Chapter 2

I used what remaining strength I had to dial 911.

In the hospital, a doctor gave me an allergy shot before putting me through nebulizer therapy. Right after leaving the ER, I tapped on the GPS that was installed on my phone.

I was the one who bought Delilah her phone. That meant I never turned off the location-sharing feature right from the start.

In the past, I kept it on for the sake of her safety. Now, it became the only clue to her whereabouts.

Soon, I hailed a cab to Delilah's current location. After going through a bumpy ride in tiny alleyways that were filled with potholes for 20 minutes, the cab finally stopped outside a six-storied red-brick building.

Some people were playing poker in a room downstairs. I could hear a married couple boasting to the other players smugly.

"My son, Doug, brought that rich girl home with him today! I bet he's already taken his pants off by now!"

"That rich girl is obsessed with him! In just half a year, we've obtained over five thousand dollars from her!"

"It's just her and her older sister. They're young and inexperienced, so what use is a company to them? They'll definitely beg my Doug to run the company for them!"

"Once that girl gives birth to my grandchild, I'll definitely teach her who's in charge here!"

I lost all sense of rationality right there and then.

During the previous school term, Delilah told me that she wanted to register for an international competition, so she needed to pay a fee of 300 dollars.

Three months ago, she said her high school charged her a security deposit fee of 200 dollars for the lab equipment. During winter break, she claimed 5,000 dollars from me with the excuse that she wanted to attend an elite academic boot camp in Belltron.

Later on, Delilah kept coming up with more excuses. Once, she claimed that her laptop was stolen, so she needed a new one.

Next, she told me that her classmates had bought new tablets, which gave them a boost in their studies, so she wanted one too.

After that, she complained about the air conditioner in her dorm breaking down, which led to her demanding a mini fridge from me.

For the past ten years, I fulfilled all of Delilah's wishes and whims. Never in a million years did I think that my little sister, whom I doted on and pampered with all my heart, would swindle money from me just to support another guy!

I climbed the stairs while doing my best to suppress my fury. As soon as I reached the fifth floor, I heard Delilah's syrupy voice drift from the apartment.

"Doug, dinner's ready!"

Douglas Leach, an 18-year-old young man, could be seen lounging on the couch. He was in the middle of playing a game on his phone with a cigarette slung between his lips. He didn't even bother glancing in Delilah's direction.

"Don't put that much salt in your food. The last time you cooked for me, the food was too salty. Do you even know how to cook?"

Delilah turned around to flash Douglas a smile. "Got it. Your stomach is feeling unwell today, Doug. I specifically put less salt this time."

She turned around with a plate in her hands. As soon as she raised her head, she met my gaze through the window. That was when her complexion turned stark white.

I responded by kicking the front door open.

"Delilah Scott, you'd better go home with me right now."

Douglas eyed me from head to toe from the couch. Soon, his lips curled into a smirk.

"Oh? You must be Delilah's older sister, Patricia, huh?"

He snuffed out his cigarette. Then, he stuck his hand beneath Delilah's top right in front of me. To make things worse, he even raised an eyebrow at me, a grin soon splitting his face apart.

"You're so pretty, Patricia. Are you still single?"

More live comments popped up in front of my eyes again.

"Alright, Doug really deserves a beating this time! How dare he flirt with Patricia right in front of Lils!"

"He'll definitely suffer a lot in the wife-chasing redemption arc. Right now, he's already given up on being a better person because of his biological family. That's why he's depressed right now."

"Lils is here to save him. Later on, she'll go through five miscarriages, become crippled, and lose a kidney for his sake. Then, he'll regret everything he's done."

Five miscarriages. Become crippled. Lose a kidney.

For a moment, I almost saw red from how enraged I was.

I stared Delilah in the eye and stated firmly, "Come home with me right now, or you can forget about being my sister altogether."

Tears began flowing down Delilah's cheeks. But before she could say anything, Douglas was quick to interrupt with a grin.

"Oh, it's completely fine if you don't want her as your sister. Why don't you become my side chick instead, Patricia? Or should I call you 'Trish'?"

My expression darkened. Meanwhile, Douglas' grin widened even more.

"C'mon, Trish! Don't scowl like that! Why don't you give me a smile?"

Delilah could only bite her bottom lip. Her voice came out soft. "Trish, I'm already an adult. I want to live my own life now. I hope that you can find your own happiness instead of trying to control me all the time."

I felt as though my blood had turned to ice in my veins.

"You… You think I'm controlling you this whole time?"

That was when Delilah raised her head to look at me. Tears of grievance had already welled up in her eyes by then.

"Trish, I admit that you treat me very well. But you shouldn't control me under the guise of showering me with familial love. I'm not your pawn, Trish! You can't impose your will on me!"

Delilah took a deep breath afterward. Then, she reached out to grip Douglas' hand tightly.

"Doug told me that we're emotionally dysfunctional because there aren't any men in our family."

My vision was spammed with more live comments right away.

"My heart aches for Lils!"

"Although Patricia is the top scorer of her high school back in the day, the fact that Lils is younger than her still stands. Isn't it her obligation to drop out of school just to sponsor Lils' education? Don't tell me she's expecting Lils to financially support her in the future!"

"Back when Patricia decided to buy Lils an iPhone, she even wore a pair of hole-ridden socks on purpose just to show them to Lils! Isn't this her way to emotionally manipulate Lils by hurting herself like this?"