Chapter 22
The next day, when I went back to work, I learned that Mr. Smith had been fired.
Other than that, everything was as usual. I continued to work day and night, diligently sketching designs.
Over a year later, I switched to a well–known fashion brand company.
After several more years of effort, I became the director of the design department.
My salary gradually increased, and I began to have some savings.
A
I had spent only a small fraction of the money on the bank card Uncle David had given me, and that was during my student years.
Using some of my savings, I replaced the amount I had used, intending to return the card to the Millers.
But then it occurred to me that to the Millers, the sum on that card was utterly insignificant.
Perhaps, I thought, accepting and using the money would actually set their minds at ease.
After much deliberation, I decided against returning it.
Instead, I donated the entire balance to an organization that supports women and children in crisis.
When Sophia learned of this, she sighed beside me. “You have a good salary and money in the bank.”
“Yet you rent the cheapest apartment and donate every spare penny.”
“Emily, what are you thinking?”
I replied softly, “I just feel… I don’t deserve to spend more.”
Sophia couldn’t understand. “The Miller family gave it to you willingly, and you earned your own–why wouldn’t you deserve it?”
I thought for a moment and shook my head. “I don’t know. I just feel unworthy.”
Deep down, I always felt inherently at fault–guilty.
From childhood, I could never stop myself from thinking this way.
Even though I never deliberately hurt anyone or made mistakes, my very birth had trapped Mom for three years.
The first time she almost succeeded in escaping, I caused her to remain trapped for another four.
My very existence had cast a permanent shadow over the Millers, a haze they could never quite dispel.
Even Chloe, whom Mom had treated as her own goddaughter, was eventually sent back to live with the Adams.
They could never truly move on.
Sophia reached out silently and embraced me.
At twenty–seven, I got married–to a dependable university professor.
It was a simple ceremony. I had no family to speak of, and h had only his grandmother.
That evening, as the wedding festivities concluded, a car pulled up the Millers had arrived.
Chapter 22
