My sister Hazel was scammed out of all her money by a scumbag, and she came crying to stay at my place. I helped her collect the debt and even gave her my year-end bonus for emergencies. My boyfriend Ethan grew more and more impatient: "Hazel isn't grateful at all! She maxed out your credit card, called you to pick her up drunk at 3 AM. Natalie, are you her mother? She deserves to be scammed by jerks like that." For the first time, I threw a cup at him: "Our mom died when she was only eight. I'm the one who raised her. So please, be nice to her." Later, the company sent me on a business trip, and I still called her every day to help her get through the trauma. Until two months later, I changed my flight and came home early. I pushed open the bedroom door and saw her wearing my silk pajamas, leaning in Ethan's arms. He picked up a strawberry and fed it to her, looking completely content. The bedroom fell deathly silent in an instant. Hazel was the first to react. She sprang out of Ethan's arms, her lips trembling. "Natalie? You—how are you back? Wasn't your flight the day after tomorrow..." Ethan's hand froze in midair, strawberry juice dripping onto my silk sheets. His face looked terrible, but he said nothing. I stood in the doorway, still gripping my suitcase handle, my fingertips digging deep into my palm. The air conditioning was clearly on, yet my back was covered in cold sweat. Hazel forced out a smile that looked worse than crying. "Natalie, you must be tired. Put down your luggage—" She rushed toward me barefoot in a panic, accidentally hitting her knee on the bed frame. She gasped in pain, her eyes instantly reddening. Ethan frowned and reached out to steady her. "Slow down. You're so clumsy." His tone carried reproach, but his hands were impossibly gentle. I stared at the hand supporting her arm, my heart sinking to rock bottom. "When did this start?" My voice was calmer than I expected. Hazel's whole body stiffened, and she instinctively looked up at Ethan. He pulled her slightly behind him and finally looked at me directly. "It has nothing to do with her. It's my fault." Ethan was usually a man of few words, never showing his emotions. I'd agreed to be with him because I valued his stability and reliability—he wouldn't make me feel insecure like those playboys. The year my mom died, I was twelve and Hazel was only eight. My dad couldn't handle the blow. He turned to alcohol, skipped work, was eventually fired, and died two years later. From then on, I never relied on anyone again. Ethan was the first person who made me feel that being taken care of wasn't a debt. That I could be vulnerable too. But now he stood across from me, protecting Hazel behind him, looking at me with the coldest eyes. Like I was a stranger! Hazel peeked out from behind him, her eyes red. "Natalie, it's not what you think... We..." "Got your excuse ready?" I asked coldly. "Go ahead then. If you're going to explain, make it clear. What's your relationship now? When did it start? How far have you gone?" Hazel froze, tears immediately spilling over. She rubbed her eyes, sobbing pitifully. I let out a dry laugh, not sure if I was laughing at her or at myself. Ethan squeezed her hand and said gently: "It's okay. Let me handle this. You put your shoes on first—the floor is cold." Then he looked up at me. "Natalie, let's talk outside." "Ethan, this is my home." My voice began to shake. "You're telling me to leave?" He fell silent for a few seconds, glancing back at Hazel. She stood there with hunched shoulders, toes curled, like a frightened rabbit. Ethan's voice immediately softened, carrying a note of pleading. "She couldn't sleep until 4 AM last night. Let her rest first, okay?" In three years together, I'd never seen Ethan beg anyone. He was such a proud person—he never backed down in negotiations, never softened even when he offended people. Now he was begging me for my sister! Ethan picked up his jacket from the chair and turned to Hazel with gentle instructions. "You rest. Don't wait up for me. There's milk in the fridge—remember to heat up a glass." I turned and rushed out. If I stayed any longer, I was afraid I'd cry in front of them. Ethan stayed half a step behind me, eyes downcast, his expression unreadable. When we reached the underground parking garage, he opened the car door for me. I didn't move. "Let's just talk here." His hand paused, then he closed the door and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, lighting one. The parking garage lights were dim, the cigarette's red glow flickering on and off. "I made the first move." He took a drag, his voice low and hoarse. "Don't blame her. Hazel is your sister. You raised her—you know her best. She's timid, can't survive without someone. That guy she was with before scammed her completely clean. I just... worried about her." He flicked ash onto the ground without looking at me. "But you're different. Natalie, you're the most capable woman I've ever met. Even without me, you'll do just fine." I stared at him, my nails digging into my palms. "So what? Because I'm capable, I deserve to be treated like this by you two?" I found it utterly absurd. When Hazel first moved into my place, Ethan wouldn't even mention her name. If he ran into her wandering the living room in pajamas, his brow would knot up, and he'd argue with me in hushed tones back in the bedroom. Saying she had no sense of boundaries as an adult, saying our home wasn't a shelter. Two months ago when I left on this business trip, I'd asked him to look after Hazel. He stood at the airport departure level, hands in his pockets, his face cold the entire time. "She's your sister, not my responsibility." That was only two months ago. Now he stood before me, using that face I knew so well to say the most foreign words.
Ethan shoved the cigarette pack back in his pocket, his tone complicated. "I've wronged you. The money you transferred to Hazel for emergencies—I'll pay back every cent. The apartment is yours. I won't set foot in it again." He paused. "I only have one request. Hazel really cares about you. Don't let my mistake ruin your sisterhood." I found it laughable—so laughable I didn't even have the energy to be angry. "Since you know getting involved with my sister was wrong, then why the hell did you do it?!" His jaw tightened. After a long while, he finally spoke: "Natalie, some things I can't control. What's done is done. I'll do everything I can to make it up to you." "If this gets out, the person who'll be hurt most is Hazel. You wouldn't want to see your sister gossiped about, right?" "I'll take her away tomorrow. Please stay at a hotel tonight—I've already booked one. Just give your name at the front desk." He turned and entered the elevator, leaving me standing alone. My phone vibrated. He'd sent the hotel address, followed by "I'm sorry." I stared at those three words for a long time. At this very moment, upstairs in what was my home, a light was on. That was a lightbulb Ethan and I had changed together before I left. Now it was shining for someone else. This city had eight million lights. But not a single one was lit for me. I finally crouched down, buried my face in my knees, my shoulders shaking violently. I didn't end up going to the hotel he booked. Instead, I drove around the ring road all night. The next day, I went to the old district. There was a flower shop on the corner, run by my college roommate Lily. After Hazel's ex-husband kicked her out, I hired a lawyer for her lawsuit while asking Lily to arrange an easy, low-pressure job for her at the shop. I paid the wages myself and told Lily not to mention it. Lily had laughed over the phone at the time: "Natalie, why do you care more about this sister than yourself?" Hazel stood at the flower shop entrance wearing an apron, crouched on the ground repotting a plant. When she saw me, the trowel in her hand clattered to the ground. "Natalie? How did you know I was here..." I said nothing and pushed the door open. Hazel followed behind me, frantically moving a chair and wiping it over and over with her sleeve. "Natalie, let me get you some water..." She turned too quickly and bumped into the flower stand. The watering can tipped over, water spilling everywhere and soaking her shoes. She looked down, then up at me, standing there helplessly like an elementary student called to the principal's office. I suddenly remembered when we were little. The year Mom died, she was only eight. She couldn't sleep alone at night—she had to hold onto my arm to fall asleep. Later when she got a bit older, she was still clingy, following me everywhere like a tail I couldn't shake off. "Natalie," her voice pulled me back. "I know you hate me. But I really didn't mean for this to happen. I don't know how it turned out this way..." She looked up at me, her eyes completely red. "I know you've been good to me my whole life. But you were always so busy. You were always solving my problems, never had time to listen to me talk. But Ethan was different." "He'd ask what I ate today, he'd remember every little thing I mentioned, he'd answer the phone when I had nightmares." "You said you hoped someone would treat me well. Now there is someone—why aren't you happy?" Listening to her aggrieved yet self-righteous words, I couldn't help but want to laugh. The sister I'd worked so hard to raise for sixteen years turned out to be such an ungrateful wretch! "Hazel, since childhood, what have you asked for that I haven't given you?" "Your tuition, living expenses, rent, lawyer fees for the lawsuit, the credit card you maxed out, the money that man scammed from you—have you counted how much I've spent on you over the years?" "But I never imagined that the sister I raised with my own hands would steal my boyfriend!" She lowered her head, lips trembling, tears falling and splashing on the flower shop's wooden floor. "I was twelve years old writing homework for others to earn money. At fifteen I was waiting tables at restaurants, getting splattered with hot oil that left scars all over my arm—they're still there. At twenty I worked overtime until I had a gastric hemorrhage and got taken away in an ambulance with no one by my side!" I rolled up my sleeve, revealing those pale white old scars on my forearm. "You didn't know any of this because I never told you." She stared at those scars, the color draining from her face bit by bit. "Hazel, for sixteen years, I've given you half my life! And how did you repay me?" "You wore my pajamas, lay in my bed, sat in my boyfriend's arms!" She slid down onto the flower shop floor, sobbing in a mess, her apron covered in dirt. I crouched down and looked at her with a cold heart. The memories that once meant everything had become unrecognizable in this moment. "Hazel, whatever you wanted that I could give, I've already given." "But what I don't give, you can't take. You have no right to take it."
Ethan arrived just in time to see Hazel collapsed on the floor, trembling with sobs. His expression changed drastically. He strode in and yanked her up from the ground, shielding her behind him. "I told you—if you have a problem, come at me!" He glanced back at the trembling Hazel, then turned back to me with fury nearly overflowing from his eyes. "She has a heart condition—don't you know that?! Can't you just talk properly? Did you have to push her this far?!" I looked at him and let out a cold laugh. "Ethan, you're quite practiced at protecting her. When she first moved into my place, you wouldn't even say her name! Now you've become her guardian angel?" Ethan stood his ground righteously. "Want to rehash the past? Fine. How much money did you spend raising her all these years? How many favors did you owe? Name your price!" "I'll pay back every cent with interest! Is that good enough?" Looking at this stranger before me, I suddenly remembered three years ago when he was pursuing me. In the dead of winter, he'd wait for me outside the company building after work, keeping my favorite roasted chestnuts warm in his jacket. Because he was afraid of disturbing my work, he never told me—just waited silently, his face turning red from the cold. Back then I thought, this person is truly wonderful. So wonderful that I felt all the suffering in the first half of my life had been to save up my luck, so I could meet him. But now he stood across from me, trying to convert everything between us— Three years of feelings, countless late-night phone calls, too many hugs and kisses to count, those things I thought would be carved into my bones for life—into a cold string of numbers. A one-time settlement. "Enough!" Hazel suddenly shouted, stepping out from behind him. Her face was covered in tears, her chest heaving violently as she gasped for air. Ethan instinctively reached out to support her, but she pushed him away. She stubbornly lifted her head to look at me, her eyes filled with almost savage determination. "Natalie, I wronged you. I owe you a debt I can never repay in this lifetime. But don't make yourself sound so noble!" "You raised me for sixteen years—every meal, every piece of clothing, every cent—I remember it all. But do you know that the person I've hated most my whole life is you?!" "You arranged everything so perfectly, which just made me feel like I, Hazel, am worthless and can't survive a single day without you!" "I could never hold my head up in front of you, so I desperately wanted to leave you! The only reason I married that bastard was because he said he'd take me to another city!" "He still scammed me in the end, but this time I won't listen to you anymore." She took Ethan's hand, interlacing their fingers. "I've found my true love, and even if you hate me forever, I'll never let go!" "Besides, you have so much already—what's wrong with giving him to me?!" Hearing her speak so righteously, I felt thunderstruck. I stepped back two paces, watching Ethan firmly clasp her hand in return, then laughed softly. "Fine. Hazel, from today on, you don't owe me anything anymore. From now on, whether you're well or not, dead or alive, it has nothing to do with me." I turned and pushed open the glass door of the flower shop without looking back. The year Dad died I was fifteen. To support myself and my sister, I went to class during the day and waited tables at night. That winter, I collapsed from exhaustion and came down with a high fever. Hazel piled all the blankets in the house on top of me, then went out alone to buy medicine. Afraid the medicine would get wet from the snow, she carefully kept it in her jacket while she fell several times on the icy roads. Her knee wound got frostbite, became infected, and she developed a high fever that eventually turned into myocarditis. The doctor said her heart was damaged and she could never do strenuous exercise again or handle stress. So I always felt I owed her, and was willing to devote myself to her for life. But now she was holding my boyfriend's hand, saying the person she'd hated most her whole life was me! One was the sister I'd raised with my own hands, the other was the person I'd planned to spend my life with. The two people I cared about most had joined forces to deliver the most fatal blow! Why? I closed my eyes and pulled out my phone, scrolling to a number.
The next day, Ethan came storming to my door. "Natalie, you sent Hazel a lawyer's letter?! Have you lost your mind?!" "She got so stressed from the letter that she couldn't breathe until midnight!" I leaned back in my chair and looked at him. "Debts must be repaid—it's only natural. Don't you know how much money she's spent of mine?" Ethan's jaw clenched. He took a deep breath. "Natalie, I don't have that much money right now. Withdraw the lawyer's letter and we'll settle this privately." I looked like I'd heard a joke. "Don't have it? Ethan, didn't you say yesterday you'd settle everything in one payment?" He stared at me hard, his eyes bloodshot. "Natalie, she's your sister!" I smiled slightly. "She's already cut ties with me. Why should I care if she lives or dies? Eighty thousand dollars. Pay up! I'm giving you three months." Ethan's face turned iron-blue. He gritted his teeth threateningly: "That client your company is negotiating with—the person in charge is my friend. One word from me and he'll tear up the contract! Natalie, you'd better not be stupid about this!" With that, he kicked the door open and left. I watched his retreating figure, but my heart felt nothing. He did exactly as he said. The next day the sales director came to me, saying the client suddenly wanted to reassess the partnership. I didn't ask questions. I just pulled out my backup plan. I'd lost both parents at fifteen. Every step I'd taken was like walking on thin ice—how could I not leave myself a contingency? A week later, I got a call from my cousin Emma. "Natalie, Grandma's birthday is this weekend. Come back home—she keeps asking about you." I was about to refuse when Emma paused and added: "Hazel's coming back too. Says she's bringing her boyfriend to meet Grandma." I was silent for a few seconds, then finally agreed. That weekend, I drove back to my hometown. Two tables were set up in the courtyard, with relatives arriving one after another. Before long, Hazel walked in on Ethan's arm. The entire courtyard went quiet for a moment. Over the years, everyone had watched me hold up this family on my own. Ethan was the man I'd brought home for Christmas. They all recognized him. In just two months, the person by his side had changed to my sister. Ethan instinctively shifted his body, shielding Hazel behind him, his eyes wary. Hazel looked at me, her lips moving. "Natalie..." I looked at the two of them and smiled lightly. "Don't be nervous. It's Grandma's birthday. I'm here to celebrate." "Since everyone's here, let's share a video to liven things up." The TV behind me lit up. The moment they saw what was on screen, Hazel and Ethan froze in place, the color draining completely from their faces!
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