Chapter 3

Ever since we were little, this trick never failed.

When our parents died, I worked three jobs just to keep a roof over our heads and pay her tuition.

I used to collapse on the floor from pure exhaustion, and she would hug me, crying, Avery, I'll study hard and make it up to you.

I believed that lie for ten years.

"Believe you?"

I looked down at her hand, still clutching my sleeve. "Remember when you swore you'd never touch a loan again or you'd die a horrible death?"

Her fingers stiffened.

"You were crying just like this when you said it."

Her mouth opened, but no words came out.

Sophia grabbed her phone, unable to sit through the tension any longer. "Uh... Chloe, I just remembered I have stuff to do. I gotta go."

Harper quickly stood up as well.

Chloe snapped her head toward them, her expression turning vicious, unrecognizable from a second ago. "Where do you think you're going?! Didn't you just say she'd fold like she always does?!"

She said it with such brazen entitlement.

A cold laugh escaped my lips.

Sophia and Harper stood frozen in sheer embarrassment, trapped between staying and leaving.

"Avery..." Chloe turned back to me, dropping straight to her knees, exactly like last time.

She wrapped her arms around my legs, looking up at me as thick tears streamed down her cheeks. "I was wrong! I know I messed up! Just forgive me this once, the absolute last time!"

I stared down at her.

She still had her soft features and clear skin, her large eyes swollen and red.

She looked just like our mother, especially when she cried.

Except our mother would never treat me like this.

"Do you know where I'm sleeping tonight?" I asked softly.

Chloe blinked.

"You don't care, do you?" I pulled her fingers off me, one by one.

"My landlord kicked me out because you ruined my credit score. My company fired me because your loan sharks were blowing up their phones."

Her mouth hung open, tears trailing down her chin, completely speechless.

"I dragged my suitcase through the streets for two hours, and the only person I thought to turn to was you."

I stepped back, putting distance between us.

"And here you are, telling your friends that I'm just a doormat who deserves to be stepped on."

"Avery..." Her voice began to tremble.

"From today on, you are not my sister."

When I said the words, I thought my heart would break.

It didn't.

The place in my chest that had been stabbed too many times had simply gone numb.

I turned toward the door.

"Avery! You can't leave!" Chloe crawled forward, grabbing my jeans. "Stop right there!"

Her whimpering turned into an ear-splitting shriek.

I paused, looking back at her.

Her face twisted with rage. Tears still hung from her chin, but her eyes had completely changed—venomous, frantic, ugly.

"If you leave, who's going to pay for my stuff?! What am I supposed to do?!"

Those words nailed me to the spot.

Not out of pity, but out of absolute disgust at how shameless she could be.

"What are you supposed to do?" I crouched down to meet her gaze. "That's your problem."

"Avery Campbell! Do you have any idea how much money I owe out there?! If you don't pay, they'll come for me! They'll beat me to death!"

She dropped the act entirely.

Good.

"And what does that have to do with me?"

Chloe’s eyes bulged, staring at me as if I had spoken in tongues.

"Are you insane?! I'm your sister!"

"Didn't you just tell your friends: Who cares, she won't die?"

Her face flushed crimson, her lips quivering like a fish gasping for air on dry land.

I didn't waste another second. I grabbed my suitcase by the door and stepped out into the hall.

Behind me, a piercing scream shattered the air, followed by the crash of glass shattering against the door.

"Avery Campbell! Get back here! If you leave, I'll kill myself!"