Chapter 3

Whenever Yvonne wanted to go off and play, they'd drop everything and dump the company on me too.

I was still a kid who should have been growing.

Instead I started staying up late, studying, reading files.

Meetings, studying, and then scheming against a room full of crafty old men.

This was the first time I'd ever spoken up against them.

Amos's hand paused on Yvonne's hair.

“Are you never going to let this go?”

He looked at me with pure resentment.

When Mom looked at me, it was with the same displeasure.

“Recover from what? You just took a little fall.”

“You can walk out of the hospital on your own, so obviously nothing's really wrong.”

“Your sister's had autism for years now. Would it kill you, as the older one, to give in to her a little?”

Dad wouldn't look at me. He smiled and pinched Yvonne's cheek.

“Your sister's this selfish already. Once we're gone, who knows how she'll treat you.”

“Your sister's really no good. Mom and Dad are going to take you on a nice trip.”

“Whatever our Yvonne wants, our Yvonne gets.”

They shut me out, took her by the hand, and walked away.

The assistants who'd been waiting outside rushed straight in.

Files and work closed in around me.

By nightfall.

Mom sent me a message.

“Yvonne isn't happy just looking at you.”

“Stay at the company. Don't come home.”

My chest was so tight I could barely breathe.

“Mom, I need to rest.”

“Yvonne needs to rest too.”

“You're a grown adult. Why fight with your sister over nothing?”

“The time you spend at the company at night, you can get more work done.”

The call ended.

The pressure hanging over this family left me unable to catch my breath.

I buried my head in my arms.

Early the next morning.

The company was in an uproar.

An assistant rushed into my office:

“Ms. Black, a bunch of strangers just showed up, and they're running wild all over the workstations.”

“I saw the second young miss too.”

I rubbed my aching brow and pushed the door open. Yvonne was clapping away.

“Rip it, rip it.”

“Paper scraps are fun, so fun.”

The employee whose contract had been shredded looked ready to cry.

“I stayed up all night finishing that, and she just deliberately broke the computer I had it backed up on.”

“Can't they go play somewhere else?”

I was so furious my breathing went ragged.

“Where's security?”

“Why aren't they stopping this?”

“Who even are these people?”

Amos stood outside the crowd, looking pleased:

“I held security back.”

“Yvonne's finally willing to make friends. It's just a few of your files.”

“They're at a rowdy age. Don't make such a fuss.”

The friends Yvonne had brought were already reaching their claws toward the other computers.

I pulled out my phone.

“A rowdy age, is it?”

“So what if she's sick? We're all adults. No one has to give in to anyone.”

I reported it straight to the police department.

Yvonne's eyes flickered, and she charged right at me.

“Bad guy, the bad guy wants to let bad guys bully Yvonne.”

I stepped back and dodged her.

I didn't expect her to just fall flat on the floor.

She burst out crying.

Amos rushed over and helped her up.

He looked at me like he wanted to tear me apart.

“Susan Black, can't you stop bullying your sister for once?”

I turned my face away.

The police department came fast and had the troublemakers under control in no time.

Only afterward did I learn they were all patients from a psychiatric hospital nearby.

None of them were mentally sound.

All the police could do was warn them; they had no authority to take any real action.

They couldn't even detain Yvonne.

After giving my statement, I got ready to leave.

Amos actually snatched my keys right out of my hand.

“Yvonne wants to go home now, but she doesn't want to see you.”

“Find your own way back.”

Before I could say a word, the car door closed.

I watched the car pull away, and the last shred of feeling I had for him vanished for good.

Seven that evening.

My assistant picked me up and brought me back to the company.

The staff had spent the whole afternoon and finally rebuilt the ruined files.

I gave them the day off.

I just wanted to breathe, to rest a little.

But the call from home came.

“Susan Black, if you're not back by nine, don't bother coming home at all.”