Doyle

wanted to leave, to escape the suffocating air of their manufactured family drama, where I was always the vil

n, intimidating barrier. His expression was s

of frailty. "Kyleigh's fellowship application. Her thesis is due soon, and with her condition... she won't be able to fini

a veiled command that always led to my own erasure. I knew what he meant. H

d for but stepped aside from. Kyleigh, the perpetually "fragile" one, had always needed a ghostwriter, a shadow to ensure her academic success. She' d even cheat

n of designs I' d poured my soul into, and submitted it as her own for a coveted s

ully constructed façade. I knew for a fact she hadn't even started it. W

her voice dripping with the familiar, manipulative concern. "She's s

e, my chest would tighten, a familiar ache blooming behind my ribs. It was

," I managed, the word a hollow echo. Will she even graduate after I' m gone? The th

o his briefcase, pulling out a thick, bound document. "I brought your thesis. Kyleigh's been so ins

and knowing. She took the thesis from Axel, a smug smirk twisting her lips. Then, almost impe

ng her hair. Kyleigh giggled, a sweet, innocent sound, and playfully swatted his arm, her

e slow decay hadn't dulled my spirit, I would have roared. I would have screamed until the walls shook, until their manufac

ging me further into the abyss. Laughter, light and carefree, foll

living room, once a haven of peace, now felt like a tomb. I stared at my belongings-my architectural sket

em to twist into their narrative. I systematically gathered every personal item, every trace of Jana Doyle, and stuffed them into large tr

degenerative disease, the silent killer that had been gnawing at me for months, was advancing rapidly

ping for air. I really am dying. The thought wa

needed to rest, to gather the last vestiges of

ing against the wall. Axel stood in the doorway, his face contorted with rage. Behind him

his voice shaking with fury and disbeli

mbling finger at me. "She's so

murmured, my voi

his eyes blazing. "You deliberately let Kylei

you hurt your sister like this? After everything we've done for you!" She wrapped an

They had done it. The

ss washing over me. This was it the