My stepbrother hated my guts. But I loved shadowing him. He paid me three grand just to skip walking to school with him, and thirty grand to transfer out of his class. Except every single time, I’d find my way back into his orbit. After graduation, he wired a massive sum to my account and said coldly: "There’s three-quarters of a million dollars. Go study abroad and never show your face in my house again." My eyes welled up, and I lowered my head, whispering, "Okay." Yes! Finally pulled it off. 01 I walked in on Tyler and the scholarship kid, Maya, right before they kissed. It was in a dimly lit VIP booth at a club. He was lounging in a corner sofa, looking exhausted, his eyes closed. His sharp profile was half-lost in the shadows. Maya, standing there in her white dress, had her hands planted on either side of him on the couch, tentatively leaning down, getting closer and closer to his face. Then I barged in. She jumped, turning around to face me in a panic. Her eyes were wide and watery, like a deer caught in headlights. "Harper, I..." I walked right past her, straight up to Tyler. " The driver’s here. Dad told me to make sure you got a ride home too." He picked up his jacket from beside him, threw it on, and followed me out. It was late, and the hallway was nearly empty. He pulled the door shut but didn't move. He just leaned against it, standing there lazily. "She almost kissed me." "..." I didn't say anything. His voice took on an annoyed edge. "She’s terrified of everything. It took a lot for her to work up the courage to do that." I unlocked my phone, showed him the time, and the text message my stepdad—his dad—had sent me. I explained in a low voice. "Dad really did tell me to give you a ride." He glanced at it, dismissing me with a grunt. "Oh." "I’m eighteen now, and I’m done with high school. He can’t control me anymore. Tattling won't do you any good." A flicker of neon light passed over us, illuminating his face. His cheeks were flushed. He was drunk. I gripped my sleeves, my voice barely audible. "But..." He cut me off quickly. "Take your own Uber back." "And another thing—" His fingers tapped rapidly on his phone screen. "There’s three-quarters of a million dollars. Go study abroad and never show your face in my house again." "Let's make sure we never see each other after this." "Harper, I really, truly hate you." He was never going to see me again. My eyes instantly turned red. I lowered my head, holding back a sob. "Okay." Tyler turned, walked back into the booth, and slammed the door hard behind him. I checked the numbers in my mobile banking app. I couldn't help it. I crouched down, covered my mouth, and let out a sob that turned into a giggle. Yes! Finally pulled it off. 02 Tyler had hated me for a long time. He thought my mom and I were just gold diggers after the Vance family fortune. Well, he was smart about that. When I was fourteen, he put two lizards in my bed, trying to scare me into leaving his house. I screamed and cried. To comfort me, my stepdad gave me a huge allowance. Seeing the money made me happy again. When I was sixteen, Tyler and I were sent to the same private high school. He didn't want to be in the same class as me, but he also didn't want his dad to hit him and then give me money to make up for it. So, he skipped the intermediate steps. "Thirty grand." "Transfer out of this homeroom." Freshman year, I left. Sophomore year, I came back. He hadn't specified a time limit. When I walked back into the classroom with my backpack, Tyler’s face was thunderous. The guy sitting in front of him grinned. "Ty, your sister is nothing if not persistent." Tyler said coldly, "She is not my sister." Everyone in the room gave a knowing smile. Tyler looked at me, scowling. "What is it actually going to take for you to disappear?" My eyes welled up. "Do you really hate me that much?" He flashed some numbers on his phone. I bit my lip. "Sorry. I think I walked into the wrong classroom today." 03 I had identified a business opportunity. Tyler was seriously rich. His mom, who lived in Europe, had already paved the way for him with a massive trust fund. When he played golf, I’d be right there on the sidelines, acting as his hype man, holding his water and jacket. He came over to confront me once. I looked up at him, my eyes shining with feigned admiration. "Can't I just look up to my big brother?" He Venmoed me money. "If you have nothing to do, go shopping. Stop annoying me." Well, I had to accept the contribution. I shadowed Tyler for over a year. Everyone in our circle knew he had this stepsister, and they even joked about it, saying they’d send him flowers when he inevitably ended up on the news for losing it on me. Over time, Tyler stopped bothering to explain. He just consistently offered me money to get lost. But I wasn't about to abandon my ATM. For Tyler’s eighteenth birthday party, he drank. When he got home from the venue, I was there with one hand holding an electrolyte drink and the other stabilizing him. I was hoping he was drunk enough to miscount the zeros on a bank transfer. He squinted, looking down at me, and suddenly said, "Harper, you are seriously calculating and manipulative." There was a hint of mockery in his voice. I paused, my foot on the stairs. Getting insulted was going to cost extra. Without warning, he grabbed my waist, flipped the light switch, and pinned me against the railing of the spiral staircase to kiss me. Everything went dark instantly. My entire vision was filled with his face. His breath felt like a raging storm. Stunned, I shoved him away hard. The bottle in my hand hit the floor with a clatter and rolled down the stairs. My stepdad stood at the top of the stairs, asking, "Harper? Is everything okay?" I suppressed my shaking voice, putting on my usual aggrieved tone to complain: "Tyler’s drunk. He’s throwing a tantrum and smashed my bottle." Tyler leaned against the railing, head down, not saying a word in the darkness. My stepdad sighed. "He’s always like this, goes crazy when he drinks. Ignore him. Go back to your room and rest. I’ll help him up." I fled to my room. At 3:00 AM, Tyler texted me. [I'm sorry.] [I couldn't see straight. I thought you were someone else.] It was the first time he had ever apologized to me. But it was an insult. It came with a Venmo transfer. I didn't accept it, and I didn't reply. 04 I found out later who that "someone else" was. One of Tyler’s many admirers. Maya Hayes, a scholarship student constantly ranked in the top ten of our class. She was insecure and timid, only daring to look up at him from afar. Somehow, Tyler had noticed her. He had said, "She’s just like Harper, always putting on that pathetic, pitiful act." "Who is she trying to fool?" He hated me, yet he seemed drawn to Maya when she acted that way. After school, I was sitting in the car waiting for him. Then I saw a girl in the school uniform following behind him. The car door opened. He didn't get in. He was holding her backpack. He raised an eyebrow at me and said casually, "Get out." I was stunned for a second. Maya carefully reached out, grabbing his arm and giving it a gentle shake. Her voice was soft. "It’s okay, Tyler." "I can take the bus back." Tyler didn't back down. His voice grew cold. "I’m driving her home." "I sent you money. Take an Uber." Why couldn't he give me a bit more so I could just buy my own car and drive back? Whatever. Don't push your luck. I nodded in humiliation, bit my lip, squeezed my backpack straps, and obediently got out of the car. It was dusk, and the crowd of students was dispersing. I stood by the roadside alone, staring at the tips of my shoes, tears falling one by one. It wasn't until the car had driven off in the completely opposite direction that I wiped away my tears and opened Tyler’s message. $2,000? Good thing I didn't check the message right in front of him. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to cry. 05 Tyler’s three-quarters of a million dollars came too late. I hadn't prepared for the English proficiency exams in advance, so I had to cancel most of my summer travel plans and parties, holed up in my room memorizing vocabulary. Tyler was downstairs throwing a party with his friends. The speakers were incredibly loud. I took off my noise-canceling headphones and walked downstairs. "Can you turn it down a little?" Tyler’s friend patted the empty spot next to him and smiled. "Harper, you're home? Why don't you come join us?" I pressed my lips together in an embarrassed smile. "I’m upstairs studying." "Studying?" Someone finally turned off the music to listen to me speak. "I thought people who studied this hard over summer break only existed on the internet." "Maya came out to play, you should too." Tyler never looked up from his phone the entire time. Maya was sitting next to him, smiling gently and sweetly at me. Then she took on a hesitant look. "Harper, you aren't... planning on retaking your senior year, are you?" I wasn't close with her. For her to call me by a nickname like that, it looked like things were progressing with Tyler. She continued, "It’s okay if you didn't do well on the SATs." "Mr. Vance is so rich, I’m sure he has plenty of connections to get you into a school." Sensing the tension between us, everyone went quiet. I said softly, "Yeah, my family has money. It doesn't matter what my scores are." "Maya, are you worried about not getting in anywhere?" Her face went pale. Tyler finally looked up, giving her hand a reassuring pat. "Harper, don't be a bitch." I nodded. "Okay." "I’m going up to study. Keep it down, please." I put my headphones back on and walked up the stairs. I could feel several pairs of eyes on my back, making my skin crawl. 06 On score release day, Maya was also at the Vance house. The excuse this time was that her ancient computer at home had broken down. Even though Tyler knew the scores were sent via text message, he still indulged her and brought her back. Around 3:00 PM, I heard sobbing from Tyler’s study. I couldn't tell if it was from sadness or joy. The text message didn't give the total score. Tyler was holding a calculator, adding up each section for her. I was heading out for a prep class and passed his study. The door wasn't shut. He was leaning against a bookshelf, reading out the score. "1520." Just loud enough for me to hear. He knew I was walking by. He didn't look up. "What about you?" Maya looked confused. "What?" I was downstairs putting on my shoes and replied casually. "1580." Better than I expected. I was just waiting for him to ask. Something suddenly dropped to the floor inside the room. It made a sharp sound. 07 "My dad wants you to go to Harvard." That evening, Tyler was standing outside my room, speaking through the door. My stepdad was a pretty traditional guy. He valued prestige and thought having a child go to an Ivy League school would give him more social standing. I held the doorknob, wanting to shut the door. "But you told me to go abroad." "..." Tyler was silent for a moment, then laughed. "You listen to me now?" The money was in the bank; of course I was going to listen. Though in the past, I admittedly only listened halfway. He’d tell me to get lost, I’d get lost for an hour, and then I’d come back. This time, I was too embarrassed to do that. Three-quarters of a million dollars. I promised that once I took it, I was gone. I’d never show up again. Family gatherings? My mom and I could eat at a separate table. He said, "So you’re ignoring what my dad wants?" I had played the obedient child at home often enough. I lowered my head and bit my lip, putting on my best meek and mild act, fiddling with the hem of my dress. He said, "Give me your login passwords. I’ll fill out your applications." I said weakly, "Don't send me to some community college in the middle of nowhere." Tyler let out a light laugh. "You know I won't." I didn't know. I didn't care. I was preparing to accept an offer from a university in London. 08 To play it safe. Tyler filled out his own top choice as Cornell for Agricultural Sciences. For Maya, he filled out Mechanical Engineering. His mom had money and connections over in Europe; he just needed the degree, he didn't care about the major. As for my applications, he filled all twelve slots with schools in Boston. I’d have to go through and delete every single one of them. Both he and Maya got accepted. He truly didn't care about Maya’s future career satisfaction either. My stepdad was thrilled and planned to book a hotel for a massive graduation party. At dinner, he opened a bottle of expensive red wine to toast my mom. Tyler walked downstairs and casually mentioned, "Can we have Harper’s party at the same time?" We had had a joint middle school graduation party years ago. My stepdad smiled. "We aren't throwing a party for Harper yet." "She’s going abroad. To make sure she doesn't take up an American student's spot, she deleted all her domestic applications." "We’ll throw hers next year." The faint smile on Tyler’s lips vanished instantly. His face went dark and stormy. "Abroad?" I kept my head down, quietly eating, occasionally taking a small sip of the $15,000 bottle of red wine. I didn't really appreciate the taste. But the more I drank, the more value I got. I certainly wouldn't buy it with my own money. My stepdad frowned. "Yeah. The decision was a bit rushed, but I fully support Harper." "This is such a happy day, why the long face?" Tyler kept his eyes down. "I’m not happy." My stepdad was confused. "You’re the one who said you wanted to go to the same school as the girl you like. Now you’ve both been accepted, to an Ivy League school no less, what is there to be unhappy about?" "The major is a bit weak, but you can always transfer later. It’s not like we’re actually going to make you a farmer." "Your mom is happy too. She wants you to go visit her in Europe for a month this summer." Tyler asked, "Which country?" My stepdad slammed his chopsticks down. "You don't even know which country your own mother lives in anymore?" He looked at me. "I’m asking Harper." My stepdad silently picked up his chopsticks. I set down my wine glass, carefully raising my eyes. "I haven't decided yet."
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