CHAPTER 6 – The Sister Who Wanted Everything
CHAPTER 6 – The Sister Who Wanted Everything
The name on the document haunted me.
I stared at it until my eyes hurt.
Until the letters blurred.
Until I hoped, for one impossible second, that I had read it wrong.
Bethany Carter.
My sister.
The person who had grown up beside me.
The person who shared my childhood.
The person who used to hold my hand when we crossed the street.
The person who had helped plan the destruction of my life.
I sat at the kitchen table long after midnight.
The house was silent.
Lily was asleep upstairs.
Safe.
At least for tonight.
But my mind kept returning to one question.
Why?
I understood my parents' obsession with control.
I understood their need to protect their reputation.
They had always cared about appearances.
About what people thought.
About their place in the community.
But Bethany?
She was my little sister.
The girl I protected.
The girl I defended.
The girl I thought needed me.
How could she look at my daughter...
And decide she was something to take?
The next morning, I met Detective Harris at the station.
I placed the document on his desk.
"She signed it."
He looked at the paper.
"Bethany?"
I nodded.
His expression didn't surprise me.
That hurt more than anything.
"You suspected her."
I said quietly.
He leaned back.
"Mrs. Carter, your sister has been involved from the beginning."
I looked at him.
"What do you mean?"
He opened a file.
"Your sister was the person who contacted the custody attorney."
My stomach tightened.
"Not my parents?"
"She coordinated the first meeting."
I felt numb.
"Why?"
Detective Harris looked through the records.
"We are still investigating."
"No."
My voice became firmer.
"I need to know."
He was quiet.
Then:
"Because your sister believed something belonged to her."
I frowned.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
He turned the file toward me.
Inside were old messages.
Not recent.
Years old.
Between Bethany and a friend.
I read the first one.
Bethany:
"Everyone always chooses her."
Another.
Bethany:
"She gets everything without trying."
Another.
Bethany:
"Even now, Mom and Dad look at her like she's special."
My chest tightened.
I kept reading.
Bethany:
"She has the perfect life."
I stopped.
The perfect life.
Was that what she thought?
I looked up.
"She was jealous."
Detective Harris nodded.
"More than that."
He turned another page.
"She believed you took something from her."
"What?"
"Your parents' approval."
I almost laughed.
But there was no humor in it.
Because Bethany had no idea.
She had no idea what my life had really been.
She saw the moments my parents praised me.
The achievements.
The opportunities.
The things they showed everyone.
She didn't see the pressure.
The expectations.
The years of trying to be perfect.
She saw a golden child.
She never saw a child who was exhausted.
That afternoon, I decided to confront her.
Not because I expected an apology.
Not because I believed she would suddenly become the sister I remembered.
But because I needed to hear the truth from her.
Bethany agreed to meet at a coffee shop.
When she arrived...
She looked calm.
Almost too calm.
"You know."
She said immediately.
I stared at her.
"What?"
"You know everything."
I felt a chill.
"You knew I would find out?"
She smiled slightly.
"Eventually."
I sat across from her.
"Why, Bethany?"
She looked away.
For a moment...
She almost looked sad.
Then the expression disappeared.
"Because it was always supposed to be me."
I frowned.
"What?"
"The attention."
She laughed softly.
"The opportunities."
"The respect."
Her eyes became cold.
"You were always the one everyone noticed."
I stared at her.
"Bethany..."
"No."
She interrupted.
"You don't understand."
"I grew up watching everyone celebrate you."
"Mom and Dad talked about you constantly."
"Your grades."
"Your achievements."
"Your future."
"And me?"
She smiled bitterly.
"I was just your little sister."
I shook my head.
"That doesn't explain Lily."
Her face changed.
"Doesn't it?"
"No."
My voice hardened.
"Nothing explains hurting a child."
For the first time...
Her confidence weakened.
"I didn't mean for things to go that far."
I stared at her.
"That's your excuse?"
She looked down.
"Mom said it would scare you."
I froze.
"Scare me?"
"Yes."
"She said if you believed people were questioning you as a mother, you would panic."
My hands clenched.
"And then?"
Bethany was silent.
"Then what?"
She whispered:
"Then we would show everyone how unstable you were."
The words hurt.
Even though I already knew.
Because hearing your own sister admit she helped destroy you was different.
"Why did you agree?"
She didn't answer.
I stood.
"Why did you agree?"
Her eyes filled with anger.
"Because you always get everything!"
People in the coffee shop turned.
But she didn't care.
"You got the career."
"You got the respect."
"You got the family everyone admired."
I looked at her.
"Bethany, I lost my daughter for hours because of you."
Her expression flickered.
A small moment of guilt.
Then gone.
"You still have her."
I felt sick.
"That is what you think this is about?"
She looked confused.
I leaned closer.
"You thought I was fighting you for custody."
A pause.
"But I was fighting because Lily was afraid."
For the first time...
Bethany had nothing to say.
I left.
But I wasn't finished.
That evening, Detective Harris called.
"We found more evidence."
I already knew it involved Bethany.
"What now?"
"Financial records."
I frowned.
"What does money have to do with this?"
A pause.
"Your sister was supposed to receive something."
"What?"
"Your parents had promised her control over certain family assets."
I froze.
"Assets?"
"Yes."
Detective Harris continued.
"According to the documents, if custody transferred to your parents..."
My heart sank.
"What?"
"Your sister would become the legal manager of Lily's inheritance."
I went silent.
"Lily doesn't have an inheritance."
Detective Harris looked at me.
"Your parents created one."
"What are you saying?"
He opened another file.
A trust account.
Created shortly after Lily was born.
The beneficiary:
Lily Carter.
The manager:
Bethany Carter.
I stared.
They weren't only trying to take my daughter.
They were trying to control something connected to her.
"What did they know?"
I whispered.
Detective Harris answered:
"That is what we are trying to determine."
Later that night...
I returned home.
Lily was sitting on the floor drawing.
She looked up.
"Mommy?"
"Yes?"
"Is Grandma still mad?"
My heart broke.
I sat beside her.
"No."
A pause.
"Grandma is just someone who made a bad choice."
Lily looked at her drawing.
"Is Aunt Bethany bad too?"
I didn't answer immediately.
Because children deserved honesty.
But they also deserved protection.
"I think Aunt Bethany forgot what matters."
"What?"
"That family means protecting each other."
Lily nodded slowly.
That night, after she slept...
I received an anonymous email.
One attachment.
A photograph.
Bethany.
My parents.
And someone else.
Someone I didn't recognize.
The date was two months before the party.
The message underneath was short.
"Bethany was not the person who started this."
I stared at the screen.
Because if that was true...
Then my sister was only a piece of the plan.
Someone else had convinced her.
Someone else had guided her.
Someone else had helped build the trap.
And the worst part?
The person in the photograph...
Was someone who had been inside my life for years.
Someone I trusted.
May you like
Someone who knew exactly how to hurt me.
TO BE CONTINUED...
