Chapter 1

"Rachel, I never even went to high school."

My sister slapped a sheet of paper down on my coffee table.

In black and white, it read: "Family Education Cost Sharing Agreement."

The amount listed was 30,000 dollars.

"Mom and Dad spent 60,000 dollars on my education. You're part of this family, so covering half is only fair."

She looked at me calmly, like she was saying the most normal thing in the world.

My husband poked his head out from the kitchen, glanced at the paper, then looked at me.

I didn't say a word.

I just stared at that number, 30,000 dollars.

And then, all of a sudden, I wanted to laugh.

My sister's name was Rachel Lane. Mine was Emily Lane. She was four years older than me, thirty-two this year, and growing up, the two of us might as well have been two different species in that house.

She was the one everyone lifted up. I was the one they stepped on to do it.

"Em, when your sister comes back this time, watch your mouth."

Mom had gone out of her way to remind me when she called last week. I thought Rachel was just coming back to visit family. I didn't expect her to bring an "agreement."

"Look closely." Rachel pointed at the paper. "Three years of high school, four years of college, three years of grad school. Tuition, living expenses, housing—Mom and Dad spent a total of 71,000 dollars on me. Rounded off, that's 60,000."

She said it like she was working through a math problem.

"You're family, so you cover half. 30,000 dollars."

My husband, David Carter, untied his apron and came over to sit down.

"Rachel, this..." He glanced at me and didn't dare finish.

"David, I'm talking to my sister. Stay out of it for now."

Rachel didn't even bother to look up. David opened his mouth, then looked at me again. I shook my head.

"Rachel, why should I pay back your school expenses?"

"It's not paying back. It's sharing." Rachel corrected me. "Mom and Dad's money was family money. What they spent on me came out of the family's money. As a member of the family, you should be responsible for part of it."

"Then what about me not going to school?"

"That was your choice."

I froze for a second.

"My choice?"

"That's what Mom said. She told me more than once that you were the one who didn't want to keep going."

I stared at her face for a long time. She looked dead serious. She really believed that.

"Rachel, do you really believe I chose to quit school?"

"You did say you didn't want to keep studying back then. Mom told me that a bunch of times."

I let out a short laugh. Not because it was funny, but because it was pathetic. So in this family, there was even an "official version" for why I never went to high school.

And in that version, I was the one who gave up.

"Fine." I nodded. "You should go for now. Let me think about it."

"Think about what? It's just 30,000 dollars. You and David can talk it over."

"Rachel." I looked at her. "I said I'll think about it."

She must've seen something in my face, because she paused for a second and didn't say anything else. She picked up her bag, walked to the door, then turned back to look at me.

"Em, you can't go through life thinking only about yourself."

The door shut.

David stared at the paper on the coffee table and stayed quiet for a long while.

"Honey, your sister..."

"Don't."

I flipped the paper over so the back side faced up.

"I don't want to look at it."

David pressed his lips together.

"Then... we just don't give it to her?"

"It's not that simple."

I leaned back against the couch and closed my eyes. A scene suddenly flashed through my head: the summer I was fifteen, one month before the entrance exam.

Mom sat across from me at the dinner table and said one sentence. I remembered that sentence for seventeen years. I never forgot a single word.