I knew Landon grew up in a world of constant scheming and backstabbing; he’d stopped seeing human life as precious a long time ago.

But I thought I was different. That my family was different.

It turns out, the only one who was different was Sierra.

"I only have one sister. Her name is Chloe Song."

I cut Landon off, my voice sharp.

When Sierra first came back, her mother had just passed away, and she was listless and depressed.

Landon was busy, so I spent time with her instead, taking care of her every need.

Even when she played petty tricks to drive a wedge between us, I thought it was harmless.

Soon, she started clinging to Landon every second of the day.

She would even bring a stuffed animal to our room at night, insisting on sleeping with us.

She was afraid of thunder, or rain, or ghosts, or the dark. The excuses were always flimsy, but Landon accepted every single one.

Then, after Landon proposed to me, she produced a bipolar diagnosis that made him surrender completely.

She started causing trouble like a madwoman, and with just one phone call, Landon would ditch multi-million dollar deals to go clean up her messes.

Eventually, whenever Landon and I were alone, she’d threaten to jump off a building, play with charcoal burners, pretend to drown, or make cuts on her wrists. The tricks were endless.

And Landon, while scolding her with his words, would already be running out the door.

I protested, of course, but Landon always managed to soothe me with a few words.

"Aria, her mom just died. It's normal for her to feel insecure."

"Aria, she's just sick. If we give her enough love, she can be cured."

This continued until she tried to stop Landon and me from getting our marriage license by leading a group to bully my sister, personally pushing her off that roof.

I thought that would be Landon’s wake-up call, that he would finally stop spoiling her without limits.

But he didn't.

In that moment, I finally understood that in his heart, no one was more important than Sierra.

I looked at the video of my sister, once so bright and full of life, now lying silently in a hospital bed like a porcelain doll.

Just yesterday, she was smiling, telling me she couldn't wait to be there when we got our license, to take pictures for us.

One day had passed, and it felt like a lifetime.

"Landon, I'll sign."

Alive.

Alive is better than gone.

Landon's lips parted slightly as he took the settlement agreement from his assistant and placed it in front of me.

"Aria, I knew you were the best. I knew you loved me."

"I promise, this time I'll punish her severely!"

I had heard those words countless times, but I had never once seen the punishment.

I'd never even heard him say a harsh word to her.

I let out a cold laugh and lowered my head, signing my name on the paper.

"When we get married, have her come back and be your bridesmaid."

Landon folded the agreement, smiling as he hugged me.

"That won't be necessary."

I pushed him away and walked out.

Behind me, Landon stared at the signature on the paper, a slight chill running down his fingertips.

That night, I saw that Sierra, who had just landed at an international airport, had changed her flight and was heading back home.

A video of Landon picking her up from the airport went viral.

On Sierra's social media, she was sitting behind a bouquet of 9,999 white roses, her smile radiant.

[Who wouldn't want to be the apple of her big brother's eye? @MySupermanBrother]

Even if it was just a silhouette from behind, I'd recognize Landon anywhere.

I sat on the windowsill in my room and finally typed out my resignation letter on my laptop.

The next day, I went to the hospital to see Chloe, as usual.

As soon as I walked in, I saw Sierra sitting on the edge of Chloe's bed, swinging her legs.

"I heard you were going to sue me for this living corpse?"

"What happened? Did you change your mind?"

"Oh, right. I heard your family took thirty million dollars! Tsk, so your sister's life is only worth thirty million?"

Her taunts filled the air, but I acted as if I hadn't heard a thing.

"Get out. No one wants you here."

Sierra just grinned and hopped off the bed.

"If my brother hadn't told me to come here and atone, you think I'd want to be in this depressing place?"

"You know, she wet her pants when she fell. Did you clean her up properly?"

Sierra circled the bed, her words dripping with provocation.

I ignored her and bent down to straighten my sister's clothes.

"What's this?"

I followed the sound of her voice and saw her hand hovering over the power cord.

"Don't touch that!"

Sierra flicked the switch off and on. The machine beside me let out a sharp beep.

Chloe’s vitals flatlined.