Left to Burn by My Toxic Family

On Christmas Day, I came home carrying the holiday gift basket my company had given me.

My mom smiled and said, "Ethan, honey, I made all your favorite dishes for dinner tonight." Hearing this, I was so happy that I slipped her a Christmas card with $300 in cash as a little holiday bonus.

But I waited until 9:30 PM, and dinner still wasn't served. To leave work on time and rush home, I hadn't even had time for lunch.

I had been running around handling emergencies all day. Now, my head was spinning, and my blood sugar was dangerously low.

I reached for a piece of fruit on the table, but my mom suddenly slapped my hand away, her face twisted in pure disgust. "Even if you starve to death, you don't touch the food on this table!" "I made all of this for Chloe.

What makes you think you have the right to eat first?!" I froze on the spot, almost thinking I had misheard her. "Mom, didn't you just say you made this whole dinner for me...?" "My blood sugar is really low right now.

Can't I just have a slice of orange?" Realizing she had slipped up, my mom quickly stepped forward to smooth things over. "Ethan, it's not that I won't let you eat." "But this is Christmas dinner.

The whole family has to eat together. We can't start if someone is missing." "Chloe and Ryan aren't back yet.

Let's just wait a little longer." Seeing the troubled look on her face, I suddenly felt like I was being too demanding. I was actually trying to eat early just because I was hungry.

I was being so inconsiderate. So, I pulled out my phone and opened Uber Eats, planning to order a boba tea to tide me over so I wouldn't actually pass out.

While I was browsing, my mom's phone suddenly rang. As usual, she had it on speaker.

Chloe's voice came loud and clear from the other end. "Mom, Ryan and I got a private room at a restaurant.

You and Dad should just come over now." "It's Christmas night, and we had to wait forever for a table to open up!" After hanging up, my mom grabbed my dad, and they happily rushed to their room to change.

Even though I had been a bit annoyed with Chloe for making everyone wait so late, hearing that she had a good reason made my frustration melt away.

I quickly put on my coat, relieved that I was finally going to get some food. As I waited by the front door, my mom came out, looking hesitant and refusing to move.

I didn't understand what was going on, so I asked, "Mom, what's wrong?" "Let's go. Chloe and Ryan are waiting.

Or are you feeling sick?" My mom's face turned red, and she couldn't even finish a sentence.

Instead, my dad, Arthur, spoke up. "Ethan, Chloe said she booked that table for your mother and me.

A dinner for the four of us." "But she didn't mention bringing you along." "If you just show up uninvited, I'm afraid Chloe and Ryan will be unhappy..." My mom, Helen, who had been silent, finally spoke up with an embarrassed expression. "Yeah, why don't you just find something to eat at home?

There's some instant ramen in the pantry—the spicy chicken flavor you like." "I'll pack the dishes I made into Tupperware and put them in the fridge.

We can eat them tomorrow when Chloe and Ryan come over." Only then did the brutal truth hit me. They were having a family Christmas dinner, and they deliberately left me out.

It turned out that when I first got home, my mom's claim that she had made all my favorite dishes was just a lie to get my money.

I suppressed my rising anger, stared straight into my mom's eyes, and asked, "Mom, ten minutes ago, didn't you say a family dinner means everyone has to be there?

That we can't miss a single person?" "So what you meant was, we can't miss Chloe and Ryan, but we can easily discard me, right?" My mom's face flushed red, and she couldn't say a word.

Beside her, my dad sighed and looked at me with deep disappointment. "Ethan, how can you talk to your mother like that?" "You're already married. You have your own household.

Technically speaking, you're not part of our family anymore." "But Chloe is different. Even though she's married, she will always be our precious baby girl.

We have to show her extra love so her inlaws respect her. Ethan, don't pick fights with your sister."

Hearing my dad's words, a wave of intense grievance rushed to my chest. "I only declined my wife's family dinner to come here because I thought of you guys as my real family." "I guess I was delusional.

You guys stopped seeing me as family a long time ago." The next second, my mom's phone rang again.

Chloe's impatient voice blasted through the speaker. "Mom, are you guys even out of the house yet?" "What's taking so long?

What if Ryan gets hungry?!" My mom immediately began pacing the living room in a panic, speaking anxiously into the phone. "Chloe, we have a bit of a situation at home." "Ethan is here too, and he wants to come along..." As my mom said this, a flash of annoyance crossed her face as she looked at me.

Before Chloe could answer, my dad snatched the phone and quickly added, "Sweetheart, if you don't want him there, just tell us." "You know your mother and I always listen to you." Looking at my parents' blatant favoritism, my heart ached so badly it felt like it was breaking.

It had been like this for over twenty years.

Back in middle school, when Chloe said she didn't want to see me at summer camp, my mom cancelled my registration without a second thought.

When I started high school, Chloe said she didn't want to ride in the same car with me. So, my dad dropped me off halfway.

From that day on, I had to take a oneandahalfhour bus ride to school every single day.

Even during my senior year, when I was cramming for college entrance exams, Chloe complained that my desk lamp disturbed her gaming. My mom forced me to study on the balcony.

In the freezing winter, with temperatures dropping below freezing, I sat on the balcony shivering so hard my teeth rattled, unable to focus.

My mom just said it would "build my character." Eventually, I found a way to cope: I would go inside, take a mouthful of hot water, and hold it in my mouth to keep my face warm for a few minutes.

When the water went cold, I would go back inside to get another gulp. But within two days, Chloe got annoyed again. "He keeps opening and closing the door!

The draft is freezing me out!" My mom immediately locked the balcony door from the inside.

Looking through the glass, she mouthed to me, "If your sister catches a cold because of you, I'll make you pay!" "Just study out there.

I'll open the door once every hour to let you use the bathroom!" I used to wonder why Chloe treated me like this.

But ever since I was a child, my mom had brainwashed me with one idea: "We used to give all our love to you, Ethan. But you can't be selfish.

You enjoyed being an only child for years, so now you have to take care of Chloe.

She's younger than you, so you must always let her have her way." "You've monopolized our love for so long. It's time to give it back.

You need to be mature and understanding." So, I had always lived with a sense of guilt, believing I had stolen my sister's share of parental love.

But today, I finally realized that was all a lie.

Just as I was about to stand up for myself, Chloe's voice came through the phone. "If Ethan wants to come, let him." "After all, he is family. How can we have dinner without him?"

Hearing Chloe's words, all my resentment instantly vanished. So, Chloe still saw me as family after all.

As we walked out the door, my mom finally told me that Chloe had changed the dinner location to the old family cabin in the woods. "Chloe said the restaurant room was too small.

At the cabin, we can eat and look at the stars." On the way there, I kept imagining how wonderful it would be to have a family dinner under the starlight.

In the early years, Chloe had always disliked me. Later, we both got busy with work. If I really thought about it, we had never actually had a proper Christmas dinner together.

Tonight was a first, and it meant the world to me. But when we arrived at the cabin, I saw that the yard was completely overgrown and dilapidated.

The cabin itself was pitch black, without a single light on. Chloe waved at me from a distance. "Ethan!

Over here!" I jogged over to her, feeling a bit confused. "Chloe, isn't this place a bit too rundown and messy for dinner?" Chloe did something unprecedented—she smiled warmly at me and pointed at the cabin. "Who cares?

Having Christmas dinner under the stars is so romantic." "The food is already inside.

Go on in and look, it's all your favorites." Without a shred of suspicion, I smiled and stepped into the cabin.

But the moment my feet crossed the threshold, Ryan snatched my phone from my hand and shoved me hard from behind.

Before I could react, the heavy wooden door was slammed shut and locked from the outside. "Chloe! Dad! Mom! What is this?" "It's pitch black in here! I'm scared!

Please open the door!" I pounded on the door, screaming at the top of my lungs. I had suffered from severe claustrophobia since childhood.

Being trapped in dark, confined spaces triggered intense panic attacks. Once, Chloe had locked me in a closet as a prank.

By the time my parents got home from work, I was unconscious on the floor, foaming at the mouth. There was no way Chloe didn't know what this darkness would do to me.

But the next second, Chloe's mocking laughter echoed from outside. "Still want to follow us for dinner? Let's see you try now!" "Why the hell would we want you at our family dinner?

You're just a parasite we use for cash. Did you actually think you were one of us?" "Reflect on yourself in there.

Once we're stuffed and happy, maybe we'll come back and unlock the door if we feel like it." With that, she turned to leave.

Through the dirty window pane, I saw my parents looking slightly uneasy. I immediately screamed to them. "Dad! Mom! I'm sorry! I get it now!

I have my own family, I don't belong here!" "I won't eat with you guys tonight. Just let me out, please! It's too dark...

I'm so scared..." I gripped the rusty iron bars on the window, my entire body shaking violently with terror.

My mom opened her mouth as if to say something, but Chloe yelled from the car, "Mom, Dad, hurry up!

I'm starving!" Hearing Chloe's voice, my parents turned around and got into the car without a second thought. No matter how hard I cried and screamed, they never looked back.

Left with no choice, I forced myself to calm down. Groping around in the dark, I managed to find a box of matches and an old oil lamp.

With trembling hands, I lit the lamp, and the small flame finally eased my panic. Watching their headlights fade into the distance, a bitter sadness filled my heart.

Suddenly, a rustling sound came from behind me. I turned around and saw a rat scurrying across the floor.

Before I could even react in fear, the rat leaped up and knocked the oil lamp right off the table. In an instant, the flames caught onto the dry wooden floorboards.

The cabin was made of dry timber, and the ceiling was lined with straw. Within ten seconds, the fire was completely out of control.

I rushed to the window, screaming at the top of my lungs, "Fire! Help! Somebody help me!"

In the distance, I saw their car suddenly stop. I thought they had heard my cries. Even if they hadn't, the roaring flames lighting up the night sky were impossible to miss.

I thought they were coming back to save me. But a second later, the car sped up and drove away. Until the headlights completely vanished.

I stood frozen, my mind going entirely blank. Why? They knew I was trapped inside, and they saw the fire. Why did they choose to leave me?

Could they really just watch me burn to death? Standing by the window, I felt utterly hopeless.

The flames were licking at my feet, and the suffocating heat made it impossible to breathe. Was I really going to die here? Why were my parents so cruel?

Had they never, even for a second, loved me? Perhaps I would never get the answer. As the fire reached for my face, I closed my eyes in despair.

The next second, the window frame was smashed open from the outside. A figure rushed through the smoke and pulled me out. When I finally came to, I realized it was my wife, Audrey.

She sat me down under a large oak tree in the yard, her face pale with worry. "Ethan! Are you okay?

Are you hurt?" "I saw your Snapchat about going to your parents' for dinner, and I planned to pick you up afterward." "But when I got near the area, I saw the sky lit up with fire.

Then I saw Chloe's car speeding out of the woods like crazy.

What happened?" Before I could answer, the nearby residents noticed the fire and rushed over with buckets of water to put it out.

Watching them run back and forth, throwing water on the flames, a deep sorrow washed over me. Even complete strangers would risk themselves to help someone in danger.

Yet my own flesh and blood chose to abandon me, leaving me to burn to death. At that moment, the final string of affection I held for my family snapped completely.

Once the fire was under control, a local resident ran over to me, panting. "Hey man, what happened here?" "Was the wiring bad?

It's so dry out here, did it just catch fire?" I took a deep breath, looked at the crowd, and said, "No. It was attempted murder." "Please, call the police."