When I woke up, I was in a hospital.
Everything was white, and the air smelled of antiseptic.
My parents and Julian were gathered around my bed, their faces etched with exhaustion and fear.
The moment I opened my eyes, my mother burst into tears. “Lily, you’re finally awake! You scared us to dea- th!”
A sharp pain shot through the back of my head. I let out a soft hiss.
Julian immediately tensed. “What is it? Does your head still hurt? Doctor! Doctor!”
A doctor rushed in and examined me.
“The patient has a mild concussion,” he announced, looking grim. “Combined with her pre-existing emotional instability, the immense shock caused her to faint.”
He looked at my parents, his tone serious. “Mr. and Mrs. Sterling, the patient’s condition is not optimistic. Her mental state is extremely fragile, like a tightly wound string. Any further disturbance, no matter how small, could cause it to snap.”
As her family, you must create an environment for her that is absolutely safe and relaxing. She cannot endu- re any more grievances or provocations.”
The doctor’s words were a final verdict, sealing Aurora’s guilt.
My father’s face was ashen. He glanced at Aurora, who was standing by the door with a bandage on her own head. His eyes were colder and more disappointed than I had ever seen them.
Aurora’s injury was superficial. Mine was a “mental breakdown” plus a “concussion.”
It was clear who was the real victim.
Lying in the bed, I weakly turned my head to look at Aurora, a single tear tracing a path down my temple.
“Sister, why would you say that? I didn’t push you, I really didn’t…”
“I know you hate me. You want me to leave this family. Fine. I’ll go.”
“When I get out of the hospital, I’ll leave and never come back. You can all… you can all just pretend you nev er had me as a daughter.”
My voice was a mere thread of sound, but every word was a dagger to their hearts.
“Nonsense!” my father snapped. “You are a Sterling. No one can make you leave!”
He turned to Aurora, his voice harsher than ever before. “Aurora Sterling! Apologize to your sister!”
Aurora jolted, looking at him in disbelief. “Dad, you want me to apologize to her? You’d rather believe he than me?”
“I believe the doctor! And I believe the evidence!” he roared. “I’ve already reviewed the security footage! The- re was no one within three feet of you. you fell on your own! And you still have the audacity to frame you sister!”
The blood drained from Aurora’s face.
She had calculated everything, except for the security camera in the living room that happened to capture that exact corner of the staircase.
My parents hadn’t mentioned it before because they were still trying to protect her, to give her a chance to confess.
But she hadn’t taken it.
Aurora panicked, crying and trying to explain. “No, Dad, Mom, I didn’t mean it, I was just… I was confused for
a moment…”
“Enough!” my mother cried, pointing at her, her eyes full of disappointment. “I told you to treat her like a sist- er, and this is what you do! Lily suffered so much to come back to us, how could you be so cruel!”
“Starting today, you’re moving out! And you will think long and hard about what you have done wrong!”
Chapter
Aurora looked as if she’d been struck by lightning.
She was being kicked out.
She had lost. Utterly and completely.
She glared at me with pure hatred. I just buried my face in my pillow, my shoulders shaking slightly, playing the part of the poor soul wronged by the world.
Only I knew that under the covers, I was smiling.
The security camera?
I knew it was there all along.
The reason I dared to pull that stunt was because I had calculated that the moment the truth was reveale
would be the most devastating blow of all.
