5
The noise of the door breaking woke Ethan downstairs.
“Sis… didn’t you say you weren’t coming back tonight?”
Before I left, I had told Ethan that I’d probably stay out late because of Riley’s birthday and might not come back to the house. I’d even asked him to lock up.
Ethan clearly hadn’t expected me to return. He stared at the broken door, at a loss for words.
“Why is there so much noise this late?” Maddie’s voice whined as she trudged up the stairs, yawning. She barely acknowledged me and seemed more annoyed that I’d interrupted her sleep than concerned about the broken door.
1:02 PM D
<
“Ethan,” I said, pointing at the broken door, “Tomorrow, I want every piece of furniture in my room replaced, and the door fixed.”
Turning to Maddie and her friends, I snapped, “And you two, get the hell out of my room.”
Maddie’s face burned with embarrassment in front of her friends. She tried to step forward and argue, but Ethan quickly grabbed her and pulled her back.
“I’m counting to three. If you’re not out by then, you’ll regret it.”
Ethan knew I wasn’t bluffing. He rushed to get Maddie and her friends out of sight.
I followed them downstairs, grabbed a trash bag, and packed up all of Maddie’s things from Ethan’s room. I tossed it all outside.
“Ethan, can you believe how over–the–top your sister is?” Maddie whined, clutching his arm.
“Say one more word, and I’ll make sure you never speak again,” I said coldly, reaching for a taser from the shoe cabinet.
Maddie, seeing my expression, froze. After a moment, she scoffed. “This house may have been bought by your parents, but it’s always been passed down to the son, not the daughter. If anyone’s going to leave, it’ll be you. Ethan is the heir of the Sterling family. You’re just a girl who’s going to get married and leave anyway.”
“Oh, really?”
Without another word, I grabbed a bucket of water and dumped it over Maddie’s head.
