Chapter 3

Half an hour later, I heard soft footsteps in the hallway.

Sophie drifted past my door, draped in my coat.

She'd doused herself in my signature perfume, the smell was so overpowering, it seeped right through the crack in the door.

I slipped out after her.

She paused by the couch, leaned over, and reached for Ethan's shoulder.

Ethan suddenly sat up.

He grabbed the bowl of Bloody Mary from the coffee table and dumped it right over her head.

Sophie let out a scream.

The lights came on.

My parents, my aunt, and my grandma all came rushing out.

Sophie was soaked from head to toe in liquid, her makeup smeared and running all over her face, she looked like a watercolor painting left out in a storm.

Ethan leaned back on the couch, putting on the perfect act of being the victim.

"I was barely awake when someone in Lily's coat started creeping up on me. Honestly, I thought there was a break-in," Ethan said.

Sophie wailed, "You're making things up! I was just worried you weren't feeling well, I only wanted to check on you!"

Ethan pointed at the coffee table.

"Then why were you wearing her coat and doused in her perfume?" Ethan shot back.

My aunt immediately rushed to Sophie's side.

"Sophie was just trying to take care of you, how could you be so heartless to her?" she snapped.

Grandma scolded me, "Lily, did you teach him to do this?"

Everyone turned to stare at me.

That old suffocating feeling hit me all over again.

Ethan stood up and walked over to me.

He looked at everyone and said, "My girlfriend didn't have to teach me a thing. I was born knowing how to tell people apart, and their scent, too."

Sophie's sobbing paused for a second.

He added, "Lily smells sweet and fresh, but you? You just reek of perfume you swiped from her, it's so strong it practically burns my nose."

Those words finally pushed my aunt over the edge.

She lunged at Ethan, ready to slap him.

I stepped in front of Ethan, and her slap knocked my head to the side.

Everyone in the living room froze.

My aunt immediately burst into tears. "I didn't do it on purpose! I was just worried about Sophie!"

My mom grabbed my arm. "Lily, your aunt was just upset and got carried away."

I looked at her. "So just because I'm the one who got hit, it doesn't even matter?"

My dad frowned. "She already said it wasn't on purpose."

Ethan pulled me behind him, his voice calm but firm.

"Let's call the cops," he said.

Sophie's head snapped up. "No!"

She blurted it out way too fast.

Grandma got flustered. "Why call the cops over some family drama?"

Ethan said, "Someone tried sneaking up on me in the middle of the night, acting like she was my girlfriend, and then someone actually hit my girlfriend. Whether it's a big deal or not, let the police figure it out."

My aunt's face went pale.

My mom lowered her voice. "Lily, are you really going to make a scene and make us look bad in front of everyone?"

I shot back, "Who's the one causing all this drama, huh?"

Sophie suddenly clutched her chest and collapsed onto the couch.

My aunt screamed, "The medicine! Get the medicine!"

Everyone rushed over to her.

My dad yelled at me, "What are you standing there for? Go get some water!"

Ethan didn't move.

He kept his eyes fixed on Sophie's hand.

"She's got the medicine bottle in her right hand, she doesn't need anyone else to find it for her," Ethan said.

Sophie's sobbing froze in her throat.

Sure enough, she was clutching the medicine bottle in her right hand.

Even Grandma looked a bit embarrassed for once.

My mom wouldn't let it go. "Sophie's not feeling well, let's get her to the hospital."

Ethan said, "Yeah, that works. Hospitals have security cameras, and they can check for injuries too."

Sophie looked at him, teeth gritted.

For the first time, I saw real fear flash across her face.

In the end, she didn't go to the hospital.

My aunt said it was too late and she didn't want to risk Sophie's health by taking her out.

Ethan took out his phone and took pictures, one of the red mark on my face, and another of the chaos in the living room.

My mom looked annoyed. "Ethan, who are you trying to protect yourself from?"

Ethan replied, "Just making sure no one tries to say Lily bullied Sophie tomorrow morning."

My mom looked a bit uncomfortable, he'd hit the nail on the head.

My dad told us to leave for the night.

Before we left, Sophie had changed into fresh clothes and was sitting on the stairs, her face ghostly pale.

She fixed her gaze on Ethan.

"Mr. Miller, do you really not feel a shred of pity for me?" she asked.

Ethan stopped in his tracks.

I expected him to fire back.

But then, he suddenly sounded gentle.

"Not everyone gets my sympathy. If you're really that sick, maybe you should stop making trouble for yourself," Ethan said, his tone cool.

Sophie froze.

She probably thought he was finally going soft on her.

Ethan added, "Don't waste your days making trouble for yourself."

It wasn't a sharp remark, but it made her face go even paler.

On the way back, I asked him, "What did you mean by what you said just now?"

Ethan kept his eyes on the road. "Her medicine bottle had a fresh label, but the bottle itself looked old and scuffed. That's not the medicine she usually takes."

I didn't catch on right away.

He said, "Maybe she's not as sick as she pretends to be."

I blurted out, "That's impossible. We've been giving in to her for twenty years just because of her so-called illness."

Ethan glanced at me.

"What if all those years you spent giving in to her, maybe you never owed her anything in the first place?" he said.

The streetlights outside the window slipped past one by one.

Suddenly, I remembered something Emily had said before she left.

She said, "Lily, some people aren't really weak, they just know acting weak is the best way to get what they want."

*****

The next day, Sophie made the first move.

She posted a photo in the family group chat.

In the picture, her hair was dripping wet, liquid stains all over her shoulders, and her eyes were puffy and red from crying all night.

She wrote a long, dramatic post.

She said she was only worried about Ethan not feeling well, and never thought she'd end up being embarrassed like that.

She claimed I'd always hated her since we were little, and even taught my boyfriend to pick on her.

She said she didn't blame me, she just blamed her own poor health, saying it was her own fault if everyone found her annoying.

The family group chat went wild.

Aunt Mary called me heartless.

My cousin Paul Smith scoffed, saying Ethan was just some guy running a small restaurant, but he had got a lot of nerve for someone like that.

Grandma sent a shaky voice message: "Lily, you bring Ethan back right now and apologize."

As I scrolled through all those messages, my palms went cold.

Ethan set breakfast down in front of me.

"Eat up first. We'll deal with them after," he said.

I looked at him, a bit uncertain. "You're really going back?"

"She set the stage, if I don't show up, all her drama goes to waste," Ethan said.