The Sister They Threw Away

"Dominic, Julian, guess what I wished for?" A cheap, marked-down cake sat on the table. I closed my eyes and made a wish. When I opened them, the two chairs across from me were empty. That was when I remembered: my brothers didn't want me anymore. When I was ten, my brothers brought Leah Morgan home. She was the daughter of their late mentor, Professor Andrew Morgan, and they told me to treat her like a real sister. But little by little, Leah stole all their affection from me. I grew anxious, then competitive. I thought that if I were good enough, they might love me a little more. In the final round of a piano competition, Leah burst into tears after losing to me. Dominic comforted her. "In my heart, you play better than Heather ever could!" I ranked first in my school and won a scholarship, which cost Leah her place among the candidates. Julian went so far as to force the school to investigate whether I had cheated. At my eighteenth-birthday party, Leah fell from the second-floor balcony into the pool. She pointed at me. "Heather pushed me!" My brothers were furious. Without an ounce of mercy, they dumped me in the worst part of town. "We indulged you for too long, Heather. That's why you became so competitive. Now it's time you learned to rein in your jealousy." They even sent local thugs to my door to harass me and steal what little money I managed to earn. They thought I would learn my lesson. What they didn't know was that I had received an email offering me a full scholarship to the University of Zurich. I was about to leave for Switzerland, and I was never coming back. Chapter 1 My run-down rental had mold-spotted walls and curtains chewed to shreds by rats. Everything I owned was stuffed into a battered duffel bag I had picked up from the bar where I worked. My phone suddenly buzzed with a text from my brothers: "Heather, come home now. We have something important to discuss." I stared at the words "come home," tears dripping onto the screen. A tiny spark of hope flickered to life inside me. My brothers still remembered me. I spent half a day's wages on a cab and raced home. I pushed open the front door, and what I saw froze me in place. They were gathered around Leah, celebrating her birthday. Dominic, Julian, and my childhood sweetheart Darian Cross were all there. Dominic stroked Leah's hair, his voice impossibly tender. "Another year older. Happy birthday, Leah." Julian chimed in with a grin. "Even when you're eighty, you'll still be my favorite little princess." Darian leaned in with his camera. "She definitely likes me best. She even said she'd marry me when we were kids." Laughter filled the living room. No one noticed me standing in the doorway. I stood there in my wrinkled shirt, mortified, until my legs went numb. Only then did Dominic glance my way. His smile vanished, replaced by the cold look I knew so well. "Heather. That was fast." Leah spared me a fleeting glance, scooped up her gifts, and retreated to her room. Julian spoke first, his tone like he was ordering a servant around. "What are you standing there for? Get over here!" I was about to sit on the far end of the couch when Darian tossed a blanket at me. "Sit on that. Don't stain Leah's favorite sofa." I looked down at myself. My jeans had been washed until they were nearly white, the hems fraying badly, and several patches stood out in obvious places. But they were the best pair I owned. I didn't argue. I just spread the blanket in silence and sat down. Dominic pushed a document in front of me. "Look it over and sign. We still have to take Leah to a bar for the rest of her birthday celebration." The first page read in bold letters: Voluntary Relinquishment of Inheritance. The house, shares, and savings my parents had left behind, all to be transferred unconditionally to Leah. My hands began to tremble. I turned to the second page: Termination of Adoption and Severance of Family Ties. "Oh, forgot to mention," Julian said casually. "You were adopted by our parents." Dominic leaned in and lowered his voice. "Leah's birthday wish this year is to have a complete family." His long fingers tapped the table impatiently. "Just sign it. Consider it your birthday present to Leah." Chapter 2 Something seemed to explode inside my head. I curled my lips into a bitter smile, mocking myself for ever getting my hopes up. I had thought my brothers called me back because they remembered today was my birthday. Even though I had already decided to leave, I had still held on to the desperate hope that they might explain themselves and that I could have one last happy birthday. Instead, they just wanted to give Leah a complete family. They wanted to get rid of me, the burden, once and for all. Six months of working odd jobs had left my hands covered in tiny cuts and scrapes. My hands shook as I picked up the pen. The cuts on my fingers made my writing jagged and unsteady. A single tear fell onto my signature, smudging a small blot of ink. I finished signing and looked up at Dominic through tear-filled eyes. He turned away, avoiding my gaze. His voice was low and heavy. "Now that you've signed, you should go. Leah doesn't like you, and today is her birthday. Don't ruin it for her." I closed my eyes and nodded. The tiny spark of hope that had flickered to life moments ago died in an instant. My heart went dead. The butler escorted me out as if I were a guest, not family. I stood outside the mansion gates for a long time. The sunlight stung my eyes and seared something deep in my chest. Laughter drifted out from the mansion again. I wiped my face with the back of my hand and walked away. It was my last day at my part-time job. I took the subway to the bar where I worked. On the train, everyone around me seemed to be in pairs. I was the only one alone. I swallowed the bitterness rising in my throat and scrolled through Instagram to distract myself. The very first post was Leah's. She was wearing a custom-made princess gown, with Dominic, Julian, and Darian gathered around her. Her caption read: The unwanted one is finally gone. Now this family is complete. Dominic and Darian had both liked the post. In the comments, Julian had written, "Congratulations on your acceptance to Durand Academy of the Arts!" My hand trembled. Durand Academy was a private art school with tuition of at least a hundred thousand dollars a year. It had once been my dream school, but Dominic and Julian had refused to let me apply because of the cost. Dominic was a mafia don; Julian dealt arms internationally. A hundred thousand dollars was pocket change to them, barely a minute's earnings. And the program I had wanted was the cheapest one Durand offered. Back then, I told myself they just couldn't bear to see me go so far away. Only now did I understand. It was never about the money. They just didn't think I was worth spending it on. An adopted sister with no blood ties could never compare to their late mentor's daughter. With that thought, I blocked every one of their numbers. I didn't want a home that didn't love me. I didn't want a family that didn't love me. Chapter 3 I arrived at the bar and changed into the skimpy waitress uniform. The owner was a decent man. When he heard I was saving up for tuition to study abroad, he paid me a dollar more per hour than the other waitresses. For the past six months, I had been on my feet five hours a day, enduring insults and violence from drunk customers. I had taken it all without complaint. Because I knew that every second I endured here was a stepping stone toward Zurich. I stood for three hours in heels that didn't fit and earned a hundred dollars in tips. Before I could celebrate, the owner grabbed my arm. "Heather, four guests just arrived in VIP Room One. Go take care of them!" He winked at me, excited. "Take good care of them. Their tips alone might pay for your flight to Zurich." I thanked him and made my way to the VIP room with bottles on my tray, ignoring the ache in my feet. The room was dimly lit, the guests hidden in shadow. I couldn't make out their faces, so I leaned in as usual and asked if they would like to order drinks. Silence. No one answered. I looked up and found myself staring into Julian's furious face. "Heather, you're actually working a job like this!" Julian slapped the tray out of my hands, his eyes raking over my revealing uniform. Bottles shattered, and the shards cut into my ankle. I bit back the pain and said nothing. Dominic stood as well, glaring at me. "Have you forgotten everything we taught you growing up?" I lowered my head. "I need the money." Julian scoffed. Leah stepped forward and linked her arm through mine. "Heather, if you needed money, why didn't you ask Dominic or Julian?" She tilted her head, putting on an innocent expression. "I thought you had an allowance account. I don't even have one." The deposits to my allowance account had stopped a long time ago. Every cent I lived on now came from this uniform, from the drinks on my tray, scraped together one tip at a time. But saying any of that would only become more proof, in my brothers' eyes, that I had fallen as low as they believed. So I didn't explain. I just looked at Leah's barely concealed smirk and spoke calmly. "You're right. You don't have an allowance account because you don't need one. You can draw directly from the Weems Family trust, and you have access to far more than I ever did. So lose the condescending act, Leah." Leah's eyes went red. She buried her face in her hands and began to cry softly. "Who gave you the right to talk to Leah like that!" Darian shoved me, and I lost my footing, dropping to my knees on the broken glass. Neither of my brothers noticed. They were too busy rushing to comfort Leah. "I was only trying to look out for Heather, and she..." Leah's theatrical sobbing made my stomach turn. "I want to go home!" "Fine, let's go home. Don't waste your time on someone like Heather!" With that, my brothers swept Leah out the door without a backward glance. Darian didn't leave right away. He stood over me, pulled a thick wad of cash from his wallet, and flung it in my face. "You need money, right? Take it, and don't let me catch you in this neighborhood again!" I crouched down slowly, pulling the hem of my skirt over the bloodied cuts on my knees, and picked up the bills one by one. "Thank you for the tip, sir." I kept my voice polite. He clenched his fists, looking as if he wanted to tear me apart. Bang! Darian slammed the door behind him, leaving me alone in the room. Chapter 4 After my shift, I went to the clinic near the bar by myself. I was a regular. The doctor sighed when he saw me walk in. He brought over his supplies, knelt in front of me, and carefully extracted the glass shards from the raw wounds on my legs. I gritted my teeth through the whole thing without making a sound. "Ms. Weems, don't you have any family to come with you?" Company. The word felt as foreign to me as love. I smiled and shook my head. "They're busy keeping someone else company." The doctor gave me a pitying look and, as usual, prescribed the least expensive antibiotic. I limped out of the clinic and took the money Darian had thrown at me to the bank. But when I saw the balance on my account, my eyes went wide. Balance: $0. Every dollar I had saved for my living expenses in Zurich was gone! Not a single cent was left. My mind went blank for a moment, then I forced myself to think clearly. The account had been opened under the Weems Family name, which meant the only people who could access it besides me were my brothers. I hailed a cab and rushed to the mansion. Ignoring the burning pain in my legs, I kicked the door open. Dominic, Julian, and Leah were all there. "Why did you drain my account!" Dominic's expression didn't change. "What were you planning to do with that dirty money!" I pressed my lips together. "I got into college with a full scholarship. That money was for my living expenses, and I saved every penny of it myself!" "You're still lying!" Julian slammed his palm on the table. "I'm not!" "Heather, Leah already told us everything. She said you keep going to the mall and buying luxury goods!" I laughed. I laughed at how blindly they favored Leah, and at how stupid they were. Everything on me was worth less than fifty dollars combined. Meanwhile, even a simple hair clip on Leah cost a hundred thousand dollars. The facts were right in front of them, and they still believed every word out of Leah's mouth. Leah put on her wounded act again, her voice thick with crocodile tears. "I was only trying to help. I never thought they'd actually take your money..." Julian's face hardened. "Heather, apologize to Leah." I didn't move. I just stared at Leah, who was hiding behind my brothers, flashing me a smug little smile. She was gloating over yet another victory. I kept my voice steady. "I'm not apologizing. I didn't do anything wrong." "You!" Julian shot to his feet, his hand raised as if to strike me, but the blow never came. I looked up. His hand hung frozen in the air, trembling slightly. After a moment, he clenched it into a fist and lowered it. I turned to leave, but Darian walked out of the kitchen carrying a plate of Leah's favorite peaches. He set the plate down and fixed me with an irritated look. "What are you making a scene about now? Didn't I just give you money?" "Heather, your jealousy is out of control. When are you going to learn your lesson?" I grabbed the wad of cash and hurled it at him. The bills scattered around him like falling snow. Shock flashed across Darian's face. "There. Your money. I don't owe any of you a thing." Dominic frowned and pulled a black credit card from his wallet, holding it out to me. "Heather, are you really going to make this big of a scene over money? If that's what you want, I'll give it to you right now." "I don't need it!" I stepped back without taking the card and looked at all of them. "You always thought I was jealous, that I was dirty, that I needed to learn my lesson." My gaze swept across every face in the room. "But you won't have to worry anymore. Soon I'll be far away, and you'll never have to see me again." I didn't stay a second longer. I left without looking back. Back at my apartment, I dug out the ruby necklace buried at the bottom of my dresser. It was the only thing my adoptive mother had left me, and the last tie I had to the Weems name. I clutched the necklace tight and went to the nearest pawnshop. A few days later, I used the money from pawning the necklace to buy a ticket to Zurich. The moment the plane lifted off, I watched the world shrink away beneath me and smiled. It was the only genuine smile I had worn since they dumped me in that neighborhood. The Weems Family, my two brothers, and Darian. I would never see any of them again.