Chapter 9

Emily smirked. “I looked into it. Back in your hometown, they called you the ‘Bunny Girl.’ How pathetic. Maybe I should tell Mom and Dad what that means.”

With her head held high, she started down the stairs.

Panic rose in my chest. “Don’t tell them. Please, I’m sorry. I won’t play the piano again. I’ll listen to you, I promise.”

“That’s better,” she said with satisfaction. “Remember, you’re just a stray dog. As long as you obey, I’ll toss you a bone. But if you ever start thinking you deserve more, don’t blame me for what happens next.”

She pressed her heel into my bleeding fingers. “Since you’re being so obedient, I’ll show you my next trick. Tomorrow, I’m going to run away. You’ll stay here and enjoy being the only daughter for once.”

Her eyes sparkled with excitement. “I can’t wait to see how everyone reacts when I’m gone.”

“Why are you doing this?” My voice trembled from the pain.

Emily lifted her chin. “Why am I doing this? Obviously, to make sure everyone knows I’m the one and only princess of this family.”

She paused, her tone turning icy. “You’ve been back for three years, and Mom and Dad still can’t bring themselves to send you away. They may be idiots, but they’re obsessed with blood ties. It makes me nervous.”

Emily knew my darkest secret and didn’t care that she was exposing her own ambition.

She looked down at me with smug superiority. “You’re their real daughter. As long as you exist, you’re a threat to me. The Zeller fortune belongs to me, not you.

“You can blame Mom, Dad, and Steve for being so stupid. They treat me better than their own blood. But don’t worry. Once I inherit everything, I won’t leave you with nothing. I’ll give you five hundred a month. That’s a lot more than those families on welfare back in your hometown ever get, isn’t it?”

Her laughter echoed down the hallway.

I curled up on the floor, trembling, surrounded by my own blood.

Satisfied, she ran downstairs, then deliberately threw herself onto the steps and rolled down, screaming dramatically. “Help! Somebody help! Lily cut herself!”

After that, the whole thing became my fault.

I became the girl who sliced her own hand just to get out of piano practice, while Emily was the sweet sister who tried to help and got pushed down the stairs for it.

Ben was furious. He kicked the piano over and refused to even look at me anymore.

Mary was deeply disappointed too. She said I must have psychological problems, that I was withdrawn and prone to self-harm.

Steve suggested sending me to a psychiatric hospital. He said someone with self-harming tendencies might hurt his dear sister next.

But before they could send me away, Emily disappeared.

She left behind a suicide note.

She wrote that my “self-harm” had shaken her deeply.

“Lily has been fighting me for three years, and now she’s hurting herself. It’s all my fault. I took what should have been hers. I’m leaving now. I’ll give it all back to her.”

Her words were full of emotion, and the note’s implication was clear.

I was the villain. The one who had driven her away.

And from that moment on, the whole family turned against me.