“Why are you up so early? Shouldn’t you try to get a little more sleep?” I asked in confusion when I saw Michael fully dressed and about to go wash up in the bathroom.
I know he’s a workaholic and all, but it’s the weekends right now, and anyone in their right mind would want to sleep in! This man really is something else…
“I’m dropping you off at the station. After that, I’ll head back to the mansion and carry on sleeping.”
His reply had me both surprised and happy at the same time. I didn’t think a man like him was capable of being so caring and thoughtful.
“That won’t be necessary. I can just hail a cab there.”
As much as I wanted for him to send me there, I decided to refuse his offer out of courtesy anyway. I didn’t want him thinking that I wanted to be seen with him in public so I could call myself his girlfriend.
“Give me ten minutes.” Michael shot me a glare before heading into the bathroom.
After taking some time to regain my composure, I dragged my suitcase into the living room and waited for Michael.
As expected, he came out of the bedroom in less than ten minutes. Instead of his usual formal attire, Michael was dressed in a white jersey and a pair of black sweatpants. That was the first time I had seen him in such casual clothes, and he looked so vibrant and handsome that I blushed without even realizing.
Michael drove off without another word after dropping me off at the station, which made me feel a little disappointed.
It took me a moment to recompose myself before heading over to the ticketing lobby. After purchasing my bus ticket, I waited patiently for the bus to arrive.
After spending about half the day on the bus, I finally reached my hometown. As my house was located in the village, I had to take quite a long walk from the bus station to get there.
Since I had given my mom a call before heading home, she was already waiting for me as soon as I entered the village.
“You must be tired after such a long trip, huh? Here, I’ll help you with the bags!”
My mom took my stuff over the moment she saw me, including the supplements that I had bought for my dad on my way here.
“How is Dad, Mom? Is he getting any better?”
I began chatting with my mom while walking next to her.
“He’s much better after the surgery, so don’t you worry! All you have to do is focus on your work, okay? I’ll take good care of him!”
The two of us soon arrived at the house after a brief chat.
I took some time to catch up with my dad at home while my mom prepared dinner. My younger brother, Steven, came home in the evening.
The entire living room was filled with the stench of alcohol the moment Steven entered the house, and that smell got even worse as he approached me and asked, “What are you doing here, Anna? How much money did you bring with you?”
I frowned at the sight of his reddened face and scolded him, “Steven, just look at you! You’re not a child anymore, for heaven’s sake! Why can’t you pull your sh*t together and get a proper job?”
My brother dropped out of school at a young age and had spent most of his life hanging out with delinquents. As a result, he often got into fights and frequented brothels as well as gambling dens.
Even so, the village had a very patriarchal mindset, so my parents continued to spoil him while I was allowed to work in the city all by myself.
They never bothered to ask me if I was doing all right or if I had enough money on me. In fact, they would only call me if they needed money for Steven who only knew how to get himself into trouble.
I couldn’t really complain much as patriarchy was the norm in the village, and he was my brother. I didn’t mind helping him out financially if he was actually working a proper job, but he was wasting his life away fighting, gambling, and drinking.
To make matters worse, the money that I had earned through all of my hard work was mostly spent on cleaning up the mess he made.
I’m no saint, and I have feelings too! Right now, I only have disappointment for Steven.
“You come home, and the first thing you do is lecture me? Jeez, what did I do to offend you, Anna?”
Steven was very hot-tempered, so he didn’t exactly appreciate what I had just said.
“Would you take a look at yourself! Do you even care about Dad’s health at all? Why can’t you just get yourself a proper job and help relieve some of the burden at home?”
The fact that he had it in him to get so drunk despite Dad’s condition had disappointed me to the core.
“Dad had his surgery done, hadn’t he? Don’t worry. He’ll be fine!”
Steven let out a loud burp as he said that, and the pungent smell of alcohol in his breath agitated me even further. Mom and Dad loved Steven so much since he was a kid, and yet he turned out to become such a failure!
I shot him a fierce glare and was about to say something when my mom came out of the kitchen. She immediately took his side the moment she saw me scolding him and said, “What are you doing, Anna? Why are you fighting with your brother right after coming home? What did he ever do to you, huh?”
Usually, my mom loved me a lot, but everything would automatically become my fault whenever Steven was involved.
It didn’t even matter what he did, because my parents would always blame me for everything anyway.
“Mom, Anna has been scolding me for no reason! I didn’t do anything!” Steven said with a sad look on his face as he walked up to our mom.
Given how patriarchal my parents were, nothing mattered more than my brother, and they would defend him regardless of what happened.
“Anna, it’s been ages since you and Steven last saw each other. You shouldn’t be lashing out at him like this!”
She defended Steven as usual.
On a typical day, I would have backed down upon hearing that. However, I refused to do so that day as I had been through too much and couldn’t stand Steven’s shenanigans any longer.
Given the amount of love that Mom and Dad had showered him with, shouldn’t he be more obligated to help relieve the family’s burdens?
