Chapter 7: The Sister I Never Really Knew
Two days later, Sophia showed up at my apartment.
She looked tired. Her usual polished appearance was gone — no makeup, hair in a messy bun, eyes red from crying.
We sat at my small kitchen table with two cups of coffee between us.
“I went to see Mom and Dad today,” she said quietly. “They’re denying everything. Dad says you’ve always been jealous of them and that you’re making this up for attention. Mom… she just cried the whole time.”
I didn’t say anything.
Sophia looked down at her coffee.
“I don’t know what to think, Maya. Part of me wants to believe them. They’re our parents. But another part of me… keeps remembering little things. How they always controlled Grandma’s schedule. How they got weirdly interested in her finances these past few months. How they stopped letting her visit me as often.”
She looked up at me.
“You really think they were trying to take everything from her?”
I nodded.
“I don’t think it. I know it. I have the evidence. And more importantly, Grandma told me herself. She was terrified.”
Sophia was quiet for a long time.
Then she said something that surprised me.
“I’m sorry.”
I looked at her.
“For what?”
“For never standing up for you,” she said. “For letting Mom and Dad treat you like you were less than me just because you didn’t follow the same path. I should have said something. I should have asked more questions about what you were actually doing with your life.”
I felt something tighten in my chest.
Sophia had always been the golden child. I had spent years resenting her for it, even though it wasn’t really her fault. Hearing her apologize now, after everything, caught me off guard.
“I don’t blame you,” I said quietly. “You were just trying to survive in that house too.”
Sophia reached across the table and squeezed my hand.
“I want to help,” she said. “With Grandma. With whatever comes next. I don’t want to be on the wrong side of this.”
For the first time in years, I felt a small spark of hope for my relationship with my sister.
May you like
Maybe we could rebuild something.
Maybe not everything had to stay broken.
