"I'm hungry...."
That faint voice was swallowed up by the din around the Mahendra family's dining table.
The aroma of grilled chicken, oxtail soup, and butter-sauce shrimp filled the room. Everyone was enjoying dinner and laughing. Dad, Mom, my older brother, and my twin sister.
Meanwhile, I just stood in the doorway.
No one noticed I was there.
Or maybe... they were deliberately pretending not to see me.
I swallowed.
My stomach had been empty since morning. Several classmates had deliberately thrown away the packed lunch I brought to college on someone's orders. On my way home, I hoped there would still be a little rice left in the house.
It turned out I'd hoped for too much.
"Honey, have some more chicken."
"Here you go, Mom."
"Tasya, you eat plenty too. The scholarship selection results are announced tomorrow, right?"
"Yes, Dad."
Dad smiled proudly.
Mom gently stroked Tasya's head.
"You really are the pride of this family."
I smiled faintly.
I'd heard that sentence far too many times.
The only thing that changed was when it was said.
Not who it was about.
I walked slowly toward the kitchen.
Empty.
The rice pot was clean.
There wasn't a single side dish left.
There wasn't even one cracker.
"What are you looking for?"
That cold voice made me turn around.
Mom stood behind me with her arms folded across her chest.
"I-I'm hungry, Mom."
"Hungry?"
She gave a little laugh, as if she'd heard a joke.
"If you're hungry, go earn your own money. You're twenty-two years old."
I lowered my head.
"I just got home from college...."
"And?"
"There's no food."
"That's your own fault."
I raised my head.
"My fault?"
"Why didn't you come home earlier?"
I bit my lip.
I was late getting home because I worked a part-time job as a campus library assistant.
I'd always given Mom the earned wages from that job.
Yet she acted as if I were nothing but a burden.
"Mom, last month's paycheck...."
"It's already gone."
"But that was for my semester tuition...."
"Hmph!"
Mom snorted.
"Do you think your college is more important than the needs of this household?"
I fell silent.
It hadn't happened just once or twice.
Ever since high school, all my savings had been taken from me.
All my earnings disappeared.
And strangely enough... I always believed them when they said they'd pay me back later.
They never did.
"Are you still standing there?"
Dad's heavy voice came from the dining room.
He walked in, staring at me impassively.
"If you don't have anything to do, don't disturb our dinner."
"Dad... I haven't eaten yet."
"So what?"
My chest felt tight.
"I'm hungry...."
"That's not my problem."
He said it so casually.
As if I weren't his biological daughter.
As if I were just a stranger freeloading in this house.
I lowered my head.
"I'm sorry."
I turned to leave.
But my steps stopped when Tasya came over carrying a plate of chicken.
My eyes lit up.
I thought... for the first time, she was going to share with me.
But I was wrong.
Right in front of me, Tasya threw the chicken into the trash.
"Oops."
She smiled sweetly.
"Better to throw it away than let a useless person eat it."
Everyone gave a small laugh.
Not one of them reprimanded her.
I could only stare at the untouched chicken inside the trash can.
My tears nearly fell.
Not because of the chicken.
But because I finally realized...
Even my dignity was worth less than trash.
"Sis."
My older brother's voice made me turn around.
"Listen carefully."
"What?"
"The Pradipta family is coming tomorrow."
My heart pounded.
That family...
My fiancé's family.
Revan and I had been engaged since infancy.
All this time, I'd believed that one day someone would stand by my side.
At least... he would.
"Don't get your hopes up."
"What do you mean?"
My brother smiled mockingly.
"Revan isn't coming for you."
I froze.
"What?"
"He's coming to ask for the engagement to be transferred."
Tasya's voice came softly.
"From you... to me."
My world seemed to collapse on the spot.
I stared at my twin sister's face as she smiled in triumph.
While Dad and Mom...
They merely nodded in agreement.
No one defended me.
Not a single person.
In the middle of that silence, Dad's phone suddenly rang.
He answered it immediately.
A few seconds later, his usually cold expression changed drastically.
"That can't be possible!"
Dad shouted.
The entire family abruptly turned to look at him.
"How could our family's prophecy of several decades... be wrong?"
Everyone exchanged confused glances.
As for me, I didn't understand at all.
I didn't know...
That from that night on, my life and my entire family's lives would change forever.