Chapter 5 First meeting with the stepsister

SAVANNA (VERONICA)

"Wow!" Ethan stared at the solutions I had just made of his tenth puzzle, he brought home from school.

"Y-you are so c-cool V-vero!"

A soft chuckle escaped me at his excitement.

It'd been a few days since everything happened. Although I was still adapting to the changes, the environment was more relaxed. Well, at least from what I was used to in the Abyss.

These days, Ethan began bringing home puzzles every day. Riddles. Brain teasers. Word problems. And more school riddles.

They were laughably simple, but I answered them with controlled ease and patience.

"V-vero" His call broke the chain of my thoughts, making me look at him.

"Yes?"

"Why y-ou could-dn't solve these bef-fore?"

"I didn't want to show off." I shrugged.

His mouth fell open slightly, then frowned. He studied me as if I were a stranger wearing his sister's face... Which I was, honestly.

"You're d-different," he murmured after a while.

"Am I?" I raised my brow.

His frown deepened, as he nodded, "yes... But—"

He grinned suddenly. "—You'd bb-e pretty l-losing some weight."

The comment could have stung. But there was no malice in his voice. Just childlike honesty. Very pure and well-wishing.

"I know," I said, caressing his head softly.

I didn't tell anyone, but I already had a plan.

Due to my injuries, mom had asked me to stay home these days and take rest. The school also gave me off days, considering that.

Therefore, I had made a very detailed weight loss plan and had been carefully following it every day, away from their eyes.

However, Veronica's body was too weak. Her stamina was ridiculous. After five minutes of running, her lungs burned and her vision blurred. I wondered, how did she survive at all!?

However, I had never learned to surrender. So, I pushed, gradually extending the distance and mentally monitoring my progress. Discipline proved to be the ultimate key to survival.

It required patience, and I was willing to endure it, especially since this was the only method I had been given...

One afternoon, came the first blow to my peaceful time.

I returned home sweaty and breathless from the evening jogging, only to find Elena leaning against the hallway wall.

Immediately, my mood ruined. She wasn't home after I returned from the hospital, perhaps whoring around somewhere, and no one was bothered about her either.

Her lips curved the moment she saw me. "Wow," she drawled. "Running again?"

I ignored her and reached for the doorknob.

"Do you think running makes money?" she continued lazily, watching her manicured nails. "Because last I checked, this house needs money, not your dramatic transformation arc."

I paused, my fist clenching tightly around the knob.

"Come on, Veronica. You eat enough for three people already." She chuckled, stepping closer with her taunts.

"Running will just make you hungrier. Maybe you should drop out of school and work full-time instead of pretending you'll pass anything?"

Her gaze flickered toward Ethan's extra crutch resting by the door.

"And maybe if your mom had better genes, your brother wouldn't be crippled and waste too much money on his stupid medications."

"Besides, even if you go to school twice every day, you'll only get report cards for failing every class." She chuckled as though she cracked a joke.

"Tsk-tsk, unlike me, you're just a useless piece of garbage."

The words burned through me. I could feel the pulsing ache of those words within.

The cold calculation rising inside me. The urge to dismantle her confidence piece by piece.

But before I could speak, the door opened behind us...

Revealing mom, with her shoulders slumped from exhaustion.

"Please," she said softly. "Stop arguing."

Her eyes darted between us like someone bracing for impact. Then her eyes landed on me, almost begging me not to fuel the fire.

I swallowed my anger. No, not because I was scared of Elena, in fact, I could have made her cry tears of blood just with my words, but looking at mom, I stopped myself.

She didn't deserve another battle.

I only looked at Elena, a long steady look. A warning for her.

I perhaps stopped myself now, but next time, she wouldn't be so lucky.

Then— without another word, I walked to my room and shut the door...

******

Over the next few days, I didn't come face to face with Elena. Well, good for her.

But I started to notice something. The food on the table was disappearing quicker. Portions getting smaller.

Mom left before sunrise and returned long after dark. Her hands were growing rougher. Her cough lingering longer.

Seems like Elena wasn't entirely wrong.

Money had become an iron shackles around our neck, suffocating us.

Veronica's father's gambling debts and drinking habit had swallowed everything. Still he wouldn't stop from his deeds.

Mom was working multiple jobs just to keep the landlord patient.

Even today, I had seen mom begging to the landlord who just gave her another warning. Although she denied completely when I asked and asked not to worry. But, how could I not?

I lay awake on my bed, staring at the cracked ceiling.

Should I drop out from school?— the thought came as a result. However, soon, I dismissed it.

Tuition for the semester had already been paid. The school wouldn't refund it, so there was no point in dropping out.

On top of that was Elena's taunts. Even though I said nothing that day, her words still burned within me.

I would finish the semester. And I would outperform any top student. It wasn't even any hard task— not for Savanna...

That night, at the dinner table, everyone was quiet; no one talked about Veronica's useless step sister or her father, assuming he was off gambling and drinking as usual.

Well, good thing, he wasn't off to waste money anymore. Either still running, or successfully getting beaten up by the debt collectors.

But I knew, it was temporary. I needed a better and permanent solution.

When I was Savanna— before this life, I never worried about money. Each completed mission meant a large deposit.

I even earned money through my other works. I was never short of money.

But now that identity was "dead." The funds were inaccessible. Which meant I needed a new stream of income.

And that needed to be done quickly...

*******

The next morning, my school life started again...

I stood before the mirror, watching myself through the baggy clothes. Veronica's closet only has black and grey sweatshirts and pants. That also a few. Due to her weight and bullies she never felt safe to wear anything. Not that I minded though, I preferred these clothes— the only match we ever had in taste actually.

I had cut the wavy hair short, and removed the bangs over the forehead. Now, Veronica's face looked much beautiful.

Actually, she was quite beautiful, just never been appreciated.

"Well, no worries Veronica, from now on, no-one will ever underestimate you. I'll take good care of this body." Muttering the promise, I walked out of the room.

And just like Veronica used to do, Ethan and I walked to school together.

He moved carefully, dragging his leg but refusing help.

At the entrance, he stopped.

"What's wrong?"

Instead of answering, he handed me a piece of candy. "M-my teacher g-gave it to me," he said proudly. "F-for being b-brave."

He pressed it into my palm. "Now, I g-give you. H-have a g-good day, V-vero."

I stared at the small candy. Something so simple. So pure. Yet, warming more than any luxuries.

"Thank you," I said quietly. And then met his concerned gaze. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."

He hugged me, before waving and limped toward the junior-high building. I watched him, as far as my eyes could notice him, until I couldn't see him anymore.

I turned toward the high school campus...

"Okay, Savanna. Your turn." Inhaling a deep breath, I stepped inside, only to be stunned.

Students clustered in groups, laughing loudly... Someone shouted across the courtyard... A girl complained about an exam... A boy pretended to snatch her notebook.

I blinked, it felt... alien.

In my previous life, education had been transactional, controlled, and efficient.

If the Abyss needed a skill set, they hired a specialist to teach us directly.

So, some of our group of orphans were good at medicine, some were good at hacking, and some were good in many aspects, and so on. Unlike this...

No hallways filled with gossip. No lockers decorated with stickers. No cafeteria politics. Just sterile rooms and objectives.

I stopped in front of my locker. Well, Veronica's locker. It was stuffed with crumpled papers and forgotten assignments.

Veronica's life had been unapologetically chaotic.

I pulled out my textbook and shut the door firmly.

As I walked toward the classroom, the chatter died. Every head turned to my direction.

"She's back."

"Didn't she...?"

"Is she okay?"

Whispers spread throughout the corridor, which I didn't care about and moved on.

However, they wouldn't let it go easily, would they?

As soon as I neared the classroom, and stepped inside, suddenly, my foot tripped into something unseen, and before I realized, I landed on the floor, fast and hard.

Damn! Fucking assholes! ...