Chapter 1
Love wasn't free in our family. It was literal currency.
My sister, Stella Belle, and I both had a Kinship Savings Jar.
It held the love and care we received from our families, which could be traded for anything in the Life Exchange Shop.
When I was six, I bought my mom’s life back from cancer by selling away the pain of her carrying me for nine months.
When I was thirteen, I bought my brother a brand-new leg by trading away every memory of dad’s care and upbringing.
Now, at nineteen, my dad was in a terrible car crash. His body was shattered.
Our family came to the Life Exchange Shop once again.
I nudged my younger sister, Stella, forward.
But mom grabbed her and yanked me to the front instead.
"You've never done anything for this family, yet we gave you so much love and care!"
"Now it's your turn to pay back what we gave you, and you're refusing?" She snapped.
"Besides, everything in that jar came from us anyway. You're grown now. It's only right that you empty it to repay your parents!"
I was shoved against the counter.
Beside me, a girl who couldn't pull anything from her jar suddenly explodes like a firework.
But Mom, I thought in terror, my jar is empty too......
Bits of flesh and blood rained down over every corner of the lobby.
Terrified, I hugged my jar to my chest and hid behind a pillar.
I was so scared I would be next.
The clerk at the counter looked completely unfazed by the gruesome scene.
"Her jar was empty. You, as parents, never deposited anything into it, so naturally, nothing could be withdrawn," he said in a flat, mechanical voice.
"A child like this is classified by our system as a despised failure. Elimination is standard procedure."
The dead girl's parents didn't look sad at all.
They even stepped on her remains, shouting curses.
"How could it be empty? We raised you! We scrimped and saved for you! You must have been sneaking around with someone." Her father spat on the floor.
"You took our love and care and gave it to some outsider! You deserved to die, you ungrateful brat!"
My mom scoffed and gave them a disgusted look.
"If you actually gave her anything, she wouldn't have come up empty."
"What a pair of liars. Thank God I truly love my daughters."
But in the very next second, she yanked me up from the floor.
Realizing what she was about to do, my teeth began to chatter in pure terror.
"Mom, I don't want to die. I don't want to die..." I sobbed. "My jar is empty too. Can't you use Stella's?"
I begged her, but her face darkened.
She pinched my arm hard, her eyes blazing.
"Lila, are you trying to humiliate me in front of everyone? Do you want them to think I don't love you or care about you at all?" she hissed.
"I gave up my life to be a stay-at-home mother for you and Stella. I ruined my back working myself to the bone, and now you're telling me your jar is empty?"
"Don't lie to me just because I can't see the jar."
"The shop closes in ten minutes. Hurry up and bring your dad back to life!" She dragged me forcefully toward the counter.
I was paralyzed with fear. In a panic, I bit down hard on her wrist.
Bitter tears of hurt streamed down my face.
"Why can't Stella do it just this once? It's always me! It should be her turn!"
Mom always talked about her endless sacrifices for our family.
But I didn't understand. They always claimed they showered us with love and care, yet it was only ever Stella's jar that got filled.
"You're so petty," Stella rolled her eyes at me.
"Obviously, the stuff in my jar is meant for other things. I need it to buy designer bags, to get prettier, to become a star, and to get social media followers."
"You're not doing anything with your life anyway. Why are you so selfish about saving your dad?"
My brother scolded me impatiently as well.
"Mom and dad worked so hard to raise you. We just ask you to pay back what we gave you a little bit, and you throw a fit? How can you be so ungrateful?"
He was strong. He lifted me with one hand and slammed me onto the counter.
Looking at the clerk's mechanical smile, my mind flashed back to the gory sight of that girl exploding.
I gripped the edge of the counter like my life depended on it, looking at my mom in utter despair.
"What if I actually explode like that girl? Mom, I'm not lying."
"You are lying right now! Your dad and I have always treated you and Stella equally," she said, impatiently prying my fingers off the desk.
"Stella's jar is completely full. How could yours be empty?"
I wanted my dad to live, but I didn't want to die either.
Suddenly, an idea struck me. Hugging my jar tightly, I rolled off the counter and sprinted toward the door with everything I had.
"We are sorry, but the Life Exchange Shop is now closed. It will reopen in 72 hours," the clerk announced.
That mechanical voice pushed my mom's anger to the breaking point.
She grabbed me by the hair and started hitting me.
When she finally got tired of beating me, I swallowed the metallic taste of blood in my mouth. I forced a sweet, obedient smile for her.
"Mom, I'll be good."
"In three days, I promise I'll bring dad back. Just please don't hit me anymore, okay?"
I was my mom's biological daughter.
She couldn't possibly not love me or care about me.
As long as she gave me even the tiniest bit of love over the next three days, my jar wouldn't be empty.
I wouldn't have to die. And dad would live again.
