Chapter 2

I stared at her in utter shock. I couldn't believe these venomous words were coming from the sweet, gentle sister I thought I knew.

"Chloe, do you even hear yourself right now?"

"Did I say something wrong?" She threw her chin up, tears trembling in her eyes.

"Joel and I genuinely love each other. Now that he's struggling, he needs my support."

"You're just stingy about that $500,000. To you, money is more important than my happiness!"

"I never thought you'd think of me that way," I said, my heart aching.

"Did Joel put these ideas in your head? He’s trying to drive a wedge between us!"

Chloe froze for a second, then became even more hysterical. "What he said was right! You have the money, but you refuse to help us. You're just selfish!"

"If you hate seeing me happy so much, I might as well just die!"

With that, she spun around and made a wild dash toward the open balcony, threatening to jump.

Terrified, I ran and grabbed her, my heart hammering against my ribs.

"Are you insane?! Threatening to kill yourself over this? Is this how you repay our dead parents?"

"You don't love me anyway! What's the point of living?" Chloe thrashed in my arms, screaming at the top of her lungs.

"I thought I was the luckiest girl in the world to have a sister who loved me. But it was all a lie."

Looking at her dramatic breakdown, my heart felt like it was being shredded.

Just to calm her down, I had to play along. I feigned defeat.

"Okay, okay! I'll do it! I promise you, we’ll sell the house. I'll give you the money, alright?"

The moment the promise left my lips, Chloe’s crying stopped instantly.

She lifted her tear-stained face, squinting to make sure I was serious. "Elena, really? You actually agree?"

I gave a weary nod. "When have I ever lied to you?"

She instantly beamed, throwing her arms around me.

"I knew you loved me the most! I'm going to call Joel right now and tell him the good news!"

Watching her skip happily back to her bedroom, my heart turned to ice.

With a sister so utterly blinded by "love," if I didn't keep my guard up, she’d get us both ruined and thank the devil for it.

My eyes darkened. I changed my clothes and immediately headed out.

In my past life, I had never dealt with Joel directly.

Everything I knew about him came from Chloe’s mouth.

She told me he was from a poor family but was incredibly brilliant and ambitious.

Because I loved Chloe, I loved him by extension and never doubted a single word.

But now that I thought about it, maybe I had been wrong from the very beginning.

I drove straight to Joel’s office. He was in a meeting, so I waited for him at the reception desk.