Chapter 4

Life with my father got better day by day.

Dad bought a used little car. "Someone drives Emily every day. Sophie, we have a car now, too."

Sometimes I thought Dad was more childish than I was, but his childishness soothed the wounds I hadn't fully healed.

In seventh grade, Emily's grades truly ranked at the top, and I let her enjoy being proud for a year.

Sometimes the higher one lifted someone, the harder they fell.

In eighth grade, Emily's grades dropped again and again. I knew Richard's claws had already reached her.

A person's nature did not change;…