Chapter 2

When I was a sophomore in high school, my parents died in a car accident. My grandparents were in poor health, so as a minor, my aunt and uncle became my guardians. Those years of living under their roof were a nightmare I can't shake.

Otherwise, I wouldn't have rushed into marriage so young, desperate for a family of my own, only to fall from one pit into an even deeper one.

My aunt and uncle took control of my parents' compensation money, claiming they were just "safeguarding" it until I came of age. But they quickly used it to buy a new house.

Despite how big the new house was, there wasn't a single bedroom for me. For those two years, I had to sleep on the couch, going to bed last and waking up first, with no privacy or dignity.

I transferred to Sophia's high school. She turned the other students against me, saying I was ungrateful - that her parents had kindly taken me in, feeding and clothing me, but I showed no appreciation and even tried to steal her things.

What others didn't know was that everything I used was Sophia's hand-me-downs. I had no money to buy anything new, and my aunt and uncle never bought me anything either.

My reputation at school got worse and worse. No one wanted to be my friend. I got nasty nicknames, was mysteriously locked in bathroom stalls, found chalk dust in my water bottle, had homework disappear.

I went to the teachers, but they said I should be grateful anyone was willing to take me in. That I wasn't like other kids and had no right to complain.

After that, I threw myself into studying. I was desperate to escape, working myself to the bone to get into a good college. But when I succeeded, my aunt and uncle told me there was no money for tuition - apparently I had used up all my parents' compensation during high school.

Yet somehow Sophia was able to attend an expensive private university and even go to grad school. I wonder how much of that money was actually spent on me.