My Brother Never Gave Me a Home Chapter 04
Something cracked inside my chest.
The next sound was hurried footsteps. Tiptoeing away.
Then the front door clicked shut. Quiet. Careful.
I stared at the dark ceiling for a long, long time.
Long enough that my eyes burned and my nose clogged.
I laughed.
“This is so pointless.”
I slept until noon.
When I woke up, a message from the Ashford family’s housekeeper was waiting.
After Leo got home last night, he and Chloe had fought about the party.
Chloe had screamed. Cried. Slit her wrists.
She was in the hospital now.
The housekeeper was gently, carefully suggesting that maybe I could come and explain things. Smooth it over.
By then, I’d already packed my meager belongings.
I left everything he’d ever given me behind.
When I got to the hospital with the apartment key, a team of over a dozen doctors was filing out of Chloe’s room.
“Mr. Ashford really treasures that sister of his. A scratch that small, and he called in more than ten specialists.”
A storm cloud settled over my chest.
When I’d transferred schools and gotten bullied by Chloe’s friends, Leo had said a few words to the doctor. Got my class switched. Never showed up again.
I stood by the door, about to knock.
“I told you, her coming back won’t threaten your place. I only brought her home because of Mom and Dad’s dying wish.”
“Stop throwing tantrums. I’m only good to her because I owe her. That doesn’t mean she’s replacing you in my heart.”
“If she were, would I have kept her out of the house for three years just because you didn’t want to see her? Would I have held off on proving her residency because you said you didn’t want a sister?”
“Just be a little more understanding. She’s already been found. If we send her back to her adoptive parents now, people will say we mistreated her. Let her stay a while longer. Once she finishes college, I’ll ship her off to a branch office. Okay?”
Chloe’s voice was thick with tears. Her eyes were rabbit-red.
“And what if she won’t go?”
Leo was quiet for a moment.
“Then I’ll arrange a marriage alliance. Marry her off early. I promise this family will only have one daughter. You. Happy?”
Chloe laughed.
“Promise?”
Leo tapped her forehead. Affectionate. Doting.
“Fine, you spoiled brat. Now get some rest. I’m staying right here. Not going anywhere.”
“You better get better fast. Otherwise I’m taking someone else on that global trip.”
A cool breeze slipped through the crack in the door and hit my skin.
Cold. Bone-deep cold.
The stiffness spread from my blood to my heart.
The apartment key bit into my palm.
I opened my hand slowly. Saw the blood welling up from the grooves.
I laughed.
A key cut wrong will never open the right door.
I left the key at the nurses’ station. Asked them to give it to Leo.
Took a cab back to the apartment.
Dragged my suitcase out.
I let my eyes sweep the space one last time. This place I’d lived for three years that had never once felt like home.
Leaving didn’t hurt the way it had when I’d left my adoptive parents.
I was closing the door when Leo appeared.
His eyes held something shifty. Guilty.
“You left your key at the nurses’ station? Did you hear something back there?”
