The narrator, Elena, recounts her childhood and her complicated relationship with her extremely frugal and often cruel father. He constantly belittles and blames her for everything, especially after her younger sister Macy is born with partial blindness and later becomes completely blind after an accident. Elena takes care of Macy and eventually finds solace in her biology studies. She meets a boy named Kevin, who helps her with her research, and they fall in love. Elena's biology teacher tries to steal her research, but Kevin exposes the teacher, and Elena gets her work back. She submits her research proposal and university application, and to her surprise, she gets accepted into Harvard Medical School on a full scholarship. Elena becomes a successful neurosurgeon, and when her sister needs life-saving surgery, Elena performs the operation and discovers a tumor that had been causing her sister's blindness. After removing the tumor, Elena's sister regains most of her vision. Elena's father, who had lost his business, tries to take advantage of Elena's success, but she refuses to let him move in with her and instead sends him an allowance.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. The author's father started taking her for walks every day when she was four years old.
2. The author's family owns a large shoe business.
3. The author's parents made her miss after-school activities and parties to take care of her younger sister, Macy.
4. Macy was born with partial blindness.
5. The author joined the Young Doctors Club and researched various biology topics.
6. The author's biology teacher, Kevin's aunt, tried to steal her research and publish it under her name.
7. The author exposed the biology teacher and got her fired.
8. The author got accepted into Harvard Medical School on full scholarship.
9. The author's father made some bad investments and lost the family business.
10. The author's younger sister, Macy, had a blood clot in her brain and needed surgery.
11. The author performed the surgery and also discovered a tiny tumor pressing on Macy's optic nerve.
12. The author removed the tumor and clot, and Macy's vision was partially restored.
13. The author became a renowned neurosurgeon and published several groundbreaking research papers.
14. The author sent her father an allowance every month after he moved in with his sister.