It was pouring, a torrential downpour that turned the city sky into slate. I was trapped at the office, nursing a badly twisted ankle, shivering so hard I could barely hold my phone. When Brandon finally answered, my voice was trembling. “Brandon… I fell down the stairs at work. My ankle is messed up, and my head is bleeding. Can you please come pick me up?” Brandon’s tone was impossibly detached, tossed off between background noises. “Sabrina, come on. You’re the older sister – can’t you let me help Kylie for a little bit? She’s devastated right now. Her little ant colony on the patio got flooded.” Before I could even process the words, the line went dead. A second later, a notification buzzed in our family group chat. Kylie had posted a photo of her wrist, showing a microscopic red streak. “A nasty twig scratched me! It hurts so bad… I need a kiss to make it better!” Not even three seconds passed before Brandon replied with a saved selfie of Kylie pouting – a picture she’d sent weeks ago. “Does this cute pic I saved do the trick?” I stared at the screen, my grip tightening until my knuckles turned white. Digging my teeth into my lower lip until I tasted copper, I plunged blindly out into the rain. … By the time I dragged my bruised, blood-stained body through the front door of my parents’ house, my head was throbbing with a dull, sickening heat. Inside, the atmosphere was warm and filled with the mouth-watering scent of pan-seared trout. Brandon was sitting at the dining table, meticulously picking fishbones out of a tender fillet. My parents sat beside him, beaming with affectionate indulgence. “Kylie, sweetie, you really need to find yourself a man,” Mom was chuckling. “Just look at how spoiled you are with Brandon around!” Kylie giggled, leaning over to bite the piece of fish directly off the fork Brandon was holding. “Then I’ll just marry Brandon!” Dad sighed with mock regret. “Honestly, Kylie’s always had better taste and a sweeter heart than her sister. If things don’t work out, Sabrina ought to just step aside and give him to you.” A flush bloomed behind Brandon’s ears. He reached out, playfully tugging Kylie’s hair. “Stop being silly.” He paused, his voice dropping into a softer, lower register. “Though… if I’d met you first… who knows?” They were all laughing, lost in their cozy little world. Not a single person noticed me standing in the entryway, rain dripping from my clothes, blood drying in thick crusts down the side of my face. Dark spots danced across my vision. I swallowed down the metallic bitterness rising in my throat. “This wedding… I don’t think I want it anymore.” … “CRASH.” My knees gave out, and I slammed heavily against the entryway console table, my shoe slipping halfway off my foot. The loud bang finally shattered the room’s cozy bubble. Brandon turned around. The moment his eyes landed on the blood matted in my hair, he instinctively started to push himself up from the table. “Sabrina, what happened to – ” “Aww, Brandon!” Kylie suddenly gasped, clutching her throat and pulling frantically on his sleeve. “There was a bone left in that piece! It’s poking my throat! It hurts so much!” Brandon froze mid-stride. Without a second thought, he sat right back down, pulling Kylie toward him in a flurry of panic. “Open wide, let me see! Is it stuck deep?” My hand, clinging to the edge of the console for leverage, completely lost its strength. I slid onto the floor. “What on earth are you doing?!” Mom yelled, pointing an accusing finger at me from the table. “Look at the mud you’re dragging all over the rug! That’s genuine wool – Kylie bought that for the family with her very first paycheck!” She glared at me, her face contorted with disgust. “She’s so thoughtful! Unlike you – always walking around with that stone-cold face, not a drop of gratitude in your body!” I lifted my eyes, catching the glint of the solid gold bracelet resting on Mom’s wrist – the one I had bought her with my own savings. A cold, sharp blade seemed to twist in my chest. When I graduated from college, my parents refused to give me a single dime, claiming they were “building my character.” I survived on plain tap water and gas station bread for a month, fainting at my desk twice from low blood sugar. Because I hadn’t bought them lavish gifts with my meager first paycheck, I was branded selfish and ungrateful forever. Yet when Kylie graduated last year, they pulled every string they had to land her a cushy desk job, topping it off with a two-thousand-dollar monthly allowance for “spending money.” “Your sister is fragile,” Dad chimed in, tossing his napkin onto the table without looking at me. “She can’t handle the harsh corporate world like you can. You should have given up that promotion to her. Enough of this scene! Stop standing at the door looking like a corpse – it’s bad luck! Go to the bathroom and wash that blood off your face!” I lowered my eyes, forcing my shallow breaths to stay quiet. “Brandon… I think I swallowed the bone. You don’t have to look anymore!” Kylie’s voice drifted over from the table, laced with a faint, triumphant sweetness. I closed the bathroom door and turned the hot water on full blast. But the walls were thin, and their voices carried effortlessly over the sound of running water. “Brandon, for your honeymoon next month… can I come with you guys?” Kylie coaxed. “I really want to go ice-climbing in Iceland! I already made a whole itinerary! But Sabrina booked the Maldives… she’s definitely not gonna want me there…” Brandon didn’t hesitate for a single second. “Why wouldn’t she? You just graduated – you’re the youngest, so we all compromise for you! We’ll cancel the Maldives and go to Iceland instead. Consider it your graduation trip.” My hands froze as I wrung out my hair. I stepped to the bathroom door, pulling it open just a crack. “No. The overwater bungalow in the Maldives is non-refundable. We’ll lose thousands.” Kylie let out a soft, whimpering pout. Brandon didn’t even look at me. “Then we lose the deposit. Kylie wants to see the glaciers, Sabrina. She rarely asks for anything. As her older sister, just yield to her for once.” Mom and Dad chimed in immediately. “Exactly! Stop being so bitter and selfish! You two are going away on a fancy trip anyway – do you want Kylie sitting at home feeling left out?” I gripped the wet towel in my hands, a suffocating weight pressing down on my lungs. They had entirely forgotten that my body couldn’t handle the extreme cold. When we were teenagers, Kylie demanded I walk through a blizzard to get her favorite breakfast pastries. By the time I trudged back through knee-deep snow, the house was empty – my parents had taken Kylie to my grandmother’s house in Florida for the holidays. I was locked out, huddled in the freezing stairwell for two days. If a neighbor hadn’t come home early, I would have frozen to death. Ever since then, severe cold triggered agonizing, deep-tissue bone aches. When my parents finally returned, Mom had brushed it off with a casual, “Kylie was rushing us. We just forgot you.” Whenever Kylie wanted something, I was expected to step aside. Even if it cost me my health. Even if it cost me my life. I remembered how Brandon had held me in his arms when I first told him that story, tears in his eyes. “Sabrina, in my world, you will never have to step aside for anyone ever again. You are my top priority.” Now, he had forgotten his promise. He had forgotten my pain. As the water cooled on my skin, I turned to grab a towel, only to find the rack empty. “Mom, where’s my bath towel?” I called out. An irritated voice came from the hallway. “How should I know? You always leave your stuff lying around. I probably used it to wipe down the counters and threw it out!” I stood there in the chilly air, trembling. On the towel rack hung three sets. One shared by my parents. Two separate sets for Kylie – one for her body, one for her hair. “Your sister has sensitive skin,” Mom had told me when Kylie moved her stuff in. “Her towels can’t mix with yours. You can share or figure it out.” I swallowed the sting in my eyes, taking deep, shuddering breaths to quiet the rising panic in my chest. I wiped myself down with handfuls of paper towels, pulled on my clothes, and slipped out the back door toward my own small apartment downtown. Once inside my quiet space, I pulled up my phone and dialed the travel agency. “Hi. I need to cancel the honeymoon booking for the Maldives. Yes, I understand I’ll forfeit the deposit.” After hanging up, I opened an email that had been sitting in my inbox for two weeks – a corporate transfer offer to our international headquarters in Munich. I had ignored it because of Brandon, because of our upcoming wedding. I dragged my fingers across the keyboard and typed my reply: “I accept the transfer. I can be ready to deploy in three days.” … Later that evening, the front door unlocked. Brandon walked in carrying a steaming mug of ginger tea. “You got caught in the rain today,” he said, his tone gentle, completely casual, as if the scene at my parents’ house had never happened. “Drink this while it’s hot so you don’t catch a cold.” The ambient chill in my bones pushed me to take the mug. The warmth spread through my hands, loosening the terrible tension that had locked my shoulders all night. I remembered how he used to be – how he would cook intricate meals and wrap me in warm blankets whenever I was sick or overwhelmed. A faint, aching flicker of hope stirred in my chest. “Maybe… maybe he still cares. Maybe he just got caught up in the moment.” Brandon cleared his throat. “Sabrina, I need to talk to you about something.” My stomach plummeted. I looked up at him over the rim of the mug. “Kylie’s new office is right in the heart of downtown,” Brandon said smoothly. “Her commute from your parents’ place in the suburbs is almost two hours each way. It’s exhausting for her. I remember you have that one-bedroom condo downtown… Why don’t you sign the title over to Kylie tomorrow? Think of it as a graduation gift from her big sister.” The hot steam from the tea stung my eyes. That one-bedroom condo was bought with every spare penny I had earned over five years, working three jobs, skipping meals, bleeding myself dry so I could have “one” place in this world that had my name on the deed. One sanctuary where no one could ever lock me out again. My fingers turned white against the ceramic mug. “Brandon… that condo…” Brandon chuckled, cutting me off with a patronizing pat to my cheek. “Kylie was right. She said you’d be stingy about it.” He smiled warmly. “But we’re getting married next week! We’re moving into our new house together, so you won’t even need that small condo. You’re doing so much better than her financially – just be generous for once. Besides, Kylie isn’t the brat you make her out to be. She spent half an hour in the rain today trying to build a little plastic shelter for those ants. She’s actually… really sweet and kind.” I swallowed the remaining tea. The warmth that had briefly settled in my stomach turned instantly ash-bitter. “And if I say no?” I asked, locking my eyes on his. The easy smile froze on Brandon’s lips. His brows pulled together in an irritated pinch. Before he could answer, the apartment door swung open. “If Sabrina doesn’t want to, then forget it,” Kylie sniffled from the doorway, her eyes rimmed red, looking like a tragic victim. “It’s fine. I’ll just get up at five in the morning and cram into the crowded subway.” Brandon let out a heavy, disappointed sigh. He stepped toward the door, whispered a few comforting words to Kylie, and then turned back to face me, shutting the door behind him. “Sabrina… I’m finally starting to understand why your parents don’t like you.” My heart hammered against my ribs, choking the air right out of my throat. “What did you just say?” Brandon looked at me with profound disappointment. “Your parents told me you were deeply selfish. I didn’t want to believe them. But seeing you now…” I opened my mouth to speak, but Brandon held up a hand, cutting me off cold. “Enough. Don’t bother making excuses. I already told Kylie that she can have one of the guest rooms in our new married home. She won’t need your condo after all.” He turned on his heel and walked out, slamming the door. I sat on the edge of the bed, his words echoing through the quiet room like a death sentence: “You are deeply selfish.” Outside, I heard Kylie whimpering softly, and Brandon’s low, murmuring voice soothing her. “Don’t cry, little crybaby. Didn’t you post on Instagram that you wanted to try that fancy tasting menu downtown? I’ll take tomorrow off work and take you there. If your sister won’t spoil you, I will.” A hollow, ragged laugh escaped my lips. When we first started dating, I had begged Brandon to go to an amusement park with me, but he always claimed he was far too busy with work. Weekends, holidays, weeknights – he never had time to go out with me. I took a deep breath, letting the icy reality wash over me. The last lingering shred of hesitation evaporated into thin air. I picked up my phone, bought a one-way ticket to Munich, and began packing my life into a single suitcase. … The next morning, I was woken up by a barrage of notifications. I opened social media to find Kylie had posted a series of photos. In the shots, her hand was resting close to Brandon’s, both of them wearing matching silver band rings. “It feels so amazing to be someone’s absolute priority. Even a rainy day tastes sweet!” I scrolled down without expression. Right below it was a post from my mother: “Future son-in-law took the day off to treat us all to an incredible feast! Such a happy family!” Dozens of relatives had left comments: “They look so perfect together! A match made in heaven!” “You’re so blessed! Brandon treats Kylie like a princess!” Not a single person questioned why Brandon was out parading around with his fiancée’s sister instead of his fiancée. I stared at the screen for a long moment. Then, I systematically tapped the “Like” button on every single one of their posts. Within sixty seconds, my phone vibrated with an incoming call from Brandon. “Sabrina! Go un-like those posts right now!” he barked the moment I answered. I stayed silent. Hearing my silence, his tone softened slightly into a scolding sigh. “Kylie was already feeling insecure about what happened yesterday. I finally managed to cheer her up by taking her out, and now you go liking her posts? She’s going to think you’re being passive-aggressive! You’re her older sister – stop picking on her!” I let out a low, dry laugh and hung up the phone. I threw the phone onto the bed and resumed packing. To think that a simple “like” was considered bullying Kylie. There wasn’t much I needed to take. We had been together for four years. Back when we first met, he used to pity my childhood, telling me that love meant making up for past wounds. He used to buy me all the birthday gifts my parents had denied me growing up. Everything had shifted the day Kylie met him. She began asking him for rides home from work. Slowly, my spot in the passenger seat became cluttered with her shoes, her sweaters, her lipsticks. When I tried to clear her stuff out, Brandon stopped me. “Kylie texted me saying she’d pick those up later. Don’t make a big deal out of it.” “Why are you guys texting so much?” I had asked, feeling sick. Brandon had dismissed my anxiety with a wave of his hand. “She’s your sister. We’re going to be family anyway. What’s wrong with having her on social media?” “I told you how she operates – ” “Sabrina, Kylie isn’t the monster you make her out to be.” … I walked over to the nightstand and pulled out a small, battered metal tin with peeling paint. Inside lay a pair of simple gold hoop earrings – the only thing left to me by my grandmother. When I was little, my parents claimed having two kids was too expensive, so they dumped me in the countryside with my grandmother. She was the only person who ever loved me. While the neighbors mocked me for being an abandoned child, my grandmother held me, fed me, and kept me warm. When she passed away, my parents swooped in like vultures, taking every cent of her savings and using it to buy designer clothes and private tutoring for Kylie. The only thing they missed were these tiny gold hoops, which my grandmother had secretly tucked into my hands on her deathbed. I held the cold metal tightly in my palm, remembering the gentle touch of her paper-thin hands. A sudden, sharp knock banged on my apartment door. I opened it to find Brandon standing there, his face dark and furious. “Give the gold earrings back to Kylie.” I froze, stunned. Kylie stepped out from behind him, her eyes brimming with tears. “Sabrina… I know you hate me, but those earrings are the only thing Grandma left me… Please, just give them back to me?” Brandon stepped forward, shielding Kylie behind his back, his eyes locked on mine with disgust. “If I hadn’t had lunch with your parents today, I never would have known! They told me a pair of gold earrings went missing when they packed up Grandma’s things. I had no idea you were the kind of person who would steal from your own sister’s inheritance!” He sneered. “Don’t bother lying. I’ve seen you staring at that old metal box like a freak. They’re in there, aren’t they?” I stared at them, my entire body going rigid. “What kind of sick lie is this?!” I shouted, my voice cracking. “Kylie barely met Grandma! She was on a trip to Disney World when Grandma died! Why on earth would Grandma leave her inheritance to her?!” Kylie grabbed the back of Brandon’s shirt, trembling dramatically. “Sabrina, I know you resent me, but we’re both her granddaughters! Why wouldn’t she leave me something?” Brandon’s patience snapped. “If you won’t get them, I’ll find them myself!” He pushed past me toward the bedroom. I threw my body against the doorway, blocking him, my whole frame shaking violently. “Brandon! We’ve been together for four years! You don’t trust me at all?!” Brandon stopped, looking down at me with unreserved contempt. “How can I trust you? Your own parents told me you’ve been envious of Kylie since you were a child. They said you have a habit of stealing things!” “Stealing.” The word exploded in my brain, shattering my composure into a thousand jagged pieces. Brandon “knew” the truth about that. He knew the story! When we were kids on a family trip, my parents bought Kylie a luxury meal while leaving me with nothing. I was so dizzy from hunger that I reached over and took “one single french fry” from Kylie’s plate. My parents had tackled me to the ground in front of dozens of tourists, beating me and screaming that I was a disgraceful little thief. It was the deepest trauma of my childhood. And now, Brandon was using that exact dagger to gut me. A primal, hysterical rage surged through my chest. I balled my hands into fists and screamed with everything I had left: “GET OUT! GET THE HELL OUT OF MY APARTMENT!” Doors clicked open down the hallway as neighbors poked their heads out to watch the scene. Seeing the crowd gather, Brandon’s eyes flicked around nervously, his jaw tightening. “Sabrina, you’ve completely lost your mind to jealousy! No matter how much you envy your sister, you can’t steal her things!” Gasps echoed down the hall. “Look at her… looks so quiet, but she’s a thief?” “Stealing from her own family? How vile.” The whispers wrapped around me like suffocating chains. The disgusted glares of my neighbors bled into the memory of the tourists staring down at a helpless, starving child on the pavement. My dignity was being shredded, stripped naked, and stomped into the dirt. Kylie peeked out from behind Brandon’s shoulder, subtly darting her tongue out at me in a silent mockery. Rage overrode my senses. I lunged forward, raising my hand to slap the smirk off her face. Brandon reacted instantly, grabbing my wrist in a crushing grip. “Give me the earrings!” He violently forced my fingers open. In the struggle, my foot caught on the edge of the rug, and I crashed backward, my head slamming brutally into the sharp, metal corner of the shoe rack behind me. “THUD.” A white-hot pain split through my skull. The scab from yesterday broke wide open, and warm, sticky blood immediately poured down my neck, dripping onto the hardwood floor. Brandon’s hands froze in mid-air. A flash of pure panic cut through his anger. “Sabrina… I… I didn’t mean to – ” I couldn’t feel the physical pain anymore. I just sat there in the pool of my own blood, staring at the gold earrings glinting in his palm. And then, I began to laugh. A hollow, desolate sound that broke into quiet sobs. “Brandon,” I whispered, tears cutting pale tracks through the blood on my cheeks. “Is it true? As long as she wants something, I have to give it up? As long as she tells a lie, you’ll believe her blindly?” Brandon’s face drained of all color. He dropped to his knees, reaching out frantically. “No, Sabrina, stop talking! Let me take you to the hospital – ” “DON’T TOUCH ME!” I recoiled from his hand, dragging myself up against the wall, swaying on my feet. I looked at Brandon, then at Kylie, and finally at the gaping neighbors. “Those earrings belonged to my grandmother. She gave them to me. I never stole a damn thing in my life.” I wiped the blood from my mouth, letting out a soft, final laugh. “And as for you, Brandon…” I looked him dead in the eye. “We’re done. The wedding is canceled.”
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