All Chapters of My Family Let My Sister Torment Me, So I Walked Away: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

The world was silent except for the wind.Sophie had sent a video to my phone.The screen showed my family gathered around the dinner table, the room as lively as a holiday gathering."Nobody answer Iris's calls tonight."Let's guess how many days it'll take her to make it out!"Sophie jumped in, her voice sharp and bright."The Besa family will haul her back like a dog, I bet!"The room erupted in laughter, light and carefree.I stared at the screen. My fingers were ice cold.My mother died when I was five. Not long after, my father, Richard Hawthorne, married Victoria Blake.To keep my new family from hating me, I learned not to cry, not to make a fuss.I learned to make myself small in corners and never trouble anyone.But no matter how hard I tried, once Sophie was born, there was no place left for me in that house.She was Richard and Victoria's little princess, spoiled beyond measure.And I was her favorite toy.Sophie's favorite game was tormenting me and watching me squirm.At

Even before this, when Ethan said he was putting Sophie in charge of planning the wedding, I had felt uneasy.The wedding was one of the most important moments of my life.Every prominent mafia family would be sending representatives.Reporters would line both sides of the red carpet, cameras ready.Even the slightest mishap would become a joke across the entire circle.I could not let anything go wrong that day.But Richard and Victoria both sided with Sophie.They said I didn't trust my sister, didn't trust my own family.Ethan added his voice to theirs."It's not just your wedding. I'll be involved every step of the way and keep an eye on Sophie. Relax."I had no choice but to agree.But I knew perfectly well that Sophie would never pass up this opportunity.I waited until the family took Sophie out for the day.Then I snuck into her room and found the USB drive with the wedding videos.I opened the folder labeled "Sophie's Perfect Wedding."Familiar scenes filled the screen, and ol

The sun shone brightly in southern Italy.I sat on the balcony of the apartment the Besa family had arranged for me, sipping a cup of hot tea.My phone had been off since before I boarded the plane, and I hadn't turned it back on.The only way I contacted anyone was through the dedicated phone the Besa family had given me.I knew the wedding was over by now, but I had no desire to see the fallout.Then there was a knock at the door.The visitor was the Besa liaison assigned to me.His name was Marco Bellini, an Italian man in his early forties.He went over the clinic's daily schedule with me and the things I needed to know.When he was done, he added something almost in passing."The Hawthorne family are in complete chaos. The video from the wedding is still going viral."My curiosity got the better of me.Later, when I was alone, I finally gave in and turned on my old phone.The moment it powered up, notifications for countless missed calls flooded the screen.Every one was from the

The next few days passed in unexpected calm.I spent each morning getting to know the clinic and each afternoon buying things for the apartment.On the surface, the clinic was a high-end medical practice.In reality, most of its patients were family members and well-connected figures in the criminal underworld.I had only just gotten my license, but with my family background and the Besa family' personal endorsement, the clinic gave me their full trust.Marco had set me up in the apartment directly above the clinic.It all felt a little surreal.Just over a week ago, I had been in London, trapped in that frigid house, treated like a puppet in their games.Now I sat in the Mediterranean sunshine, and no one was waiting for me to make a fool of myself.I took a sip of tea and savored the rare peace.A few days later, I began seeing patients. The work at the clinic wasn't complicated.As the newcomer, I handled only routine appointments and minor wound care.The family members who came in