THE CHILD I REFUSE TO LOVE Episode 3

Years passed, and the difference between the two children in my house became clearer.

David grew louder. Anita grew quieter.

At first, I thought silence meant weakness. I didn’t realize it was strength forming in disguise.

David was now in secondary school, still attending one of the best private institutions in town. I continued paying heavily for extra lessons, expensive textbooks, and even a home tutor who came three evenings a week.

Anita remained in the public school.

She no longer asked to join David’s lesson teacher. The day I rejected her request had changed something in her. Instead of begging, she adjusted.

She began to study at night after finishing her chores. Sometimes I woke up past midnight to drink water and saw her sitting under the dim lantern light, her books spread neatly before her.

“Aren’t you sleeping?” I once asked.

“I will soon, Aunty,” she replied softly. “I just want to understand this topic.”

Meanwhile, complaints about David began to reach me.

First, it was minor.

“Madam, your son talks during class,” his teacher said during visiting day.

I smiled politely. “He is just playful.”

Then it became more serious.

“Your son fights with other students.”

“He refuses to submit assignments.”

“He disrespects teachers.”

Each time, I defended him.

“My son cannot behave like that,” I insisted. “You must be exaggerating.”

But deep down, I knew something was wrong.

At home, David had started talking back to me.

“Why are you always disturbing me?” he snapped one evening when I reminded him about homework.

I was shocked but instead of correcting him firmly, I blamed stress, school pressure, anything but myself.

Then came the day everything shifted.

Anita’s class teacher came to our house unexpectedly. She introduced herself politely and asked to speak with me.

“Madam,” she said, smiling warmly, “your daughter is exceptional. She has the highest score in the entire junior secondary level. We have recommended her for a state scholarship examination.”

I stiffened at the word *daughter*.

“She is not my daughter,” I corrected sharply.

The teacher looked confused but continued. “Regardless, she is very brilliant. If she passes, her education will be fully sponsored.”

Before Anita could speak, I answered for her.

“She has responsibilities at home. We are not interested.”

The teacher’s face fell. Anita stood behind her, silent.

After the teacher left, I turned to Anita.

“Do not let success enter your head,” I warned. “Remember where you are.”

She looked at me calmly. Not angry. Not crying.

“I remember, Aunty,” she said quietly.

That evening, I overheard David confronting her.

“So you think you are smarter than me now?” he asked bitterly.

“I never said that,” Anita replied.

“You just want to show off.”

“I only want to do well.”

For the first time, I saw something I had refused to see for years.

David was becoming arrogant.

Anita was becoming resilient.

And somewhere deep inside me, a small crack appeared in the wall of bitterness I had built.

But instead of fixing it, I hardened my heart again.

I didn’t know then that the crack was only the beginning.

continue reading Episode 4