My Brother Doesn't Love Me novel Chapter 3

Emily was always so "good" to me.

When I got straight A's in school, my parents were thrilled and wanted to take me out for a celebratory dinner. But just as they made plans, Emily conveniently came down with a fever.

The night I won the Youth Design Competition's gold medal, she was sick again.

...

The coincidences piled up, and even at a young age, I realized they weren’t coincidences at all.

Sure enough, when I was about to represent my school in another competition, she fell ill once more.

This time, when I insisted on going to the competition, my brother slapped me across the face.

"Sophia, how can you be so heartless? Emily’s seriously ill, and you still want to go to a competition?"

I held my reddened cheek, tears welling up in my eyes.

Why couldn’t they see the heating pad peeking out from under her blanket?

It was such a poorly executed lie, and I could spot it every time. So why couldn’t they?

I hadn’t even started crying yet, but Emily’s tears came first. "Ryan, don’t blame Sophia. After all, in her eyes, I took your love from her..."

Her one truthful statement only made my parents and brother shower her with even more affection.

My brother even warned me, "Don’t tell anyone at school that I’m your brother. I don’t have a petty and cruel sister like you."

By the time I was about to graduate high school, my parents went on a ski trip and were caught in an avalanche. Their bodies were never recovered.

The once-grand mansion now housed only the three of us siblings.

So, I did.

Ryan was furious and from that day on, he treated me like an enemy.

In the following years, as our family fell apart, the mansion remained quiet with just the three of us. But he only spoke to Emily, shutting me out completely.

After our parents passed, Ryan took on the heavy burden of the family business, losing weight rapidly in just a few short weeks.

I secretly earned a nutritionist certification and started making him nourishing soups every day.

As the company slowly got back on track, so did his health, little by little, thanks to my care.

One day, as he saw me cooking in the smoky kitchen again, he actually smiled at me and said, "Thanks."

Everything seemed to finally be moving in the right direction.