It was Chinese New Year's eve and everyone was tucking into the sumptuous dinner that was a rare treat for the family. Trina and her siblings had always looked forward to such feast which was a far cry from the simple meals they have on normal days. Once everyone had their fill, Trina was told to clear the table and to stay home to watch the house while the rest of the family headed down to Chinatown. Though Trina would very much want to join them, she knew her mother wouldn't take her along. Her mother had always been biased against her and treated her like the maid of the family. Trina had her father to thank for her mother's harsh treatment towards her.

Trina's father was her mother second husband. When Lena's (Trina's elder sister) father was killed in an accident, her mother remarried. After Trina was born, Trina's father abandoned the family for another woman with all the savings that Lena's father had left behind. Trina's mother was so devastated that she would have strangled the infant if not for her grandmother's timely rescue. Things got slightly better when she remarried for the second time to Derick's (Trina's younger brother) father. Though he was a small-time businessman who had a tough time supporting the family, he was able to keep the family together. Trina was treated like a jinx as the family almost fell apart when she was born. Moreover, the sight of her would remind her mother of what her father had done to her. Trina would be caned for the slightest mistakes that she made, whereas her siblings would go scot-free regardless of the wrong doings they did. Sometimes, Trina was even punished for the misdeeds they did. In fact, when anything bad or unfortunate happened in the family, Trina would be the one to take the blame.

Lena was doted on as other than being the firstborn, her father who worked as a foreman in a construction firm, had been a good husband who provided well for the family. Derick was the apple of his mother's eye as not only was he the only son of the family, his father had been magnanimous enough to take her and her two daughters under his care when she needed it most. Trina' s father was the worst among the three husbands, thus it was not surprising that she was treated the worst too.

Her mother's unreasonable treatment towards her had always perplexed her but after being told the reason behind her irrational behaviour by her grandmother, Trina accepted the fact that she had come into this world to redeem her father's sin. Somehow, she still hoped that her mother would one day forgive her father and treat her better.

Part 2>>