"She's still the little sister you doted on since childhood."
Her brother let out a quiet laugh, his tone flat and indifferent.
"Anna lost a decent job, that's all. She can still scrub toilets and mop floors for a living. But Edna lost her legs. Compared to Edna, Anna's already living a blessed life."
That was how I learned the truth. All those years after being thrown out of the family. Every company that rejected my application. The six-by-six basement I'd been crammed into, living a life worse than death.
All of it was a gift from the brother I'd loved most.
From that moment on, I stopped hoping for their love. I stopped begging.
That year, to scrape together money for treatment, I delivered food during the day and worked as a waitress at a nightclub at night.
More than once, I was harassed. My clothes pulled loose, my lipstick smeared across my face.
But because of my brother's interference, not a single person who saw it helped me.
They joined in instead. Mocking me. Forcing drinks down my throat.
And the money I earned was a drop in the bucket.
In less than two months, I couldn't even afford my targeted therapy medication anymore.
So I stopped taking it.
In the end, the cancer spread until it reached late stage.
The doctor said that even if I had the money for surgery now, it was too late.
Edna tossed the keychain onto the ground. She clung to her brother's arm, pouting sweetly.
"Big brother, does she still hate me? Why else would she give me something so old and ugly?"
The atmosphere froze for a split second.
A few of the people there had grown up with us. They knew what that keychain meant to me.
Edna sensed the shift in the room and let her voice go small and wounded. "Did I say something wrong?"
"I'm sorry. I'll pick it up right now."
Her brother's brow furrowed. He pressed her back into the wheelchair.
His gaze swung toward me, his face dark as a thundercloud.
"You're right. Old, ugly things belong in the trash."
His eyes swept over my face, searching. He wanted to see me crumble after watching the rabbit keychain get discarded.
But my expression was ashen. Hollow.
And that made him even more displeased.
"Anna, those precious knees of yours have already hit the floor for countless people these past few days. You think they didn't lend you money because they couldn't?" He paused. "In Southport, whether someone gets something or loses everything comes down to a single word from me."
"Kneel and apologize now, and I'll still give you the money. But if you keep stalling, my patience runs out."
My empty heart seized, as though a fist had clamped around it and squeezed.
The pain sent heat rushing behind my eyes.
There was a time when someone bullied me and my brother made those same threats on my behalf. Back then, all of Southport said the same thing: cross anyone you want, but never cross the Maddox family's eldest daughter.
Because her brother would destroy you.
But now, for Edna's sake, every one of those weapons was aimed at me.
Under Edna's taunting gaze, I clenched the final payment slip inside my pocket.
My fingers tightened until they went white.
I'd once promised someone that I would fight the illness. That I would keep living.
But I couldn't do it.
So the least I could do was buy the plot beside his.
I couldn't leave him lying there alone.
Now I was five thousand dollars short.
"Transfer the money first. Then I'll apologize."
The words left my mouth.
My brother sent the five thousand. Then he let out a sharp, derisive laugh.
"Still playing hard to get? You think that'll make me feel sorry for you? Not a chance."
"Now. Get on your knees and bow to Edna."
I heard the cruelty threaded through his laughter.
But I felt nothing anymore.
Like a machine, I bent my knees. And knelt.
The room erupted in laughter. Every pair of eyes locked onto me.
"I heard you crippled our Edna just so you could win that championship."
