On my 28th birthday, I cooked a feast, but my family only had complaints. My mother criticized the ribs, my father pushed the dish away, and my sister Stella fake-smiled, claiming a stomach ache but suddenly craving mango sticky rice from our childhood Thai place. Without asking, my husband Ethan told me to go buy it for her. I returned an hour later to an empty house. The food was cold, and everyone was gone. A social media post revealed the truth: my parents, sister, husband, and even her dog had left on a spontaneous trip to the snowy Alps. They’d all gone without me. I liked the family photo, put down the dessert, and texted Ethan: "Let's get a divorce." 1 After receiving my text, Ethan and the other three, dog in tow, drove through the night to get back. “Anna! Have you lost your mind?!” Ethan slammed his phone down on the coffee table, his voice thick with incredulous rage. “Just because we decided to take a trip for a day, you want a divorce? Can you stop making such a big deal out of nothing?!” I sat on the sofa, watching him with an unnerving calm. He called this making a big deal out of nothing. A small laugh escaped my lips, but it couldn’t mask the sharp, needle-like pain piercing my heart. We had a plan. We were supposed to leave together after my twenty-eighth birthday to finally see the snow-capped mountains of the Swiss Alps. It was a promise we’d made to each other when we were first falling in love. But on my birthday, he had taken everyone and left without a word. My mother yanked me to my feet, her finger jabbing towards my face. “Anna, why are you becoming so thoughtless! Your sister has been under so much stress at work. She finally wanted to get away and relax. We just wanted to leave a little early to beat the holiday traffic. What’s so wrong with that?” “Do you have to throw this whole family into chaos?!” My father’s face was grim, his voice laced with disappointment. “Your sister’s health is fragile. We should take extra care of her. As her younger sister, not only do you lack any empathy, you’re throwing a tantrum. You’re breaking our hearts!” There it was again. Ever since we were children, no matter what happened, I was always the one in the wrong. My sister, Stella, was always the one who needed to be protected, to be understood. She was vibrant and charming, a master of wheedling and winning our parents’ affection. She was the daughter they bragged about. I was quiet and introverted, the perpetual background scenery they barely noticed. Stella walked over, her eyes red-rimmed. She took my hand, her touch as light and fragile as a butterfly’s wing. Her voice was a choked whisper. “Anna, I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault…” “I just didn’t want to be stuck in traffic with everyone else. I thought if we left early, our family trip would be more… perfect. I assumed Ethan would have told you…” As she spoke, she cast a timid, wounded glance at Ethan. His brow furrowed instantly, his gaze landing on me like a physical weight. “Look at your sister! She’s only thinking of everyone else. And you?” he accused. “Stella is a travel blogger! Leaving early to get some content is part of her job! If you can’t understand that, fine, but to demand a divorce? You’re pushing her to the edge!” “Exactly, Anna!” my mother chimed in, her voice sharp. “Why can’t you be more like your sister? So considerate, always thinking of others! Look at you, with that cold, stony face all the time. Who could possibly be happy looking at that?” I looked at the family before me and felt a dizzying sense of absurdity. There was a time when Ethan was the only one in this house who saw through the charade. He would hold me tight and whisper, “Anna, they don’t see how wonderful you are, but it’s okay. I see it. From now on, I’ll be the one to protect you.” But now, he had become one of them. His face was just as grotesque as theirs. A dry, humorless laugh escaped my lips, and the corners of my eyes grew damp. “Anna, what are you laughing at?” My laughter seemed to sting him, and he growled, his voice low with humiliation and anger. “I’m laughing at how stupid I was.” I looked directly at him, my voice steady and clear. “To ever believe you would be any different from them.” “You—!” Whatever Ethan was about to say was cut short by a sudden gasp. 2 Stella suddenly clutched her chest, her face draining of all color as she swayed on her feet. “I… I feel so dizzy. My chest hurts… I can’t breathe…” “Stella!” In an instant, the room erupted into chaos. My parents rushed to support her while Ethan anxiously rubbed her back. “Quick! To the hospital! It must be her depression acting up again!” my mother shrieked. They bustled around her, a frantic whirlwind of concern. No one spared me a second glance. As Ethan passed me, he paused, his eyes burning with disgust. “Anna, if anything happens to Stella, I swear to God, you and I are done.” Without looking back, he rushed out the door after them. I was alone in the vast, empty living room. I walked to the window and watched their car speed away, disappearing into the flow of traffic. A faint tremor ran through my heart, and then, a smile spread across my face. I took out my phone and dialed the number for a moving company. “Hello, yes… I need movers now. As soon as possible. The address is…” This apartment was mine. I had made the down payment myself, before I was married. Its prime downtown location made it convenient for everything. Ever since Stella’s divorce, my parents had moved in with her, using the excuse that it was “easier for Stella to get to her doctor’s appointments.” They moved in as if it were their right. They said it was nice for the whole family to be together. But I knew the truth. They simply despised their old house in the suburbs and coveted the comfort and convenience of my place. Stella, especially, made herself at home. My walk-in closet became hers. My vanity was overrun with her expensive collection of lotions and perfumes. She had a sense of entitlement to everything that was mine. At first, I thought it was just my things she wanted. I later realized she wanted my husband, too. She would flit around in front of Ethan wearing my new silk nightgown. When he came home late from work, she’d be the one to greet him with a bowl of homemade soup, cooing at him to take care of himself. Her performance was more convincing, more doting, than that of the actual wife. She even had the audacity to scold me for being thoughtless whenever Ethan and I had a small argument. And Ethan? He soaked it all up. He reveled in the adoration and dependence of another woman, thriving on the thrill of that ambiguous, morally grey line. His indulgence was the fuel for Stella’s audacity. His silent permission was the knife that dealt the most fatal blow to my heart. The moving company was remarkably efficient. In less than two hours, every trace of their existence had been scrubbed clean from my home. When it was all done, I felt the massive stone that had been lodged in my chest for years finally begin to shift. Suddenly, my phone shrieked. It was Ethan. I answered, and his roar assaulted my ear. “Anna, you vicious bitch! Stella was already in a fragile state, and after the scene you caused, she’s on the roof of the hospital, threatening to jump! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?!” In the background, I could hear my mother’s wails and my father’s furious curses. Ethan’s voice trembled with rage. “Get to the hospital roof right now and apologize to your sister!” A cold smile touched my lips. The same old trick. Ever since we were kids, whenever Stella didn’t get what she wanted, she would put on a show. Hunger strikes, self-harm, running away from home… and now, she had graduated to threatening suicide. I clicked the livestream link Ethan had sent me. On the screen, Stella sat on the edge of the rooftop, her legs dangling over the side, her long hair whipping wildly in the wind. She was crying for the camera, a perfect, tragic damsel in distress. “I’m just so tired… I don’t know what the point of living is anymore…” “All I wanted was for our family to be happy together. Why is that so hard?” “I know my sister has always felt that our parents favor me… but… they love us both. How could they not love her? It’s my fault. I’m the sick one. I’m the burden on everyone, and it’s made my sister misunderstand me so deeply…” She never once blamed me directly, but every word painted me as the villain. The jealous, ungrateful sister who was destroying the family’s harmony. The comments in the live chat scrolled by in a frenzy. OMG her poor sister! This Anna person is pure evil! That sister is a monster! Don’t you know how to treat a family member with depression? Go apologize to your sister! What if she really jumps?! Public opinion had swung completely to her side. I shut off the livestream, grabbed my car keys, and walked out the door. 3 The moment I stepped onto the hospital roof, Ethan lunged at me, grabbing my arm. “You’re finally here! Quick, go apologize to your sister! Tell her you were wrong, that you’ll never argue with her again!” My mother threw herself at me, sobbing as she clung to my other arm. “Anna, I’m begging you! Just give in this once!” “If your sister is gone, I don’t want to live either!” My father, who had been silent until now, stormed over, his face contorted with fury as he pointed a trembling finger at me. “Look what you’ve done! You have dragged our family’s name through the mud today!” “Is this what you wanted? To push your sister to this, to make a public spectacle of us for everyone to laugh at?!” They were using their own lives, the family’s honor, to exert one final, crushing wave of pressure. When Stella saw me, her crying intensified. She wailed at the camera, her voice thick with despair. “Sister, don’t come any closer… I know you don’t want to see me. It’s my fault, I’m an eyesore to you…” “I’ll go. I’ll go right now, and then you’ll be happy… and I’ll finally be free…” As she spoke, she leaned forward slightly, feigning a lurch towards the edge. The live chat exploded. The evil sister is here! Is she going to push her?! Look at her face! So cold! Not an ounce of guilt! Someone call the police! Arrest this woman! She’s a murderer! I stood in the eye of the storm, letting their accusations and pleas wash over me. I watched them quietly, as if observing a farcical play that had nothing to do with me. My silence made Ethan even more frantic. “Anna! Are you mute?!” he roared, shaking my arm violently. “I told you to apologize!” I pried his fingers off my arm, one by one. I lifted my gaze to meet his. “Apologize? Should I apologize for not receiving a single ‘happy birthday’ yesterday? Or should I apologize for being abandoned and forgotten in an empty house?” The color drained from Ethan’s face. A crimson heat bled into the corners of my eyes, and my voice began to tremble. I fought back the tears and turned to my mother. “Mom, are you really going to threaten me with your life?” “Stella has used that trick since we were kids, and it’s worked every single time. Are you going to start now, too?” My mother was stunned into silence. The desperate grip on my arm slackened. Finally, my eyes settled on Stella. I walked, step by step, to the edge of the roof, stopping a few feet away from her. The wind was strong, whipping my hair and clothes around me. I looked at her and spoke, my voice soft and clear. “Sister, why haven’t you jumped yet?” The words hung in the air. Everyone stared at me in stunned disbelief. The mask of sorrow on Stella’s face shattered. She forgot to cry, forgot her performance. She just stared at me, dumbfounded. Ethan’s eyes were wide with shock, as if he couldn’t believe what he had just heard. I continued, my voice perfectly calm. “You said you were tired of living, didn’t you? You said I was your burden, didn’t you? Just jump. It will be a relief for everyone.” “Look at all the people watching you down there. What a spectacular exit.” “What… what did you say?” Stella’s voice was a terrified whisper. I smiled. “I said, you should just die.”
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