Chapter 1

When I received the news that my bone marrow happened to be a match for my sister’s, I had just discovered I was pregnant.

My mentor, with a serious expression, pulled me aside. He said that if I wanted to donate bone marrow to my sister, I'd most likely have to terminate the pregnancy first.

He urged me to think carefully and to discuss it thoroughly with my husband.

I was indeed conflicted.

I had taken many herbal medicines to prepare for pregnancy and had tried for a long time to conceive.

When my husband found out I was pregnant, he was so excited that he wanted to shout it from the rooftops.

How could I bear to terminate the pregnancy?

But my sister Yuna was only twenty-nine. She was the family's precious pearl, raised by my parents since childhood. If anything were to happen to her, they wouldn't survive it.

So after a long afternoon of wrestling with my thoughts, I decided to go home after work that evening.

When I returned, they were all sitting together, enjoying a cheerful dinner.

In addition to them, my younger brother, Henry, and his girlfriend were there.

They were toasting, clearly celebrating some happy news.

But the warmth of the moment shattered when I walked in.

The room fell silent, and everyone stopped smiling, awkwardly setting their glasses down.

Only my mother forced out a few chuckles, pretending to be affectionate as she pulled me toward the table.

"I thought you were too busy to come, but I didn't realize you're the lucky one! Come sit down and eat with us."

But she didn't know, no matter how sweetly she spoke, the politeness and distance in her gestures couldn't hide the truth.

Suddenly, a mischievous thought struck me.

I turned around, gently took her hand that was barely resting on my arm, and said,

"Mom, I'm sick."

Her hand stiffened, but she allowed me to hold it.

"...Uh, if you're sick, just eat more, once you're full, all illnesses will go away."

She brushed it off, not even asking what I was sick with, and withdrew her hand as she moved the chair.

Henry furrowed his brow.

"South, are you here to ruin the mood on purpose? Every time something happy happens at home, you show up to ruin it."

"Today, Yuna got an opportunity for a foreign tour. Don't tell me you didn't come just to spoil it."

I ignored him and sat down at the chair my mother had pulled out for me.

"...I have leukemia."

Henry fell silent.

My mother, who had been handing me chopsticks, froze, and the chopsticks dropped to the floor.

The room was deathly quiet.

My mother's eyes turned red, and she began wiping away tears at my side.

At the head of the table, my father, who had been silent until now, finally spoke.

He said, "We need to let your in-laws know about this. They can probably afford the medical expenses."

He shot me a disapproving glance as he spoke.

"Stay calm in these situations. Don't act rashly. We don't want you to get better only to give your mother a stroke."

My mother wiped her face and began serving me food.

"Your father's right. Big problems are best dealt with after we've had a meal."

Yuna also passed me some food, her smile bright and innocent like that of a little girl.

"Yeah, you're just too anxious, that's why you're sick. Eat more, and smile, and everything will be fine."

I didn't move my chopsticks.

My eyes scanned each of them.

"I didn't come back to ask for money for treatment."

"I just wanted to ask if Yuna could donate bone marrow to me."

The room fell silent once again.

After a long pause, my father slammed his chopsticks on the table.

"Ridiculous!"

He furrowed his brow tightly.

"Don't you know donating bone marrow carries risks?"

I smiled bitterly.

"Isn't it worth it to take a small risk to save my life?"

My father stubbornly turned his face away.

"We can't let Yuna take that risk. Even a one percent chance of something happening to her means a hundred percent."

I wasn't surprised by his response.

As the second child who was raised outside the family, my father never welcomed my birth or my return.

But at least my mother and Yuna had been somewhat kind to me.

I turned my gaze to my mother.

She was already crying.

Chapter 2

I looked at her with hope, thinking that perhaps this time, we would break through the estrangement.

Maybe, just maybe, she would embrace me like she always did Yuna.

But she wiped her tears and, still crying, said something even more heartless.

She said, "Child, life and death are fated. No matter how unwilling you are, you have to accept it."

She pressed her hand to her chest, her tone full of sorrow.

"If you get sick, you can't drag Yuna down with you. If I lose both my daughters, how will I live?"

It was then that I finally understood. My mother wasn't afraid of losing both daughters.

She was only afraid of losing Yuna.

I lost all interest and turned to Yuna, the person directly involved.

Since I had been brought back into the family, Yuna had been relatively kind to me.

Though she often said things that sounded nice but were empty, I understood it was probably because she had been raised in a sheltered environment.

At least, when Henry bullied me, she would scold him.

So I still held on to a sliver of hope.

But now, Yuna's attitude completely changed. She glared at me with furious eyes.

"South, you're doing this on purpose!"

She stood up, her anger spilling out as if she had been holding it in for a long time.

"I've wanted to say this for a long time. You've always thought that our parents sending you away to be raised was an injustice, so since you came back, you've been acting all gloomy, looking for trouble with everyone."

"You always act like you've suffered some great hardship out there, but don't think we don't know. You just want them to feel guilty, don't you?"

Her chest heaved with emotion as she tried to control her sobs.

After a brief pause, she continued,

"But there's a limit to everything. We've tolerated all your little actions, but now, when it's something this serious, you bring it up so casually, don't you just want to put our parents in a difficult position?"

"If they refuse to donate, you'll make them look heartless and cruel. If they agree, they risk losing both daughters."

"You're so vile, why can't you just let us be happy?"

Yuna rushed to hug my mother.

And my mother, upon hearing her words, finally began to sob uncontrollably.

"Yuna, stop talking, it's all your father's fault for wanting a son and daughter. If not..."

She didn't finish her sentence, but everyone knew what she meant.

She was about to say, "If not, we wouldn't have had South."

Henry also stood up. They stood to the left and right of their mother, their eyes filled with the same resentment as they looked at me.

Yuna tilted her head, a look of righteous indignation on her face.

"South East, I won't give you the chance to hurt Mom and Dad. Let me make this clear today: I will not donate my bone marrow."

She proudly protected her mother.

"This has nothing to do with Mom and Dad. If this story gets out, don't say they are heartless. It's my selfishness, my fear that Mom would be hurt losing two daughters."

"It's my decision to refuse, and I'll take the blame!"

Yuna's expression was so resolute, it almost seemed like she was preparing for a heroic sacrifice.

I fiddled with the test results in my pocket and couldn't help but let out a soft laugh.

After a long silence, I stared at Yuna and asked slowly, "Are you sure? No matter what, you won't donate?"

Yuna gently wiped her mother's tears, her gaze unwavering as if she was ready for martyrdom.

"Absolutely not!" she said.

"If you're going to curse anyone, curse me. Don't take it out on Mom and Dad. I want to have a child. I can't give up my own child's life just to save you."

Tears welled up in my eyes as I smiled. I looked at her with pity.

Then, I said softly, "That's right, well said. After all, you can't kill your own child to save someone else."

Yuna didn't understand and lowered her head to comfort her mother.

On the other side, Mom was already crying so hard she could hardly catch her breath.

She leaned on the shoulders of her son and daughter as if she were the one with leukemia, abandoned by everyone.

She weakly patted her chest.

"It's all your fault, Sean East, you've sinned, insisting on having both sons and daughters!"

Dad, frustrated by the scolding, slammed his fist on the table and stood up.

He walked to my side, pulling a large red envelope from his pocket.

In a dismissive manner, he slapped it onto the table in front of me.

"Whether the illness is real or fake, take the money and get lost!"

"If you make your Mom sick, don't blame me for cutting ties with you!"

The red envelope in front of me was beautifully wrapped, clearly well-prepared.

I picked it up and examined it closely. There was even a beautiful handwritten message on it:

"Wish my dear daughter a successful performance, have fun."

I smiled bitterly, then looked up and asked,

"If you're giving me this money to save my life, won't it interfere with your daughter's plans to go abroad for fun?"

Chapter 3

Dad looked at me with disgust, his tone cold and void of warmth.

He said, "Don't try to be sarcastic with me. You can't even see how much you're worth, always trying to fight for fairness. Well, I don't mind tearing our relationship apart."

"I never wanted to have you, but I still got someone to raise you. You had enough to eat and wear. You should be grateful. You never should've come here to cause trouble."

With firm resolve, he turned his face away.

"I've always listened to your mother, putting up with you. But today, you're the one being unreasonable. Don't blame me for not recognizing you as my daughter from now on."

Finally, he gave the order to expel me.

The restaurant fell silent once again.

They wordlessly made a path for me to leave, everyone silently watching.

Waiting for me, this filthy thing, to hurry up and leave with their charity.

In that moment, everything became clear.

No matter how humble I was, I would never be part of this family.

And frankly, I didn't want to be.

So, as I raised my eyes again, I put away all the hesitation I once had.

I weighed the red envelope in my hand, slowly standing up.

In my high heels, I was now the same height as Dad.

I was no longer the little girl who once eagerly awaited his visits every month.

I met his gaze and asked quietly,

"Since you keep saying you never wanted me, then why did you have me?"

"...Was it because you couldn't control yourself, or am I someone else's child?"

Dad's pupils dilated, shock freezing him for a moment.

His lips trembled as he raised his hand, ready to slap me.

I swiftly sidestepped, causing him to stumble.

I then pointed my chin toward Mom.

"And you."

"Stop pretending to cry endlessly. Why didn't you stick to your principles when you didn't want me? Was I conceived by force? At 140 pounds, couldn't you resist?"

Mom finally stopped sobbing.

Her usual look of guilt toward me was gone.

She trembled with rage and pointed at me.

"...You wretched thing, how could we be so different?"

Yuna, seeing her beloved mother insulted, cried out in anger, rushing into her mother's arms.

Henry seemed about to hit me, lunging toward me to grab my wrist.

Their boyfriends joined in the scuffle.

The restaurant descended into chaos.

I was pulled and dragged, and Dad slapped me hard.

My face was turned, blood flowing warm from my nose.

"Get out!"

Dad yelled loudly.

"From now on, we sever all ties. The East family has no daughter like you!"

My hand instinctively moved to my abdomen.

Thank God, everything was fine.

It was only at this moment that I realized I had already formed a strange connection with the little life inside me.

Even though this was what I wanted, I couldn't afford to let it down.

So, I lifted my head, staring at him with resolve.

"Fine, you've said it. I'm no longer a daughter of the East family."

Dad sneered at me.

"That's right. What I say goes. Sean spits, and it's like a nail in the ground!"

I wiped my face hard.

"Fine! From now on, we'll live and die on our own. Whoever asks for help first is a fool!"

Dad turned his head, silent. Yuna cried out in protest.

"Yes! Whoever asks for help first is a piece of trash, and may they be struck down by lightning!"

"Now get out! You want to kill my mother?"

I smiled with satisfaction, pulling the test results from my pocket and throwing them onto the red envelope.

"Well said, Yuna East. Remember your words today."

"I won't take this money. Keep it. You might need it!"

Leaving the East family should have made me happy.

The tangled mess of the afternoon had been resolved. I could finally be at ease, no longer having to sacrifice my child to donate bone marrow.

I no longer needed to maintain the family ties I'd worked so hard to build.

But as I smiled, tears streamed down my face.

I sat at the empty bus stop. Everyone had their own buses to take home, but I couldn't find my way back.

Suddenly, I received messages from the family chat group, which had over sixty people.

I opened it, and it was a post from Dad.

[Unfilial daughter South insults her parents, behaves disgracefully, and has severed ties with the East family. From now on, if South uses our family name to borrow money or seek donations, it has nothing to do with us. Please be advised!]

After reading the message, my blood seemed to freeze.

I couldn't even imagine what it would be like if I were the one sick.