Neglecteddaughter Stories

**IN THE ABSENCE OF LOVE** Zariah learned early that love was something other people received. In a house where she was constantly overlooked, she raised herself, learned to depend on no one, and became very good at pretending she didn't care. But Zariah's carefully controlled life begins to unravel when someone sees through the walls she's spent years building. For once, she's faced with a choice: keep everyone at a distance, or risk letting someone close enough to hurt her. Because sometimes, the hardest thing isn't surviving without love. It's believing you deserve it when it finally finds you. **Some wounds don't bleed. Some families don't feel like home. And some people love you only after you've learned how to live without them.** Life used to be good. Then my father's business took off, and everything changed. The money came. The luxury followed. But somewhere between the new house, the perfect family image, and my sister getting everything she wanted, I became the daughter no one seemed to want. So I stopped begging to be loved. And started becoming someone they couldn't ignore.

بعض الفتيات يكبرن وهن يعرفن أنهن محبوبات. أما ييچي، فقد كبرت وهي تعرف أنها ليست كذلك. في عائلة كانت فيها أختها الصغرى كل شيءٍ لم تستطع هي أن تكونه-جميلة، ناجحة، ومحبوبة من الجميع-تعلمت ييچي منذ وقتٍ مبكر أنه لا مكان لها في مركز عالم أي شخص. لذلك، توقفت عن طلب أن تكون هناك. أصبحت صعبة المراس. حادة. باردة. من النوع الذي يلومه الجميع قبل أن يكلفوا أنفسهم عناء السؤال عمّا حدث. لكن خلف ذلك المظهر القاسي، كانت هناك فتاة قضت سنوات تتساءل كيف يكون شعور المرء حين يكون خياره الأول بالنسبة لشخصٍ ما. ثم ظهر تايهيونغ. تم توظيفه لحماية أختها. ولم يكن من المفترض به أن يلاحظ ييچي. لكن أحيانًا، يكون الشخص الذي يتجاهله الجميع هو نفسه الشخص الذي لا يستطيع شخصٌ آخر التوقف عن رؤيته. وربما لم يكن الاختيار يومًا متعلقًا بكونك الأجمل، أو الأكثر نجاحًا، أو الأسهل حبًا. ربما كان الأمر ببساطة يتعلق بأن يراك أحدهم أخيرًا.

The Girl No One Chose Some girls grow up knowing they are loved. Yeji grew up knowing she wasn't. In a family where her younger sister is everything she could never be-beautiful, successful, adored-Yeji learned early that there was no place for her at the center of anyone's world. So she stopped asking to be there. She became difficult. Sharp. Cold. The kind of girl people blame before they bother asking what happened. But behind the attitude is a girl who has spent years wondering what it feels like to be someone's first choice. Then there is Taehyung. He was hired to protect her sister. He was never supposed to notice Yeji. But sometimes, the person everyone overlooks is the one someone else can't stop seeing. And maybe being chosen was never about being the most beautiful, the most successful, or the easiest to love. Maybe it was simply about finally being seen.