My Mom Called Me a Loser Then Everything Changed...

My Mom Called Me a Loser Then Everything Changed... The champagne glass slipped from my hand and shattered on the floor the instant my mother spoke.She didn't lower her voice. She wanted everyone to hear.More than forty guests turned toward us. My husband stood beside me. My younger sister smiled behind sparkling diamond earrings."Look at your sister," my mother said proudly. "She already owns a three-bedroom apartment, drives a luxury car, and wears diamonds everywhere. And you? You're still the same loser you've always been."My name is Vera. I'm thirty-four years old, and in one sentence my mother had announced to the entire anniversary party that I was her greatest disappointment.The daughter she admired was Albina, my twenty-nine-year-old younger sister. She looked perfect, dressed in expensive jewelry that I couldn't have afforded even after years of working as an accountant.Champagne dripped from my fingers as I stood there in silence. Pasha, my husband, gently rested his hand on my back, unsure of what to say. Every eye in the room was fixed on me. Some people looked uncomfortable. Others clearly enjoyed the scene.I smiled.I've always smiled whenever my heart was breaking.Later that night, after too many glasses of wine and far too much humiliation, I found Albina alone in the kitchen."So," I said with a forced laugh, "tell me your secret. What am I doing wrong?"She stared at me for several seconds. For the first time that evening, her confidence disappeared. Behind her eyes I saw fear... and guilt.Finally, she whispered, "Vera... it's not what you think."