Chapter 4

The last shred of sanity in my mind shattered.

I yanked open the bedroom door.

Serena saw me, showing no surprise whatsoever. Instead, she looked me up and down, a perfect, taunting curve on her lips.

"Oh, sister, you really are here," she said, her tone light. "Long time no see. Why are you still…" She deliberately paused for effect, her gaze sweeping over my old, worn t-shirt and swollen eyes, "…so careless about your appearance?"

Leo stood awkwardly between us, looking from me to Serena, his lips moving, but not a single word coming out.

The helplessness and fury of my childhood instantly drowned me.

Why?

Why could I never escape her?

Why was even the sole happiness I had grasped, the happiness I thought was mine, merely a byproduct of her shadow?

"Who's your sister? My mother only had me," I said with difficulty.

Serena dramatically covered her mouth, her eyes, however, crinkled with amusement: "Sister, why are you still so sensitive? You were like this as a child, always so serious, never cute at all. No wonder Dad always preferred me."

Leo finally found his voice, pleading: "Serena! Stop it!"

He then turned to me, trying to take my hand: "Sweetheart, calm down, let's go inside and talk, okay?"

I violently shook him off, my eyes still locked onto Serena.

"You're not welcome here," I said, each word slow and deliberate.

Serena, however, acted as if she'd heard something amusing. Instead of leaving, she took a step forward, watching the tension between Leo and me with keen interest, her gaze finally settling on Leo's frantic, bewildered face.

"Leo, darling," she tilted her head, her voice innocent yet utterly cruel, "You seem really scared of my sister getting angry, huh? What, do you actually… like her now?"

"No way? Have you forgotten what you used to tell me? You said you loved how lively and smart I was, and couldn't stand her quiet personality, so stubborn and boring, like a block of wood…"

Leo sharply gasped, sucking in a cold breath, and cut her off angrily: "Serena! What the hell are you talking about!"

My body swayed, almost imperceptibly.

Stubborn and boring. Like a block of wood.

I looked at Leo; he looked at Serena, his eyes filled with shock, an attempt to silence her, but absolutely no… denial.

Serena watched his desperate expression, her smile growing more triumphant and brazen, as if everything was going exactly as she planned.

In that moment, standing at the doorway of the apartment I'd lived in for two years, facing my boyfriend and my half-sister, I felt like a complete and utter joke.

I said nothing more.

I just turned around, walked back into the bedroom, grabbed my suitcase, not even fully zipped, and silently, directly, headed for the front door.

"Sweetheart!"

"Sister?"

Two voices rang out simultaneously, one frantic, the other feigning surprise with playful mockery.

I didn't look back, nor did I stop. I pushed past Leo, who was blocking the doorway, deliberately bumped into Serena, who was still watching the show, and dragging my suitcase, stepped into the elevator.

The elevator doors slowly closed, shutting out Leo's panicked shouts and Serena's triumphant smirk.

The mirrored elevator wall reflected my pale, numb face.

How ridiculous, Maya.

All these years I'd fought to escape, and it turns out, it had never truly left me.