Chapter 2

Two months ago, Grandma fell ill.

But no one in the family paid any attention.

Just like before, when Grandma was sick, they'd accuse her of faking illnesses to get out of chores.

"She's just an old woman, so what if she's sick?"

"She can tough it out herself, why waste money on a doctor?"

There was always farm work to be done, the pigs were squealing from hunger, and a large family was still waiting to be fed.

Grandma had no choice but to endure, and keep busy.

Only I would help Grandma shoulder some of the burden.

I often snuck to the back woods to gather wild herbs, which Grandma would chew and swallow.

It eased the pain.

But it was a temporary fix, never a real cure.

Until two months ago—

Kevin fell from a tree and was injured, needing a blood transfusion.

Uncle Shane and Aunt Brenda were too stingy to buy blood from the blood bank, so they directly pushed Grandma forward.

"Take hers, she's tough as nails! She can handle it!"

Grandma was already very weak then.

But she was still pushed out like livestock.

Blood was slowly drawn from her frail, withered arms.

And it also drained Grandma's last bit of strength.

Grandma suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood.

She collapsed like a helpless reed, swaying before it finally collapsed.

"Worthless old woman!"

"We were counting on you to take care of Kevin, and now you're just being lazy again!"

Even at this point, Uncle Shane and Aunt Brenda still refused to spend a single dime on Grandma's medical care.

They crowded around Kevin, showering him with concern.

They left Grandma on the cold ground, left to her own devices.

Ten days later, when Uncle Shane and Aunt Brenda returned from the county clinic,

I found Grandma gone.

"Where's Grandma?" I asked them.

"Don't know, probably dead."

Aunt Brenda said indifferently.

"She was coughing all the time, I was worried she'd infect Kevin."

Grandpa, upon hearing this, did show a flicker of concern.

"If the old woman's dead, who'll feed the pigs? Who'll cook? Who'll take care of me?"

Everyone's eyes turned to me.

"Daisy can do it. We've raised this good-for-nothing burden for so long, it's time she did more work."

They all called me "Daisy."

Only Grandma called me "Lily."

She said I was a child they wished for.

But in truth, no one wished for me, except her.

My mother didn't wish for me.

Because she gave birth to a girl, she was constantly mocked in the village. She died in childbirth trying for a second baby.

My father didn't wish for me.

After Mom died, he quickly remarried, dumping me on Grandma like unwanted baggage.

Grandpa didn't wish for me.

He called me a good-for-nothing burden, wishing he could have just thrown me into the back woods to perish in the wilderness, like the other baby girls Grandma had given birth to.

Uncle Shane and Aunt Brenda wished for me even less.

Especially after Aunt Brenda gave birth to Kevin, I, this "superfluous" girl, wasn't even fit to tie Kevin's shoelaces in their eyes.

Only Grandma truly wished for me and treated me well.

I ignored my family's curses, running out with my worn-out shoes.

Gasping for breath, I ran for half a day.

Finally, late at night, I reached the county clinic.

I asked them if they had seen my Grandma.

"A few days ago, an old woman did collapse here,"

A nurse said. "Her family refused to pay for treatment. After she woke up, she walked off towards the mountains."

My heart sank.

Some old people in the village, when they knew their end was near, would go into the mountains to wait for death.

Was Grandma doing the same?

"When did you last see her?" My voice trembled uncontrollably.

"Roughly... seven or eight days ago."

Seven or eight days. If Grandma had had the strength, she would have returned home long ago.

It was hard to imagine how she, penniless and severely ill, could have survived.

I was filled with despair, believing I'd never see Grandma again.

But unexpectedly, two months passed.

Grandma not only returned.

But also became Eleanor Albright, the true heiress of the Albright Group.