Chapter 3Pout or Suicide? My Brother’s Mad Regret

I froze, and for a second, I thought my other ear had gone deaf too.

“What drugs?”

His face was grim as he twisted open the cap and emptied the contents onto the coffee table.

A small pile of white powder.

My eyes widened in horror.

“Sophie told me, but I didn’t want to believe it. Not only is your life a mess, but you’re breaking the law now, too!”

Jake was seething, a vein throbbing in his temple. “No wonder you’ve been acting so strange these past few months! This is what you’ve been doing!”

A chilling cold spread through me. “That’s my leukemia medication,” I explained frantically. “I didn’t put that powder in there! I don’t know anything about it…”

“Still lying!” Jake cut me off, his eyes like shards of glass. “Is this your pill bottle or not?”

“Yes, but—”

“No buts!”

His anger finally boiled over. He strode toward me and, with a sharp crack, slapped me across the face again. My left ear exploded with the same deafening ringing as before.

He was so enraged, his voice trembled. “What are you trying to do, Nina? Are you trying to drive me to my grave?”

“I forgave you for your… personal life. And now this? Do you need to spend a few years in jail to finally straighten up?”

Despite everything, tears streamed down my face. I clutched my throbbing ear, my voice a raw whisper.

“Sophie must have swapped the pills. We can go to the hospital, they can test me! They’ll see there’s nothing in my system!”

“If you go to a hospital, you’re finished!” he snarled, jabbing a finger toward my face, his own eyes welling up with tears of frustration. “I don’t know why I have a sister like you. You’ve disappointed me so much, Nina.”

“From now on, you’re not going anywhere. You won’t eat or drink anything until I’ve checked it first!”

I was utterly defenseless, a cold sweat breaking out on my back. I grabbed his arm. “Jake, please, I swear I’m not! I can call the police!”

I fumbled for my phone.

He shoved me away, and the phone clattered to the floor, its screen shattering. He snatched it up.

“Call the police? You want everyone to know my sister is a drug addict? You want them to laugh at me?”

He turned the phone off and dragged me, struggling, toward the basement.

“You’ll stay down here. You can come out when you’re clean.”

The heavy door slammed shut in front of me with a deafening boom.

Darkness enveloped me. I pounded on the door, my screams tearing from my throat. “Let me out! I didn’t do it!”

Through the thick wood, Jake’s voice was muffled and distant.

“Stop lying. I know what you are.”

“Nina, I’m doing this to save you!”