When I was 14, my brother, Cole Maxwell, brought home an orphan girl, Jennifer Burke, to repay a debt of gratitude.

From that moment on, my life had always taken a backseat to hers.

After Jennifer falsely accused me of intending to ruin her reputation and forcing her to commit suicide, Cole slapped me hard across the face before driving me out of the house. "Get out! I don't have a sister like you!"

He even gave her the job that was supposed to be mine and the only heirloom our parents left me, just to make her smile.

The more I argued with him, the colder he became towards me.

When Cole took Jennifer to visit the city without telling me, I chose to say nothing this time, leaving quietly with nothing but a suitcase.

When he learned I'd been accepted into Brightmoor Aeronautical University and would never return, he fell apart.

It was the day I received my acceptance letter. Steve Baxter, my teacher, patted me on the shoulder with a proud smile.

"Congratulations, Kate. With Brightmoor being over a thousand miles away from our village, I guess you probably won't be coming home very often after this. While you still have a few days of vacation left, make the most of it with your family."

Slipping the acceptance letter into my bag, I started heading home.

My older brother, Cole Maxwell, was busy in the kitchen when I stepped into the yard. He was preparing a birthday meal for Jennifer Burke, the orphan he had brought home five years ago.

Cole was still in his dirty work uniform, probably because he had been too pressed for time to change.

I approached him cautiously. "Cole, I'm home."

As soon as he saw me, his face turned cold. There was a trace of irritation in his voice as he spoke. "Kate Maxwell, it's Jenny's birthday today, so don't you dare cause trouble."

Afraid that he'd say something else to get rid of me again, I quickly explained, "I brought Jennifer a gift. It's the toffees she likes. I bought some at the market."

I pulled out the neatly wrapped toffees and held them up for him to see, worried that he wouldn't believe me.

Cole glanced at the gift, then looked back at me with skepticism. "When did you become so kind?"

Ignoring his sarcastic question, I forced a smile. "Cole, you should change out of those. I'll wash them for you. Jennifer… She likes things clean after all."

This was my first time backing down. I just wanted to get along with him during these last few days I could spend with him, since there might not be another chance after this.

After a moment of silence, Cole set down the food and changed out of his dirty clothes.

I quickly took the clothes from him. "I'll go wash them now."

Without waiting for a reply, I ran toward the creek by the gate with the bundle of clothes.

By the creek, I turned out the pockets of the shirt and pants out of habit and discovered a receipt in one of them. It was from the tailor's shop by the village entrance.

My grip tightened around the receipt.

Five years ago, when Cole and I were selling vegetables near the village entrance, he had noticed that I was staring longingly at the floral dress in the tailor shop's window. That day, he had promised me that once he could afford it, he would buy it for me.

My heart warmed at the memory.

So, he had remembered his promise… He must still care about me.

When I returned to the yard after washing the clothes, Cole and Jennifer were already seated at the table.

On the table was a feast. There was even meat pie, which we usually only had at Christmas.

Yet, there were only two sets of tableware laid out.

Without a word, I went into the kitchen, got myself a set of utensils, and sat down at the table.

After Jennifer was done with her slice of the pie, she piped up in a sweet voice, "Cole, the pie is really good. I want some more."

Cole glanced at me.

Before he could say anything, I spoke up first. "I’m not hungry. You can take mine."

Right as I lowered my head, I caught the look of surprise in his eyes from the corner of my eye.

Cole then placed the remaining slice of pie on Jennifer's plate, saying dotingly, "If you like the pie, have some more."

Just like that, the food lost all its flavor to me.

My clothes hung loosely on my frame, and my arms were just skin stretched over bone. How could I possibly not be hungry?

Feeling my eyes about to well up with tears, I hastily shoveled the vegetables on my plate into my mouth, as if filling my stomach could keep my heart from feeling empty.

After the meal, Cole brought out a package wrapped in red cloth. "Jenny, look what I got you."

Jennifer was still chewing on the toffee I had given her. Her whole face lit up when she removed the red cloth.

"Wow! It's the floral dress from the tailor shop by the village entrance! Cole, this must have cost you a fortune!"

Cole stroked her head with a smile. "You don't have to worry about that. I just got my bonus, after all. I'll buy you even more dresses in the future."

My hands froze mid-cleanup, and I nearly dropped the porcelain plate I was holding.

It turned out that the dress wasn't for me.

Cole seemed to notice my reaction. He questioned in a cold tone, "Kate, surely, you're not jealous because I gave Jenny a gift, right?"

My heart throbbed with pain. It was obvious that Cole had already forgotten the promise he made five years ago.

I blinked hard, forcing back the tears that were about to fall. "No. I just had a sudden cramp in my hand."

Cole let out a cold snort and said nothing else.

Once I was done cleaning the kitchen, I found Cole mending Jennifer's clothes under a candlelight. As for Jennifer, she had already retired to her room.

After much hesitation, I still wanted to tell Cole I'd be leaving for university. "Cole, in a few days, I'll be—"

But Cole cut me off before I could finish. "Oh, right. About the clerical job at the factory that I got for you by pulling some strings—I gave Jenny that job for now, since she said she doesn't want to study and hasn't gone to school in days. Just wait a bit longer, and I'll try to find another one for you."

Recalling my decision to go study in Brightmoor, I instinctively said, "You don't have to find me a job anymore."

Cole was stunned. Assuming I was mad at him, he frowned.

"You don't need to say things out of spite. There will be more opportunities in the future. Who knows—maybe Jenny will want to go back to school after working for a few days. By then, you can have that job back."

I gave him a serious look. "I really don't need that job. Since you've already given it to Jennifer, it's hers now."

As if something occurred to him, he suddenly sneered. "I knew it—you still hate Jenny. All this pretending tonight must have been so hard for you."

He flung the sewing kit to the floor and stormed off, leaving me standing there in a daze. Though it was the height of summer, I felt a chill creep up my spine.

Back in my room, I began packing for Brightmoor. All I had were a few articles of clothing and some books, as well as the doll Cole had made for me.

Cole used to be very good to me. We didn't have parents growing up. With only each other to rely on, we survived through begging and accepting our neighbors' charity.

Once, when another child pointed at me and called me an unwanted orphan, it was Cole who held me close and comforted me.

"Don't listen to him, Kate. I want you, so you're not some unwanted orphan. Your big brother will always be your family."

But everything changed after Jennifer came into our lives.

Five years ago, the man who sold bread at the village entrance died abruptly, and his wife remarried almost instantly, leaving Jennifer behind as an unwanted orphan with nowhere to go.

That man had helped Cole and me many times in the past. As such, to repay his kindness, Cole brought Jennifer into our home.

From that moment on, Cole's affection slowly shifted to Jennifer.

The other villagers often joked that he had brought Jennifer home to make her his future wife. Over time, Cole started to take their jokes seriously, and his feelings for Jennifer began to shift.

Then, a year ago, I happened upon Jennifer and Harris Mack, the village chief's son, being intimate. At the time, she had been mocking Cole to Harris.

Jennifer said he was a fool for taking care of someone else's future wife. She claimed she was going to marry Harris and that she would never consider someone as poor as Cole.

Nonetheless, before I could tell Cole the whole truth, Jennifer noticed my presence. After that, she got home before I could.

Jennifer held a knife to her neck, screaming that she would die to prove her innocence.

She sobbed uncontrollably. "Cole, Kate is jealous of how well you treat me. She wants to drive me away and ruin my reputation! Does she even understand the consequences of spreading such lies?

"How am I supposed to face people now? Just let me die! My father helped both of you back then. Won't he turn in his grave if you treat me like this?"

Before I could say a word, Cole was already convinced that I had made up a bunch of lies to drive Jennifer away. Raising his hand, he slapped me hard.

"Kate, how could you be so vicious and make up such ridiculous lies? How can you say such things after all her father did for us? If it weren't for him feeding us, we might not even be alive today! Get out! I don't have a sister like you!"

With Jennifer in his embrace, he shouted for me to leave the house at once.

From then on, he and I constantly fought because of Jennifer.

He even gave her the only heirloom our parents left me, just to make her smile. I had a fierce argument with him, but still failed to get the heirloom back.

Every time I had a quarrel with Jennifer, he would always side with her.

Later, to avoid conflict, I often stayed over at Steve's place, claiming I needed supplementary lessons as the reason.

Just then, Cole suddenly opened my door and entered, pulling me back from my thoughts. "Kate, why are you packing your things?"

"I received my acceptance—"

"Forget it. You're probably trying to run away from home again. I won't even bother with you this time," Cole interrupted impatiently.

What I was about to say was instantly caught in my throat.

Whatever. He didn't care about me anyway. Once I was gone in a few days, he would naturally find out everything.

As I tightened my grip on my clothes, I made up an excuse on the spot. "I promised my classmates that I'd go to town with them in a few days, so I'm just packing first."

Hearing my answer, his expression softened a little. "I came to tell you that I'll be taking Jenny to the market tomorrow, so you don't have to wait for us for lunch."

With that, he turned and left.

…

The next day, they only came back as the sun began to set.

With a snack in her hand, Jennifer ate as she walked. Cole was right behind her, carrying several large bags. They came into the house chatting merrily.

"Kate, Cole bought me a lot of new stuff." Jennifer deliberately showed off the things in front of me.

I flashed her a nonchalant smile and continued what I was doing, trying to look busy.

After dinner, as I was putting the dishes away, I noticed the bracelet Cole had bought me was missing. I turned just in time to see Jennifer hurling my bracelet onto the floor. It shattered into pieces.

Enraged, I shoved her to the ground, shooting her a sharp glare. "Jennifer, what's your problem?"

Sitting on the floor, Jennifer broke down in aggrieved sobs.

Cole rushed in upon hearing the noise and immediately scolded me without asking what happened. "Kate, why are you picking on her again?"

I bit my lip as anger and helplessness overwhelmed me. "She destroyed my bracelet! It was the gift you had given me right after you got your first paycheck…"

Cole's furious expression froze on his face, but he still reflexively jumped to Jennifer's defense in the end. "There's no way Jenny did it on purpose. I'll buy you a new one some other day—"

"Forget it," I interrupted.

Jennifer looked pitiful on the floor, crying with reddened eyes. "Cole, I didn't mean to. It just slipped from my hand… It's all my fault for being so clumsy."

Just a single tear from her, and Cole would waver and choose to believe every word she said.

This exact situation had played out countless times over the past year. Ever since I saw her with Harris, Jennifer had done everything to drive a wedge between Cole and me, clearly trying to drive me out of the house.

Alas, I didn't feel like explaining myself anymore.

Unexpectedly, later that night, Cole knocked on my door.

"You like candied fruit, right? I bought this for you at the market today."

He stuffed a bag of candied fruit into my hand, his cold face showing a hint of awkwardness.

"Don't take what happened today to heart. Jenny didn't do it intentionally. And about the job that was originally yours, you'll need to sign this to officially give your job to Jenny."

The smile that had just appeared on my face immediately faded. So, he was just being nice to me for Jennifer's sake.

"Okay." I nodded and signed the document.

Right after he left, I threw the bag of candied fruit into the trash. Along with it went the last bit of hope I had for him.

…

The day before I left, I specifically told Cole to come home early from work, as I would be waiting for him with the food I had made. I figured we should have one last meal together before I left.

Yet, after waiting late into the night, he never showed. There was no sign of Jennifer, either.

Worried something had happened to Cole, I grabbed a flashlight and went to the factory to look for him.

The security guard at the door was surprised to see me. "Aren't you Cole's sister? Why are you here alone? The factory made a last-minute announcement about a trip to the city today, and employees could bring their families along. Why didn't you take part?"

That answered my questions almost instantly.

Having grown up with Cole, I knew him well. He must have kept this from me just because he was afraid Jennifer and I would quarrel and embarrass him.

Seeing me in a daze, the security guard comforted me. "Don't worry. Cole will be back tomorrow afternoon, so you'll be able to see him soon."

I wouldn't be seeing him soon—I was leaving tomorrow.

That night, I stared blankly at the table that was full of cold food as countless memories crossed my mind.

In the end, I left Cole a goodbye letter.

…

Early the next morning, with the train ticket Steve had gotten for me in hand, I boarded the train bound for Brightmoor.

Staring at the clock on the train, I reckoned Cole was probably home by now.