“What do you mean to let it go? It’s so easy for you to say that!” Mom yelled. She was, even more, infuriated the more I tried to talk sense into her. “That one million was so close at hand and poof! It was gone! And it’s all your d*mn fault! Do you think I’m going to let this go?”
She sounded like if I had been an obedient daughter and listened to her, she would have gotten the money. It was all my fault that I blew the money away.
At that moment, Mom could not be reasoned with. No matter what I said, it would be in vain as she definitely was not in a receptive mood.
“Mom, breaking up with Michael is my business. I don’t have an obligation to get you that money. In the same way, you have no right over my decisions. I am an adult now, I have the right to walk the path of my choice.”
I would have swallowed my pride and complied to appease Mom in the past. However, my mood had gone from bad to worse. I would not stand to be insulted any longer.
“Oh, you’re an adult now, aren’t you? Do you know anything about showing gratitude to your parents? You’re an ungrateful brat! Raising you is the biggest regret of my life!”
With an accusatory finger pointed at my face, Mom’s voice rang with blame in every syllable.
I scowled with indignant rage.
After so many years of pouring my heart out for the family, how could she say that I am ungrateful?
I am always here to help out whenever our family runs into trouble, without a word of complaint. And now, Mom thinks that I’m an ungrateful brat.
I should be the one with bigger regrets instead of her. I didn’t understand why I was born and raised in such a dysfunctional family. I had no wish to be born into a rich family, but one with loving parents was more than enough.
“Mom, if this is what you think of me, I don’t think I can do anything to change your mind. However, I feel that I have fulfilled the responsibilities of a daughter to you. If you continue to make unreasonable demands like this, I will not condone it!” I said calmly despite my internal turmoil.
My patience for her was slipping away.
It would be more accurate to say that my tolerance for their ill-treatment of me had gone past its limit. I wasn’t sure if I became heartless or it had been their endless demands that had pushed me to the edge.
“Get out of my house. Get the hell out of here. You’re not my daughter!” Mom pointed at the door, her face contorted in fury.
The worse her attitude became, the more my temper grew. With the amount that weighed on my mind in the past few days, my patience had worn thin.
I spun around and left without looking back. Sometimes I wondered if I were more vicious, I might have even disowned them and cut them out of my life completely. That would spare me a lot of heartache and sorrow, but I knew myself best. My biggest weakness was my family.
Nothing else would explain why I foolishly gave in to their demands for years on end.
I was still simmering in a rage as I trotted along the road. However, I called Natalie to ask if I could come over before hailing a cab.
I have been in a foul mood recently, and it had been a long while since I last saw Natalie. I haven’t even kept track of how she had been doing with Yuval.
I found Natalie at home alone watching television when I arrived.
With a casual glance toward the TV, I sat down next to her and watched it together without a word exchanged between the two of us.
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