Chapter 2 I just stood there , listening to everything they said . I knew what death was supposed to mean . Mommy had told me before . " Death is like becoming a bright star in the sky , but then Mommy could never touch my Betty or hug my Betty ever again . " So death meant never being able to touch or hug someone anymore . Daddy believed Mommy was dead , that he'd never be able to hug her again , so when he could barely stand up straight , he wrapped his arms tight around some lady instead . Daddy was super sad for about a month , but then the worried look on his face slowly went away . Then one day , this lady moved into our house with her son who was two years younger than me . " Betty , say hello to your new mom . " Daddy took my hand and tried to pull me closer to the lady . I kept my mouth shut tight , stared down at the floor really stubbornly , and shook my head . " I only have one mommy , and she's playing a really long game of hide - and - seek . " The lady looked all awkward and quickly said : " Oh , it's fine ! Just call me Mrs. Hayes . " Then Daddy took me to see this doctor who said I had something called " post - traumatic stress disorder . " I put the pills in my mouth when Daddy was watching , but as soon as he left I spit them into the toilet . " Only grown - ups need medicine . " I watched the water swirl around and thought to myself , " I'm not sick . You guys are just too dumb . Mommy fooled all of you , and you have no idea how good she is at this . " After a while , Daddy found out I wasn't taking my pills . " Betty Sullivan ! Why aren't you taking your medication ! " His voice was shaking because he was so mad . " Do you want to keep acting crazy like this forever ? " I just looked at him quietly without backing down at all . The whole fight ended with Daddy slamming the door and storming out , Daddy's patience got used up after trying so many times with no luck , and he started paying way more attention to my little stepbrother . He'd listen to Kaya talk about school stuff , take Kaya to his office , and give Kaya little jobs to do . All those times Daddy used to talk about me taking over his company someday got switched over to talking about Kaya instead , I didn't like Kaya because he was always running into my room and messing with my stuff . When I told Daddy about it , he just said : " Kaya's still little . You're his big sister , so you need to cut him some slack . " Kaya broke the very last model that Mommy and I had built together , so I totally lost it and screamed at him to get out of my house . Daddy's voice was harsher than I'd ever heard it before . " Betty ! How can you treat Kaya like that ! Go to your room ! No dinner tonight ! " It was the first time Daddy had ever punished me because of someone else . 22-18 Chapter 2 I got quieter and quieter after that . I'd spend most of my time alone in my room , rubbing Mommy's tags between my fingers and staring out the window for hours . When Daddy looked at my report cards with their so so grades , I could see more and more disappointment in his eyes . He stopped inviting me to those fancy dinner parties he used to take me to , and he only bought dress clothes for Kaya now . One night Daddy came home really late , and as soon as he walked through the door I could hear him laughing with Mrs. Hayes , plus Kaya sounding all proud of himself . " Dad , everyone says I've got your business sense . " Daddy ruffled Kaya's hair " Of course you do ! You're my son , aren't you ? The company's gonna be yours someday . You're way better at this stuff than Betty . " Right after he said that , he noticed me sitting silently in the living room , and his face looked kind of embarrassed . " Betty , why are you still up so late ? " I nodded . " Just getting some water . " " Dad , I did such a good job today - can I have a reward ? " Kaya's voice was all excited . Daddy immediately turned to look at Kaya , and his eyes went all soft and loving , " What do you want ? I'll get you anything . " Then Kaya pointed right at me , " I want that ! That shiny tag around Betty's neck ! " Chapter 3 Chapter 3