Chapter 2
He froze for three full seconds before slowly turning.
Shock and panic flickered in his eyes, then vanished into that familiar flat calm.
He hated me. Five years of lies and manipulation probably didn't even prick his conscience.
His voice was casual, like nothing was wrong. "It was alright."
It was like a tiny thorn pricking my heart.
Someone beside him tried to smooth things over. "Nina, look, your brother, he was just—"
Joey cut him off, his tone dismissive. "She saw. No point explaining."
He looked at me, his expression sarcastic. "You probably heard enough anyway."
Even knowing it was useless, I forced the words out. "That text our parents got, I didn't send it."
Disgust filled his eyes. "Nina, you're twenty-five. How long are you going to keep running from what you did?"
All the explanations, the protests, the hurt welled up and died on my tongue, choked by the pure, unvarnished hatred in his stare.
Finally, I just looked down. "Yeah. My fault."
If that's what he wanted to hear, fine. Let him have it.
Joey gave a soft, cold laugh. "Elisa was right. You need to suffer to grow up."
I looked up, straight into Elisa Haley's gaze. All wide-eyed innocence, with a glint of triumph underneath.
Our parents and the Haleys were old friends. Elisa was their only daughter, and she'd always trail after Joey, clinging to him and calling him "Joey" like it was nothing. I used to shoo her away. Joey never paid her any attention back then.
Look at them now.
I stood there long after they'd left. My phone buzzed. A text from Otto Wade, my senior from college.
[You're really turning down the study abroad spot? Professor Bennett was devastated when you dropped out. He pulled strings to get this for you, full scholarship.]
I stared at the words, dazed.
Another message. [Can't bear to leave Joey?]
This time, I didn't hesitate. [I'll take it.]
The air in front of me shimmered again with comments.
[Yes! The side character is finally leaving.]
[So, will the male lead officially adopt our girl now?]
[Adopt? Pfft. Romance line incoming!]
[I thought this was a sibling story?]
[Elisa and Joey aren't related. Mark my words, there's a love story brewing.]
The scrolling text made me dizzy. Information about the "plot" forced its way into my head.
I was in a novel. A "tortured romance" story. I was the male lead's disposable little sister, destined to die or vanish.
The male lead, heartbroken, would then cling to the female lead, Elisa, as a replacement, and they'd fall in love. My existence would be erased.
Leaving the country was my only way to avoid the scripted end.
Those twenty-plus years with Joey was just a footnote.
I wandered the streets, the wind cutting to the bone. My phone rang. On the screen—Joey.
For a second, I thought I was hallucinating.
He ordered coldly, "Get back to the family home."
With his fake limp exposed, the pretense was over.
The "bankruptcy," the "selling" of our family home, all lies.
I thought of the shabby, two-hundred-bucks-a-month rental I'd lived in for five years. It must have been a real hardship for him to visit.
My voice was hoarse. "I won't. My things are at the rental."
I was leaving in a few days anyway.
He let out a sharp, knowing laugh and hung up.
A cold dread settled in my stomach. I didn't know why until I got back to the tiny apartment and opened the door.
My bedroom was trashed. The landlady was tossing my last shirt onto a pile on the floor. My drawers were emptied, contents scattered everywhere.
Before I could even get a word out, the landlady whipped around, her eyes blazing with fury.
"You actually have the nerve to show up here?" she snapped.