She was forced to death by her own sister, and she knelt down and begged me to forgive her

I stood on the roof, eighteen stories up, the wind whipping around me like a restless ghost.

Down below, the jumbo screen in the square was live-streaming my sister’s fairytale wedding to some rich kid, Jason “Jay” Sterling, from the DC elite.

I dialed the number I knew by heart but rarely used.

“Hey, sis. Congrats on the big day.”

Her voice was as cold and clipped as ever.

“Liam, why aren’t you dead yet…?”

I smiled, stepped over the edge, and whispered, “Your wish is my command.”

1.

The day my sister, Olivia, got back to the States, she came straight to the Willow Creek Wellness Center to pick me up.

I waited at the entrance, squinting against the sun, watching the woman who looked like she was dipped in gold.

It had been eight years since I’d seen my sister. Eight years.

My feet felt like lead as I walked toward her.

Olivia leaned against the door of a black Maybach, a cigarette smoldering between her fingers. She looked like she couldn’t even feel the heat from the burning end.

Dr. Peterson, the head of the center, trailed behind me, muttering under his breath, “Liam, don't think getting out of here means you're off the hook. I’ve got a hundred ways to bring you back.”

“Remember your place.”

My shoulders tightened, and I stopped dead in my tracks, nodding stiffly.

Dr. Peterson, all smiles, ushered me to Olivia.

She raised an eyebrow, reaching for my beat-up backpack.

I recoiled, stepping back.

“I got it.”

Olivia said nothing, just hopped in the car and hit the gas, peeling out like we were being chased.

Memories flooded back, blurring my vision.

Once, Olivia was my whole world, the one person who'd go to bat for me, no matter what trouble I caused.

She'd take every hit, every scolding, shielding me from my parents' wrath.

“Liam’s my little man, and nobody messes with him.”

When did that change?

Eight years ago.

My parents were driving home late on the night of my birthday, trying to make it back for the party.

They collided with a semi.

They never woke up.

I remember Olivia, kneeling by their bodies, sobbing, her voice ripped to shreds.

She pointed a shaking finger at me, “You’re bad luck, Liam! You killed them! If it wasn’t for you, they’d be alive!”

I'll never forget the look in her eyes.

It was like the semi had nothing to do with it; I was the one who’d killed them.

After that, we ended up in the care of the Sterlings.

Olivia was brilliant. The Sterlings shipped her off to study abroad, and that was the last I’d seen of her for eight long years.

2.

Olivia spoke, breaking the silence.

“Jay said you were sick? Why didn’t you call me?”

Sick?

I guess I was.

When we first got to the Sterlings', Mr. and Mrs. Sterling were actually pretty nice to us.

Nice enough that I thought, even with my folks gone, Olivia and I would be okay.

I was wrong.

Once Olivia left, Jay made my life a living hell.

He’d rip up my homework, tell stories to the Sterlings about how I was being a brat.

He'd get all the other kid...