My Sister Controlled My Life with Pocket Change Chapter 07
The second those words left her mouth, Rhea’s whole body went rigid.
“Be like her?”
She stared at Mom, her eyes reddening.
“So now you’re telling me you’re disappointed in me? She leaves this house, and suddenly you all remember how great she was? Then why did you drive her away in the first place?”
Mom’s face drained of color. She opened her mouth, but no words came out.
Mom felt completely lost. She had always thought I was the one taking what should’ve been Rhea’s, that Rhea was the one who deserved everything.
But after all these years of giving her everything, she was still not satisfied.
Dad’s expression darkened further and further.
“Enough. Both of you, just drop it.”
But Rhea was utterly incapable of stopping.
“How can I just drop it? You’re the ones who promised I’d be the only daughter. You’re the ones who said I could have whatever I wanted. All I want is my room redone. Why can’t you even do that for me?”
—
The moment she finished speaking, the entire room fell into absolute silence.
Both of my parents were speechless.
It suddenly dawned on them that Rhea was someone who would never be satisfied.
She always wanted more.
When I was still there, I was the one they could pin everything on.
But I wasn’t there anymore.
It was at that moment that Mom suddenly remembered how pathetically few belongings I had when she packed up my room.
She stood there in a daze. For the first time, she seriously thought back and asked herself what kind of life I had actually been living.
Loud, urgent knocking came from the front door.
Standing outside was the academic director from my high school.
“Mr. and Mrs. Sutton, is Zelda home? We’d love to invite her back to speak to our current students. She did incredibly well on her A-Levels and won first place in the Physics Olympiad.”
“The school would really appreciate it if she could come share her experience with the younger students.”
Long after the director left, neither of my parents could snap out of
—
their shock.
That was when they finally understood that my excellence had never been an act.
When Dad thought back to the trophy he had smashed on the floor, his face contorted into something ugly.
Mom grabbed her phone and tried to send me a message, only to discover I had already blocked her.
She checked with Dad, then with Rhea, and got the same result each time.
She clutched her phone and scrolled through her contacts, completely lost as to who she could even reach out to.
She asked Rhea, “Do you know any of Zelda’s friends?”
Rhea answered with pure irritation.
“How would I know? She was either at school or stuck at home all day. She didn’t have any friends.”
Mom tried to press further, but Rhea cut her off.
“Why are you even asking about this? She’s gone. Are you seriously trying to find her and bring her back?”
Mom didn’t answer her. She went to ask Dad instead.
Dad furrowed his brow and thought for a long time before shaking his
—
head.
They suddenly realized just how little they truly knew about me, so little that they didn’t even know where to start looking.
My parents eventually went to the school, and that was how they found out I had left for Imperial College London with my academic competition advisor.
They stood there stunned for a very long time after hearing the news.
When they got home, Mom dug out my old phone and plugged it in to charge.
The moment it turned on, she saw a flood of missed calls, all from Mrs. Hartley.
She opened the messaging app and scrolled through conversation after conversation about my preparations to leave the country.
She saw the message Mrs. Hartley sent: [When can you leave?]
And my reply: [As soon as possible.]
Then she saw another one: [Did you talk to your parents about this? Do they agree?]
And my reply: [They won’t disagree. They can’t wait to get rid of me.]
Mom sat frozen on the couch, her face pale as a ghost.
Rhea walked out of her room and rolled her eyes.
—
“What is it now? Suddenly regretting that you kicked her out?”
Mom’s voice came out hoarse. “She’s your sister.”
Rhea sneered, “Oh, so now that she’s got good test scores and won awards and turned out excellent, you suddenly want her to be your daughter again?”
Mom’s voice was hollow. “That’s enough, Rhea. What more do you want?”
Rhea’s eyes went wide with outrage.
“What do I want? I want to be the only daughter. I want there to never be a place for Zelda in this family, ever again!”
Mom looked at her like she was seeing a stranger.
For the first time in her life, she felt genuine regret. Regret that she might have given Rhea far too much, spoiled her into becoming this kind of person.
And regret that she had never been a little kinder to me.
She finally couldn’t hold it in anymore and stood up.
Dad lifted his head and looked at her. “Where are you going?”
Mom looked straight at him. “I’m going to find Zelda.”
She spoke every word with utter clarity.
“I’m going to find her and bring her back. No matter what, this is still her home.”