The Pause on the Line

Summary

When Mom nearly died giving birth to my little sister, I struck a deal with Death himself. I staked my soul to keep them both alive, but if by my eighteenth birthday Mom no longer loved me best, my soul would vanish.

At the start, I was certain. “That’s far too easy,” I told the shadow. “Mom always calls me her favorite.”

But she was lying. My sister was frail, a fragile porcelain doll doted on by everyone from her first breath. Just like that, I ceased to be the favored child.