My Sister

Elara has spent her life being told she is worth less than her sister, Rosalie. As a child, her father rewarded her with a slap; as a young woman, he refused to pay for her college while sending Rosalie abroad. Now, her husband David and her son Leo echo the same contempt, and Rosalie flirts with David openly while the family treats Elara as a servant who spends their money.

On Leo's fifth birthday, David jokes that the boy should slap his mother, and Leo does it, then leaves for the amusement park with his father and Rosalie. Elara says nothing. She bakes, packs her desserts, and visits her friend Sadie, who has long urged her to open a dessert shop together in the next city.

When Elara returns home calm instead of hysterical, David grows uneasy, and Rosalie feigns a twisted ankle to leave with him. Alone, Elara faces Leo's cruel words and the handprint still on her cheek, and begins to wonder whether she can finally stop being the family's most useless person.