay in hostels for three reasons.” “First, students on backpacking trips during holidays—generally, they’re pure-hearted and have no ill intentions. Second, people who’ve started working—those who stay here usually don’t like the monotony of life and want to meet new people and experience new things. They tend not to cause any problems. Lastly, people who are struggling with work and can’t afford a nice hotel, so they stay here temporarily while looking for a job. These people usually don’t have bad intentions because they’re all in the same boat. Sure, there are some who might try to take advantage, but that’s rare. If it does happen and it’s not caught in time, we just have to accept it.” Nicola spoke quickly and without hesitation, then took another sip of coffee. “We have to believe that there are more good people in the world than bad,” he added. I found myself lost in thought. Are there more good people in the world? Then what about the people around me?

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