I Built Her Future, She Burned It

After my parents have passed away, I drop out of school and spend the next ten years working my butt off so that I can put my younger sister, Delilah Scott, through school. When Delilah scores a total of 1550 on her SATs, I can't help but shed happy tears for her. After holding a grand celebratory party, I see live comments streaking in front of my eyes all of a sudden. "I'm so excited! Today, Lils will be spending her first night with Doug!" The sight of the first comment leaves me stunned. At first, I think I'm just seeing things. But the second comment soon flashes in front of me. "This is all Lils' fault for getting into a fight with Doug right before their SATs! Doug got mad at her and ended up scribbling her name all over his exam papers, causing him to score a big fat zero on everything! Poor Lils is overwhelmed by so much guilt that she has secretly changed her application for her dream university to the community college Doug will be studying at! "Tonight, Lils will be giving her virginity to Doug just to comfort him! Once they start college, they'll be busy popping out babies one after another. After graduation, they'll inherit Lils' older sister's company right away and live happily ever after as a married couple!" The moment the comments vanish before my eyes, I see Delilah walking out of her room. "Trish, I'm sleeping over at my best friend's house tonight, so I won't be coming home." Chapter 1 I could barely recognize my younger sister, Delilah Scott, the moment she walked out of her room. Her midriff could be seen poking out of her crop top, and the miniskirt she wore barely covered her crotch. Her eyeliner was drawn in a thin, elegant wing. Delilah paired the rest of her outfit with a tiny bag. There was a hint of shyness in her eyes. "Where are you going?" I quickly stopped her. "Are you seriously dressed up like this just to meet your best friend?" Delilah dug out her phone and showed the screen to me. A text message was displayed on the screen. "Wear something pretty, hon! Don't be late!" The sender was Vanessa Lane, a girl who often hung out at our place. "See, Trish? I'm going over to Vanessa's place!" Then, Delilah shook my arm coquettishly. "She was the one who told me to doll up!" When I recalled the live comments' contents, my expression darkened instantly. "Don't go there tonight. I don't feel so good at the moment. Why don't you stay at home and chat with me instead?" Delilah's smile froze on her face at that moment. "Trish, I've already promised Vanessa that I'd be there. I can't just go back on my word now, can I? I'll be back first thing tomorrow morning, I promise!" As she spoke, she made her way toward the front door. Suddenly, a burst of light flashed across my eyes. "That old hag is planning to ruin Lils' and Doug's relationship just because she doesn't have a boyfriend of her own! Ugh, she's so annoying!" "Doug bought three boxes of condoms for the big night! He even set up a camera in advance so that he can record his first night with Lils!" "Whenever Lils demands a break-up with Doug in the future, he'll use the sex tape to coerce her into staying with him. She'll cry a lot while he pins her down and does whatever he wants with her. Gosh, their love for each other is so toxic but sweet!" I felt as though I had just plunged into the icy abyss. "Hold on!" My tone shifted immediately. "Have you forgotten that today's Mom and Dad's death anniversary?" Delilah's hand froze on the doorknob. At the same time, a hint of uneasiness crossed her features. "The thing is, Trish, I've already promised Vanessa I'd show up. I swear that I'll make it up to Mom and Dad with fresh flowers tomorrow—" "Make it up to them?" I raised my voice at Delilah. "You're telling me that you'll make it up to our parents for skipping out on their death anniversary?" Delilah's brows were tangled in a frustrated knot. She quickly opened the door afterward. "Can you stop acting like this, Trish? Seriously, I'm about to be late!" I gripped her by the arm right away. "Must you go out on our parents' death anniversary?" I asked firmly, my gaze boring into Delilah's eyes. "Are you really meeting up with Vanessa? Or are you actually planning to meet someone else?" Delilah's cheeks went bright red. "What do you mean 'someone else'? Can you stop being so paranoid? My goodness, it's like you're having your menopause soon!" Dull pain flared from my heart at her scathing words. Delilah never talked to me like that before. "You're not allowed to leave the house." "What the hell, Trish?" Delilah stamped her foot angrily. "I just want to spend the night at my best friend's place! What makes you think you can forbid me from going?" She turned to open the door. Immediately, I yanked her away and locked the door right in her face. "The fact that I've raised you for the past ten years gives me that right, Delilah! Go ahead and step through that door, I dare you!" As soon as I whirled around, Delilah dug out a can of pepper spray and started spraying it in my direction. I felt as though acid had just gushed up my nostrils, forcing my airway to contract immediately. Almost immediately, I crumpled to the floor and gasped for breath. I was allergic to peppers. One whiff of chili peppers could cripple me on the spot, least of all a few spritzes of extremely concentrated pepper spray. "Take… Take me to the hospital…" Delilah bit her bottom lip, but she still kicked my hand away. "You'll be fine once you rest for a while, Trish. Anyway, I've already made plans with Vanessa, so I can't be late." Then, she flung open the door quickly and hurried away without hesitation. Chapter 2 I used what remaining strength I had to dial 911. In the hospital, a doctor gave me an allergy shot before putting me through nebulizer therapy. Right after leaving the ER, I tapped on the GPS that was installed on my phone. I was the one who bought Delilah her phone. That meant I never turned off the location-sharing feature right from the start. In the past, I kept it on for the sake of her safety. Now, it became the only clue to her whereabouts. Soon, I hailed a cab to Delilah's current location. After going through a bumpy ride in tiny alleyways that were filled with potholes for 20 minutes, the cab finally stopped outside a six-storied red-brick building. Some people were playing poker in a room downstairs. I could hear a married couple boasting to the other players smugly. "My son, Doug, brought that rich girl home with him today! I bet he's already taken his pants off by now!" "That rich girl is obsessed with him! In just half a year, we've obtained over five thousand dollars from her!" "It's just her and her older sister. They're young and inexperienced, so what use is a company to them? They'll definitely beg my Doug to run the company for them!" "Once that girl gives birth to my grandchild, I'll definitely teach her who's in charge here!" I lost all sense of rationality right there and then. During the previous school term, Delilah told me that she wanted to register for an international competition, so she needed to pay a fee of 300 dollars. Three months ago, she said her high school charged her a security deposit fee of 200 dollars for the lab equipment. During winter break, she claimed 5,000 dollars from me with the excuse that she wanted to attend an elite academic boot camp in Belltron. Later on, Delilah kept coming up with more excuses. Once, she claimed that her laptop was stolen, so she needed a new one. Next, she told me that her classmates had bought new tablets, which gave them a boost in their studies, so she wanted one too. After that, she complained about the air conditioner in her dorm breaking down, which led to her demanding a mini fridge from me. For the past ten years, I fulfilled all of Delilah's wishes and whims. Never in a million years did I think that my little sister, whom I doted on and pampered with all my heart, would swindle money from me just to support another guy! I climbed the stairs while doing my best to suppress my fury. As soon as I reached the fifth floor, I heard Delilah's syrupy voice drift from the apartment. "Doug, dinner's ready!" Douglas Leach, an 18-year-old young man, could be seen lounging on the couch. He was in the middle of playing a game on his phone with a cigarette slung between his lips. He didn't even bother glancing in Delilah's direction. "Don't put that much salt in your food. The last time you cooked for me, the food was too salty. Do you even know how to cook?" Delilah turned around to flash Douglas a smile. "Got it. Your stomach is feeling unwell today, Doug. I specifically put less salt this time." She turned around with a plate in her hands. As soon as she raised her head, she met my gaze through the window. That was when her complexion turned stark white. I responded by kicking the front door open. "Delilah Scott, you'd better go home with me right now." Douglas eyed me from head to toe from the couch. Soon, his lips curled into a smirk. "Oh? You must be Delilah's older sister, Patricia, huh?" He snuffed out his cigarette. Then, he stuck his hand beneath Delilah's top right in front of me. To make things worse, he even raised an eyebrow at me, a grin soon splitting his face apart. "You're so pretty, Patricia. Are you still single?" More live comments popped up in front of my eyes again. "Alright, Doug really deserves a beating this time! How dare he flirt with Patricia right in front of Lils!" "He'll definitely suffer a lot in the wife-chasing redemption arc. Right now, he's already given up on being a better person because of his biological family. That's why he's depressed right now." "Lils is here to save him. Later on, she'll go through five miscarriages, become crippled, and lose a kidney for his sake. Then, he'll regret everything he's done." Five miscarriages. Become crippled. Lose a kidney. For a moment, I almost saw red from how enraged I was. I stared Delilah in the eye and stated firmly, "Come home with me right now, or you can forget about being my sister altogether." Tears began flowing down Delilah's cheeks. But before she could say anything, Douglas was quick to interrupt with a grin. "Oh, it's completely fine if you don't want her as your sister. Why don't you become my side chick instead, Patricia? Or should I call you 'Trish'?" My expression darkened. Meanwhile, Douglas' grin widened even more. "C'mon, Trish! Don't scowl like that! Why don't you give me a smile?" Delilah could only bite her bottom lip. Her voice came out soft. "Trish, I'm already an adult. I want to live my own life now. I hope that you can find your own happiness instead of trying to control me all the time." I felt as though my blood had turned to ice in my veins. "You… You think I'm controlling you this whole time?" That was when Delilah raised her head to look at me. Tears of grievance had already welled up in her eyes by then. "Trish, I admit that you treat me very well. But you shouldn't control me under the guise of showering me with familial love. I'm not your pawn, Trish! You can't impose your will on me!" Delilah took a deep breath afterward. Then, she reached out to grip Douglas' hand tightly. "Doug told me that we're emotionally dysfunctional because there aren't any men in our family." My vision was spammed with more live comments right away. "My heart aches for Lils!" "Although Patricia is the top scorer of her high school back in the day, the fact that Lils is younger than her still stands. Isn't it her obligation to drop out of school just to sponsor Lils' education? Don't tell me she's expecting Lils to financially support her in the future!" "Back when Patricia decided to buy Lils an iPhone, she even wore a pair of hole-ridden socks on purpose just to show them to Lils! Isn't this her way to emotionally manipulate Lils by hurting herself like this?" Chapter 3 I dropped out of high school when I was 16 years old just so I could pay for Delilah's education for the next ten years. Yet, all I received was her accusations of me emotionally manipulating her. Delilah kept clinging to Douglas tightly. There was nothing but fear in her eyes when she looked at me. A wave of despair surged into my heart at that moment. To her, I, her biological sister who had grown up with her, couldn't even hold a candle to a young man whom she had known for only a year or two. "You're right. You are all grown up now." My voice was so calm that even I found it hard to recognize myself at the moment. "From now on, you'll take responsibility for your own life. I won't meddle in your business anymore, nor will I give you a single cent." After that, I turned on my heel and walked out of the apartment before descending the stairs. Delilah's cries came drifting from behind. "Trish! Trish, I'm sorry! I—" But Douglas quickly pulled her back. "Just let her go. Women like her are total pushovers. Once you go home and turn on the waterworks, Patricia will definitely surrender everything she has to you without a doubt." … After leaving the building, I dug out my phone right away and punched in three numbers. "I'd like to make a police report. Delilah Scott, the top scorer on this year's college entrance exams in our city, was lured by a young man named Douglas Scott back to his own residence. She's being held there against her will, and I believe that he's trying to sexually assault her." It was already extremely late at night by the time the police escorted Delilah home. Her hair was a mess, and her eyeliner was already smudged around her eyes. Soon, she sank into the couch and curled up there. "Trish…" Her voice was extremely hoarse. "Douglas pinned all the blame on me right in front of the police. He told them that I was a slut obsessed with him, that I wanted to sleep with him, and that I was more than willing to give him all my money." Delilah buried her face into her knees, her shoulders soon trembling violently. "Am I the biggest idiot in the world, Trish?" As I looked at the way Delilah curled into a small ball, I dug my nails into my palms quietly. "Douglas told me that he came from a poor family. No one bothered raising him properly ever since he was a kid. Heck, he never had a proper, warm meal before. "He told me that no one had ever treated him with sincerity in his whole life. That's why I wanted to treat him better…" After swiping the back of her hand across her eyes heavily, Delilah raised her head to look at me. By then, her eyes were extremely red and swollen. "Little do I know that he's been treating me like a complete idiot. To him, I'm nothing more than a personal ATM and a maid. As soon as he gets into trouble, I'm the first one he casts out just to save his own ass." I just watched Delilah silently. Suddenly, she shot to her feet and pulled out her phone. There, she blocked Douglas on all social media platforms right in front of me. After that, she logged into a college application portal so that she could change her dream college. Finally, she showed me her phone. Her primary choice was now updated to Harvale College. "Trish, from now on, I'll cut off all ties with Douglas. If I ever speak with him again, I don't deserve to be your sister." It was then that I stood up from the armchair and pulled Delilah into a tight hug. Finally, the uneasiness that had been plaguing me completely dissipated into nothing. "Sometimes you have to learn things the hard way. At least you learned it before it was too late." Since then, Delilah seemed like a completely different person. After I got off work every day, I'd see a hot meal waiting for me on the dining table. When the dirty laundry piled up, Delilah would get them done. She even secretly bought me a new outfit, which she left by my pillow in a neatly folded stack. A note came with it. "Trish, you'd look stunning in this outfit." At night, Delilah would curl up on the couch while doing research on Harvale College's dorms. As she scrolled through her phone, she'd ramble excitedly, "Trish, every dorm has its own bathroom! The dorm is big enough to house four students! Oh wow, there's even an air conditioner installed in each dorm!" All in all, Delilah seemed like she was looking forward to living her college life to the fullest. During this time, the live comments never showed up in front of my eyes. Hence, I gradually started to relax. When I was at work the next day, my assistant, Tanya Miller, passed me a business contract. As soon as I picked up my pen and was about to drop my signature, rows of live comments suddenly barged into my vision without any warning. "Lils did it! She copied the key data of Patricia's company into the USB!" "Doug quickly sold it to a rival company! The money he receives will be the starting fund of his own business!" "Patricia's company will receive a lethal blow next week, causing her cash flow to dry up. She'll have no choice but to ask Doug for help." "That's when Doug forces himself on Patricia. Since then, she stays in her own lane." "I don't have the heart to read this part! Lils is emotionally devastated because of this chain of events! Doug is so cruel to her!" "Don't worry. When Doug goes through the redemption arc later on, he'll give Patricia away to his middle-aged debtor to prove his devotion and love toward Lils. Naturally, Lils cheers up immediately, and they successfully patch things up." My pen slipped through my slackened fingers, soon clattering onto the floor. At the same time, I felt a strong chill running down my spine. Chapter 4 "Who else entered my office today?" Tanya was momentarily taken aback by my question. "Your sister dropped by earlier. She said that she needed to fetch a document for you, so I allowed her entry." I grabbed my car keys and rushed out of my office right away. As soon as I opened the front door, I saw Delilah sitting on the couch. She happened to be snacking on some potato chips while watching a reality show. The moment she saw me, she beamed at me happily. "Why are you back from work so early today, Trish?" In a tone as dark as a brewing storm, I said, "You stole some documents from my office." Delilah froze in the middle of grabbing more chips from the bag. "No way! What are you talking about, Trish?" In one swift motion, I knocked the bottle of soda off the coffee table. The dark brown liquid was instantly spilled all over Delilah's clothes. "Lies! You stole them just so you could give them to Douglas! Did you know that he sold the key data to a rival company of mine? Do you have any idea how much damage this is going to do to my company?" I was on the verge of losing my mind due to the overwhelming fury I felt. "Didn't you tell me that you cut off all ties with him? Didn't you block all of Douglas' contact information in front of me? Tell me, is everything you did over the past few days nothing but an act?" Delilah fell silent at my accusations. A moment later, she revealed a look of hopeless resignation. "You're right. I did steal them." She glared at me with bloodshot eyes. "But you owe Doug this much, Trish! You calling the cops on him left him utterly humiliated! Did you know that his parents were so close to beating him to death?" Warm tears spilled down her cheeks at that moment. "What kind of sister calls the cops on her own sister? Doug never blamed me, not even once! Instead, he just held me and told me not to worry at all because he's there for me! He said no one treats me better than he does! In fact, he's the only ray of light piercing through my dark, dull life! He's my savior, Trish!" I just stared at Delilah for a very long time. I didn't bother wasting my breath on her. Instead, I pulled out my phone. The moment Delilah saw me keying in 911, panic and alarm instantly took over her features. "No! Trish! Doug's your future brother-in-law!" She rushed over to snatch my phone from me. Naturally, I responded by pushing her away. Almost immediately, Delilah turned to pick up the small knife from the coffee table. She shrieked at the top of her lungs as she slashed it in my direction. A long gash appeared on my forearm. Fresh blood began dripping along my arm in rivulets. The pain was so intense that I couldn't help trembling. Delilah pointed the knife at me, screaming, "Put down the damn phone! Put it down!" Then, she used her own phone to call Douglas. Her voice was already quivering heavily from how much she was crying. "Get over here right now! Trish wants to call the cops on us!" In less than five minutes, Doug kicked the front door open. He quickly pulled Delilah into his arms before looking at me. A cold chuckle soon fled his lips. "What you're doing is completely unnecessary, Trish. Isn't it tiring for you to run such a huge company all by yourself? You're going to marry a man eventually anyway. Isn't it a good thing to find someone to help you keep an eye on the company?" He took a step forward. "Fine, I admit that I, Douglas Leach, am no rich scion. But one's fate is never set in stone. Today, you think that I'm unworthy to even set foot into the Scott residence. Well then, don't ever regret your decision when you beg me for help in the future." Delilah lifted her head from the crook of Douglas' shoulders to stare at me with tear-filled eyes. "Please, Trish… Please let me stay with Doug! He's actually super talented! All he needs is an opportunity to prove himself! If you entrust the company to him, he will never let you down!" Douglas' gaze kept shifting between my face and my chest. "Honestly speaking, Trish, don't you think it's such a waste to stay single even though you're such a hottie? If you really can't find any compatible guy out there, I don't mind taking you in." He paused for a moment. "After all, you and Lils are sisters." Delilah stiffened in Douglas' arms. For a moment, her expression twisted slightly. Still, she didn't say anything. At that moment, Douglas' phone buzzed abruptly. He looked at his phone, only for a wider smile to bloom on his face instantly. "The company has wired the money to me. It's a total of 680 thousand dollars! Those three documents of yours are pretty valuable, Trish! It's enough for me to buy myself a supercar!" He then tucked his phone back into his pocket. "Now, I want you to get someone to draft a share transfer agreement so that you can transfer the company's shares to my name. "Even if you refuse to do so, I'm still capable of getting my hands on the rest of your company's assets. Don't go down the route where you end up losing all of your wealth and your family's support, Trish. "If you sign the document, Lils will still be your younger sister. In fact, you'll have welcomed a new brother-in-law into your family." Delilah shot me a pleading look. "Trish, just listen to Doug, okay? He's doing this for our own good!" As I clutched my bleeding arm, I let out a chuckle. "Do you really think you've won this time?" The next thing everyone knew, police sirens blared loudly outside the door. A squad of police officers burst through the front door afterward, soon pinning Douglas down on the floor and cuffing his hands behind his back. Delilah let out a blood-curdling shriek as she rushed over to Douglas, only to get stopped by the other officers. As I drank in the way shock and anger twisted Douglas' features, I continued speaking calmly. "Stealing and selling confidential company files? That's corporate espionage. You're going to prison for a very long time." Delilah continued screaming as she brought the knife to her neck threateningly. "Let him go, Trish! Otherwise, I'll die in front of you right now!" The tip of her knife pierced through her skin. Soon, a bead of blood trailed down the curve of her neck. I merely gazed at Delilah coldly. "Then die." Delilah stared at me in shock. Clearly, she couldn't believe what she just heard. It was then that I took a step forward. "You're not my sister. My Lils isn't a lovesick idiot, unlike you." I enunciated every word clearly. "I already know who you are." All color was drained from Delilah's complexion. For the first time ever, raw terror was evident on her face.