Chapter 1

I returned from my business trip a day early, having spent most of my bonus on the designer bag my younger sister had been begging for.

When I pushed open the front door, I walked straight into a nightmare: Mia was tangled up in bed with my fiancé, Nathan, right in my own house.

Tears blurred my vision as I choked out a single word: "Why?"

Mia didn't look guilty in the slightest. She just rolled her eyes, irritated that I’d ruined her fun.

"What’s there to cry about? You’ve let me have whatever I wanted for the past eighteen years. What’s wrong with letting me have him, too?"

Nathan averted his eyes, murmuring an excuse in her defense.

"It was just an accident... a moment of weakness. She’s your sister, Elena. You have to forgive us."

In that exact second, my heart turned to pure ice.

Eighteen years of sacrifice. Seven years of loyalty. All of it treated like dirt.

I wiped my tears, calmly walked into my home office, and printed two legal documents: a Property Listing Agreement to sell the house, and a formal Declaration of Severance of Relationship.

Forgive you?

Not a chance.

I’m just taking out the trash.

The printer had barely finished spitting out the pages when a hesitant knock came at the door.

"Elena..."

It was Nathan.

I didn't move, and I didn't answer.

He didn't dare turn the doorknob. He just stood on the other side of the door, rambling nervously.

"Elena, please open up. Let’s talk about this like adults, okay? I know I messed up! I was an idiot! But Mia is your sister!"

"You've always been the bigger person, the sensible one. You're the older sister—can't you just let her have her way like you always do? If you don't forgive us and she does something reckless, could you really live with the guilt?"

A dry scoff escaped my lips. My chest felt suffocatingly heavy.

Always this. Always the exact same excuse.

"You're the older sister."

Those four words felt like a life sentence, making it seem like I’d been born in debt to Mia.

Growing up, she got the best of everything. When our parents were alive, I had to give her my toys, my allowance, and my new clothes. After they passed, I was the one with the better grades, but I was expected to drop out of high school and work dead-end jobs just to pay for her private education.

Well, I was done.

I was not going to throw the rest of my life away just to feed an ungrateful parasite.

I stood up, gripping the papers tightly in my hands.

I grabbed the doorknob, ready to end things once and for all. But the moment my fingers touched the brass handle—

Mia’s soft, pitiful voice drifted down from the upstairs hallway.

"Nathan, stop bothering her. Just let her cool down."

"She loves me too much to stay mad forever. But... I feel really dizzy all of a sudden. Can you come upstairs and stay with me? I feel so sick..."

Nathan didn’t hesitate for a second. His hurried footsteps echoed toward the stairs, accompanied by an anxious shout:

"I’m coming! Hang on, I’m right here!"

My hand froze on the knob.

I looked down at the two thin sheets of paper.

Every last ounce of feeling died right then and there.

I turned back to my desk and dialed my attorney.

"Robert, I need two urgent matters handled immediately."

"First, I’m listing my house on the west side for an emergency cash sale. I'll sign the listing agreement tomorrow. I need you to handle the escrow and the title transfer."

"Second, I have a formal severance declaration cutting all ties with Mia. How do we make it legally binding?"

Robert reviewed the file I sent over, paused for a beat, and answered:

"Elena, for an abandonment or familial severance notice to hold full legal weight, it usually requires a public legal notice run in the county gazette for five consecutive business days. Today is Sunday. If you give the word, it runs tomorrow morning."

"In five days, you and Mia will legally be total strangers."

I gripped the phone tightly.

"Do it."

After hanging up, I stared out into the pitch-black night, letting out a long, slow breath.

Five days left.

In five days, I would finally start living my life for myself.