THE PROPOSAL || KTH

Chapter 1 || Job

Y/n Pov

"Morning, people." I chirped, entering the dining area. I walked over and slumped down in my seat and grabbed an apple from the fruit basket, humming to myself and browsing my phone using the other hand. I muttered a string of profanities seeing an email from the company where I applied for a data operator's position. They emailed that morning informing me I wasn't selected, for whatever reason I didn't bother reading.

Both my mom and older sister looked up and frowned at me.

"How many times have I told you not to use that kind of language at home, Y/n?" Mom berated me while Minji looked at me like I had committed a crime. You have. Not being able to fit into their perfect world was a big crime. People who were not up to their standards were frowned upon, and I topped the list. I was nothing like them, which meant either I was adopted, or my father had an affair with some other woman, and I was a result of that. Either way, my mother's disappointment in me would have made sense. But too bad, I am her biological daughter according to the paternity test I did a year ago.

"Mom, it's useless talking to her. She's getting worse." Minji threw daggers at me.

I rolled my eyes. "Don't you guys get tired of talking about the same shit every day? I mean, c'mon, let's start our day with something else for a change."

"Your sister is right. You're just getting worse," Mom fumed.

"She's always right, isn't she, Mom?" There had never been a time when my mother disagreed with Minji over anything. They both were like soulmates, always getting along while I was always butting heads with Mom ever since Dad died in a car accident four years back. Things have never been the same since then.

"Yes, she's educated, unlike you. She's got a strong head on her shoulders and knows the difference between right and wrong." Mom smiled proudly. Though whatever she said was true to an extent, she forgot to add some more qualities of her older daughter-like how money hungry she is or how bitchy she is. "What have you done in life until now? You couldn't even complete your degree."

There we go! That was how our day usually started.

"How is it my fault? I had to leave my studies to support myself financially because you wouldn't give me a penny." I taunted back, refusing to take the insults hurled at me.

"Well, that's because I refuse to waste my hard-earned money on your bad habits. You had to leave your studies because of your attitude, so don't blame me," she retorted, her eyes blazing with rage. If there was anything my mother, Kang Ji-hyun, hated, then it was being blamed for things, even if she had done those things. She loved her clean image way too much.

"Bad habits? Excuse me? What bad habits are you talking about?" My voice rose as did my temper.

"If you wanna hear it from my mouth, then fine!" Mom got up, glaring down at me. I followed suit, my gaze held hers which seemed to anger her more, but nothing could make me bow down in submission. "I found liquor bottles and cigarette packs in your room."

"Mom, you're forgetting the condom packets hidden underneath her pillow," Minji interjected. An evil glint in her eyes shone, but my mother was too blind to see that. I wasn't. I was aware of how those things were found in my room, but what I hated the most was that the culprit was right in front of me, yet I couldn't do anything about it. I didn't have any proof to prove myself innocent, and there was no way my mother would believe me over her darling daughter. For her, I had always been wrong.

"You know what, Y/n? I'm ashamed to call you my daughter. I'm glad your father isn't alive to see what you've turned into." Mom's words pierced through my heart causing an ache to spread through me. I gulped down the lump forming in my throat. She knew Dad was my weakness, yet she never failed to use his name against me.