“Lower your voice; my head hurts like hell,” Lillian grumbled,covering her head with a pillow, trying to retreat back into her cocoon of denial.
I took a moment to analyze the area around her bed, and my heart sank as I noticed the scattered bottles of vodka on the floor.
A surge of anger coursed through me, my mind racing with the horrifying thought that Caiden had gotten her drunk, then taken advantage of her.
I was gone for one damn night, and everything had gone to shit.
How did this happen? How had Caiden managed to manipulate my sister into sleeping with him?
A darker conclusion began to take root in my mind, one that sent my heart plummeting further. What if Lillian had slept with him willingly, despite knowing how much I hated him?
That would be the ultimate act of betrayal. I desperately hoped it wasn’t true. The thought alone felt like a knife twisting in my gut, as if I had lost everyone I cared about.
“Get up, dammit, and explain yourself!” I stormed over, yanking the blankets off her, exposing her to the harsh reality of the morning.
“Amelia, calm down! It’s not a big deal,” Lillian said, her voice thick with sleep as she squinted in my direction, the remnants of last night still heavy on her.
“Yeah, Amelia, get over yourself,” Caiden chimed in, completely awake now, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
I snapped my head in his direction, and fury ignited within me, hot and raw. “Get the fuck out, Caiden, before I do something I regret.”
“Why should I?” he challenged, a dangerous glint in his eyes, testing me as if he knew I would break if pushed far enough.
“Because I’ll snap your fucking neck if you don’t leave.”
My voice was cold, and I realized I had crossed a line, but the monster inside me had taken over, and I didn’t care anymore about what came out of my mouth.
He had gone too far, and just looking at him made me want to put my fist through a wall.
To my surprise, he listened, stepping back and leaving me alone with my hungover sister.
Once he was gone, I let my defenses crumble, breaking down as I turned to Lillian.
“How could you?” I asked, my voice small and ruined, barely above a whisper.
“It doesn’t matter,” she replied quietly, her gaze fixed on the floor, as if it held the answers to questions we both feared to ask.
“You know damn well that it matters.”
She finally looked at me, her expression hardening. “No, Amelia, it doesn’t. I’m a grown-up, and I made a choice. I went out to a bar and came across someone who could make me feel better. Stop acting like Mom and let me live my life.”
Her words cut through me like a knife, and I suddenly felt as if I didn’t know her at all. She used to be my safe space, someone I could count on and run to for comfort.
But now, all I could think about was how far away she felt, even though she was sitting right in front of me.
“How did it happen?” I asked after a few moments of deafening silence, the weight pressing down like a rock on my collapsing chest.
“We were both drunk. Things happened. It doesn’t matter.”
Disappointment surged through me, and I shook my head. “It does matter because you’re my sister, and you’re supposed to be there for me. You listen to me talk about how vile Caiden is, yet none of that made any difference, and you still slept with him.”
The words slipped out slowly, sadness scattered in the syllables. I didn’t bother to hear her try to defend herself.
I wiped the tears that threatened to spill and turned to my bedroom, seeking solace in the familiarity of my surroundings.
There were so many unsaid words between Lillian and me. The feeling I had after the initial shock that coursed through me was almost like standing on the edge of a cliff, staring down into an abyss, an overwhelming sense of dread.
It only takes one step to either pull back and walk away from the impending disaster, or you fall and shatter.
