For most of her life, Cara has harbored a deep resentment toward her mother. When her father, her favorite person in the world, passes away in an accident. Their fragile relationship cannot handle anything else. But then, everything changes when Cara’s mother drains her college fund. For as long as I could remember, my mother’s insatiable greed and frugality cast a long, dark shadow over my childhood. It made no sense. We weren’t a poor family — in fact,we were far from that.

Both my parents earned more than enough to provide a comfortable life. My father, Henry, was a regional manager for a popular retail store.

And my mother, Lydia, was a nurse. We were fine. And yet, my school years were marred by spending Saturday mornings at thrift stores, looking for hand-me-down clothes. My social life and birthday parties were basically non-existent, because attending these events meant buying gifts, and that was something my mother found utterly incomprehensible. Pocket money? That was a foreign concept to my mother. But then,a diary entry changed everything. Growing up, my father was my favorite.