"Can't even scrape together five thousand dollars. Pathetic!"
"Let's teach her a lesson for Edna!"
Someone shouted first, and then they were on me. Hands fisted in my hair, yanking my head back. Palms cracked across my face, one after another.
Blood and spit ran from the corner of my mouth.
These people all wanted to curry favor with my brother. Hurting me was just another way to please him.
And when my brother stood there watching without lifting a finger—
They only hit harder.
By the time they stopped, my face was so swollen my eyelids drooped and sagged. I was barely recognizable.
Only then did someone speak up.
"Enough. Stop hitting her."
It was my mother.
She cupped my face, her eyes brimming with tears.
"Why are you so selfish? Four years and you never once came to find us."
"Is it really so hard to admit what you did wrong?"
Listening to her accusations, something plucked at my heart. A small, dull ache.
"But Mom, you taught me never to admit to something I didn't do."
"Why won't you believe me?"
I stared at her face.
Searching for even the smallest trace of partiality toward me.
She crushed that last shred of hope instead.
"Enough! Anna, are you saying Edna framed you?"
"I thought a few years of hardship would set you straight, but you've only gotten worse. You're still trying to drive a wedge between Edna and me."
"I watched Edna grow up. Don't you think I know what kind of person she is?"
"She would never do something like that!"
I looked into her furious eyes.
The corner of my mouth twitched. I dragged myself off the ground.
"If none of you believe me, then why put on this act of calling me back?"
"What do you want me to do—sing praises to your pure and noble motherly love?"
The words barely left my mouth before she slapped me hard across the face. Blood welled fresh at the corner of my lip.
She looked at me with wounded eyes.
As though she were the one who'd been wronged.
But I couldn't feel sorry for her.
A year ago, one word from her could have made my brother lift the blacklist. I could have had a real job. I wouldn't have had to work nightclub shifts where men groped me in the dark.
But the moment Edna cried on the other end of the phone—
My mother forgot everything.
"If you'd been honest about what you did back then, maybe I could have kept you in this family. You're the one who severed that bond with your own hands!"
"And now you're standing here playing the victim. Who is this performance for?"
My brother's hatred for me ran bone-deep.
I heard my own voice, distant, as if talking to myself.
"Would you only stop tormenting me if I were dead?"
He stared at me, jaw tight, and let out a cold laugh.
"Anna, do you actually think you're Edna? Edna is my sister. Whether you live or die has nothing to do with me."
I laughed too.
"You're right. When I die, don't bother mourning. You stopped being my brother a long time ago."
Something in those words struck a nerve. His hand shot out and closed around my throat.
"Anna, do you really think I won't do it?"
My mother gasped and started toward us.
But Edna wheeled herself forward first, cutting her off.
"Stop it, Logan! You're going to kill her!"
She was shouting at my brother, but her hands grabbed at me.
In the next instant, she toppled out of her wheelchair, taking it down with her. Her gown snagged and tore, leaving her half-exposed on the floor.
"I'm sorry, Anna. I was only trying to save you. I didn't realize you still resented me for taking Mom and Logan away from you."
"But look at me. I'm like this now. I'll never stand again. I'm no threat to you anymore. Why would you still humiliate me?"
