Chapter 2I Paid Her Debt She Paid Me in Lies

“You were just some stray my parents brought home! There’s no way you’re their real daughter.” Her eyes glittered with mockery. “What’s next? Are you going to tell me you’re secretly a long-lost princess?”

Seeing the disbelief in her face, I knew words were useless.

I took a breath, grabbed her by the arm, and pulled her toward my bedroom.

She stumbled after me, shrieking, “What are you doing? Let go of me!”

I wrenched open my closet door. A few sparse items hung inside—sweaters with pilled sleeves, blouses with collars washed pale.

“Do you see this?” I held up a faded cashmere sweater. “It’s not that I won’t give you money. It’s that for years, every penny I’ve earned has gone toward paying off the family’s debt. Back when…”

She cut me off. With a sneer, she pulled a stack of photos from her purse and threw them in my face. They scattered across the floor. Pictures of me at a business gala last month, dressed in a sleek evening gown, networking. A few others showed me getting out of the black Mercedes I used for client meetings.

“You’re still lying!” she screeched, her finger jabbing the air an inch from my nose. “Wearing couture gowns, going to fancy parties, riding in luxury cars! Is that what you call cutting back?”

I looked at her face, twisted with resentment, and my stomach churned. That gala had been a necessary evil to land a major client. The gown was rented. The car was a lease through the company. Behind every moment of glamour was a balance sheet stretched to its breaking point.

“Avery, those were…”

“What? For work?” she interrupted, her voice climbing. She grabbed her phone, her thumb flying across the screen. “Why don’t you explain that to my followers? Tell them what kind of ‘work’ requires a twenty-thousand-dollar dress.”

Followers?

My eyes widened as I saw her screen. It was a live broadcast. The viewer count was skyrocketing, and a torrent of comments was scrolling by at lightning speed.

【This adopted sister is shameless. Still making excuses after being caught!】

【She uses her dead parents’ money on expensive dresses but won’t give her sister a dime? What a piece of trash.】

【Go get what’s yours, Avery! Make the backstabber pay!】

“You’re live-streaming this?” I whispered, horrified.

“Scared?” Avery smirked, turning the camera to capture my pale, shocked face. She mouthed a silent taunt at me. “I want everyone to see what a hypocrite you are. This is your social execution.”

She turned back to the camera, her voice instantly breaking into a sob. “Everyone, you see? She won’t even admit it! My parents were so good to her, and in return, she’s stolen everything and tried to kick me out of my own home! I can’t even afford to eat… I’ve been living off the charity of friends… sob…”

The comments exploded into a frenzy of rage and vulgarity. Someone threatened to find my address.

“Avery! Turn it off!” I commanded, lunging for her phone.

She dodged back, a vicious, triumphant grin on her face. “Turn it off? Why? You’re so good at spinning stories. Go on, tell your tale to a live audience. Tell them how you betrayed my parents’ kindness, how you’re trying to drive me to suicide!”

I was shaking with a rage so profound it stole my voice. My silence was all the proof she, and her audience, needed of my guilt.

“Nothing to say?” Avery ended the stream and shoved the agreement at me again. Her tone was magnanimous, as if offering a great kindness. “Just sign it. And because we were sisters once, I won’t even charge you interest on the money you owe me.”

I took a long, slow breath. And then, finally, two words came out. “I won’t.”

“Fine. Have it your way.” Her eyes narrowed, filled with a look of pure hatred. “You’ll regret this.”

She snatched the papers from the table and stormed out, slamming the door behind her.