He had always been perfect—warming the bed for me when I was cold, leaving a cup of hot milk on the nightstand; when I miscarried he shouldered the world and held me close, whispering, "It's okay. You being here is enough."
I believed we'd finally found happiness. I believed his tenderness. Now I know it was all a carefully staged performance.
"Tristan, we are done. You will pay for what you have done to me..." My voice was hoarse, trembling, yet steady.
I forced the lawyer to gather evidence within a month while racing between court and hospital.
My brother's surgery had gone smoothly, but the ambulance accident left him in the ICU for days. I stayed until they moved him to a regular ward, but he still didn't wake up. At his bedside, I gripped his hand with both of mine as if holding on to some small comfort.
Everything that had happened made me realize how tightly my mother and brother had sheltered me. . Now that Mom was gone. I had to be his pillar—I could not afford to break.
"Meredith..."
My brother's voice, thin and hoarse, snapped me out of my thoughts. I swallowed the sting in my nose and asked quietly, "How do you feel? Any pain anywhere?"
He squeezed his eyes shut and forced a smile. "I'm fine. You're the one who's gotten so thin—if you don't eat properly someone's going to mistake you as my little sister when you go out."
I knew he was trying to distract me, so I pretended to be annoyed and made a soft huff.
I went out to heat some water. When I came back, the electrocardiogram monitor was frantically beeping. I sprinted into the room and found Hillary standing there. My brother clutched his chest, his face ashen, his trembling finger pointing at her as he gasped for air.
"Hillary! What did you do to my brother?!" I ran to his side, pushed the call button with shaking fingers.
She shrugged, feigning innocence. "Sorry—I thought you'd already told him that your mother died. I just came to comfort him and didn't expect such a reaction..."
"What does our family ever have against you? Why do you keep doing this to us?" I glared at her, furious and on the verge of striking her, but I couldn't bring myself to leave my brother's side.