CHAPTER 148: CHAPTER 148: MRS. JI, YOU’RE NOT MY MOTHER

She didn’t want to cry, and she didn’t want to show her vulnerable side in front of this woman. But she couldn’t help it. She couldn’t take it anymore.

When Sienna Johnson told Mother Johnson that Sabrina Johnson and Frederick Stewart had plotted to kill her, and Mother Johnson chose not to believe her, Sienna could no longer deceive herself.

Her biological mother would never love her, regardless of whether she came in first in her coursework, or if her manners were elegant, or if she played the piano beautifully.

"Sister, it’s all my fault. Please don’t say anymore, please..." Sabrina covered her face, crying piteously.

Sienna just looked at her own mother, feeling wronged. She had to speak up.

She knew she wasn’t likable in her mother’s eyes. When Sabrina cried in front of her, her mother would tenderly coax her and call her a sweetheart, but Sienna’s tears would only bring distaste.

But her tears wouldn’t obey her. The grievances she had suppressed for so long poured out. Enduring the searing heartache, Sienna uttered the words that shattered her heart the most.

"You said: ’Sienna, are you really my biological daughter? Why can’t you be even half as good as Sabrina?’"

"..."

"Mom...you always compare me to Sabrina. But how can I compare to her?

"She’s like a princess, born with nannies and servants.

"She lives in a mansion, eats the best food, wears the best clothes, and has the love of her parents...

"And me?

"I grew up drinking cheap milk powder and eating rice porridge...

"There were so many kids in the orphanage. No one taught me to chew my food slowly. There was only so much food, and if I ate slowly, I’d go hungry.

"No one taught me to play the piano; there was only one old, broken piano in the orphanage, and it wasn’t something I could just touch whenever I wanted.

"Why are my hands as stiff as a man’s?

"My adoptive parents weren’t well off. Later, when my adoptive father got sick, we had to sell our house. My adoptive mother had to take care of my adoptive father and work as well. My brother was preparing for his college entrance exams at the time, so I had to do all the housework.

"I did the cleaning, laundry, and cooking. Later, as my adoptive father’s illness worsened and we became poorer, my brother quit school. I then went to work in Auntie Agatha’s restaurant, washing dishes to help with the family expenses.

"You complain that my hands are coarse compared to Sabrina’s. But how can I compare to Miss Sabrina, who has been pampered her whole life?

"My hands became like this after doing too much rough work and soaking them in detergent for too long.

"Mom, you always complain about me thinking about my adoptive mother all the time, and about how I send her all my monthly allowance. I didn’t dare say it before, fearing that if I did, you would hate me even more.

"Now, I’ll tell you why!

"Although I’m not her biological daughter, she loves me. She wouldn’t be like you, always fussing about what’s wrong with me—this is wrong, that is wrong.

"In my adoptive mother’s eyes, I, Sienna Johnson, am not a useless, annoying piece of trash.

"In my adoptive mother’s eyes, I, Sienna Johnson, am the best and most perfect daughter in the world, incomparable to anyone else!"

"..."

"Mom, you always complain that I’m stupid and that I’m inferior to Sabrina.

"But, Mom, do you know? I’m not stupid at all. I often skipped classes but still managed to rank within the top ten in my grade.

"You complain that I’m not good at playing the piano, but do you know that Sabrina has been learning for over a decade while I’ve only been learning for a year? How can you compare me to her?

"Did you know that before I came to the Johnson family, I had never even touched a piano? I’ve only been learning for two years and have already passed the eighth-grade piano exam. But you never noticed any of that. You only saw that I didn’t play as well as Sabrina."

"..."

"You complain that I’m vulgar and not ladylike. Sabrina has lived a luxurious life in the Johnson family for over a decade; she probably doesn’t even know what poverty is.

"Do you know how I felt when I first returned to the Johnson family and saw that one of her T-shirts cost 1.5 thousand dollars?

"That 1.5 thousand dollars was several years’ worth of my living expenses!

"I lived in poverty for over a decade. For the sake of survival, I would haggle with the aunties at the market for ages over a single cent.

"I’m vulgar, I’m common, but Mom, where were you when I was starving?"

Her beautiful eyes filled with glistening pearls of tears, which fell one by one, outlining a shape of sorrow on the ground.

"Mom, you scorn me so much. Have you ever wondered why I turned out so useless?"

"..."

"Mom, have you ever thought that I could have been like Sabrina, becoming a well-mannered lady from a prestigious family?

"If you hadn’t taken the wrong child all those years ago,

"If you hadn’t confused my identity with Sabrina’s,

"And if, from the moment I was born, Mom, you had personally raised me just as you taught Sabrina, I believe I would be even more outstanding than her!"

"..."

"And, Mom, I have one more thing to tell you. Do you know why I never wear the clothes you buy for me?"

She could hardly speak through her tears, choking back sobs as she took several deep breaths. "Mom, I really wanted to wear the clothes you bought for me, even though I hate the color pink and princess-style clothes.

"Mom, I wear a size M. The size S clothes you bought for me were too small; I couldn’t even get into them.

"Size S is Sabrina’s size, not mine."

Mother Johnson stared at Sienna in shock. Sienna’s words hit her like a machine gun, leaving her completely dumbfounded as tears welled up in her similar eyes.

Sienna’s emotions, which she had struggled to calm, spiraled out of control again. She couldn’t stop herself from yelling at her mother, "Why? Why do you only like Sabrina? I’m your biological daughter, aren’t I? The daughter you carried for ten months and painstakingly gave birth to! Why would you rather give all your love to someone who has no blood ties with you, and not spare even a little for me?

"You always accuse me of pushing Sabrina away and bullying her. But, Mom, do you know what Sabrina has done to me behind my back? Whenever Sabrina and I have a fight, you don’t ask who’s right or wrong; you immediately assume it’s my fault..."

Sienna’s gaze lingered on Mother Johnson’s tearful face for a long time. The light in her eyes slowly dimmed, leaving nothing but darkness.

"Sienna...I..." Mother Johnson didn’t know how to defend herself.

She and Sabrina shared a deep mother-daughter bond. How could Mother Johnson accept it when the daughter she had raised for over a decade suddenly turned out not to be her own flesh and blood?

Moreover, Sienna was just a poorly-educated country girl at the time—timid, skinny, not at all lively or likable.

Mother and daughter stared at each other. Sienna wiped the tears from her face. The eyes that had been burning brightly just moments ago gradually dimmed, and all the flames within seemed to extinguish, leaving only a deep darkness.

"Sienna, you’re my daughter... Back then, I just...I just didn’t know how to face you..."

"Mrs. Johnson, you’re not my mother!"

Leaving behind those words, Sienna turned and left.

"Sienna!"