Teaching My Sister To Kill Love

At the gala meant to welcome the real heiress back into society, Cassidy Montgomery did the unthinkable. In front of every old-money titan and gossip-hungry socialite in Manhattan, she dropped to her knees, sobbing and begging our parents to save her deadbeat boyfriend.

Jax owes the underground bookies five million, she wailed, her voice cracking through the silence of the ballroom. "If he doesn't pay by midnight, theyre going to break his legs. Theyll kill him!"

She looked up at our parents, her mascara running in ugly black tracks down her face. "The Montgomerys have more money than God. Why cant you just pay it? Why won't you help him?"

The air in the room turned brittle. My parents stood frozen, their faces turning a ghastly shade of grey. This was supposed to be their triumphthe return of their biological daughter after twenty years of separation. Instead, she was dragging our name through the gutter before the first course was even served.

I stepped forward, trying to salvage the wreckage. "Cassidy, get up. This is a family matter. Well discuss it in private."

She didn't just refuse; she lunged. She shoved me so hard I stumbled back against a champagne tower, the glass rattling ominously. "Why do you get to use their money, Jessica? Youre the fraud! Youre the one who lived my life while I was rotting in the sticks. If you won't give me the five million to save Jax, Im not moving. Ill stay right here until I die."

I looked down at herat the sheer, agonizing stupidity of a woman blinded by a toxic "love" that was clearly eating her alive. I reached into my clutch, pulled out a pre-prepared severance agreement, and dropped it at her feet.

"Sign this. Relinquish your claim to the Montgomery estate and cut ties with this family forever. Do that, and Ill wire the five million to your boyfriends bookie right now."

...

Cassidy picked up the document, her hands shaking like a leaf in a storm.

Then, she snarled. She threw the papers directly at my face, her eyes bloodshot and filled with a primal, jagged hatred.

"Jessica Montgomery, youre the one who shouldve been kicked to the curb the moment I walked through that door," she spat. "My parents haven't said a word. What right do youthe replacementhave to tell me to leave?"

The room went cold. I could hear the whispers starting like a hissing radiator. People knew. They knew that in this city, I was the one who held the leash.

I reached out, my fingers clenching her chin with just enough pressure to make her wince. I looked down at her from a height she would never truly reach. "What right? Today, Im going to show you exactly what right I have."

I glanced toward the back of the room. "Arthur, clear the floor."

With a single nod to our head of security, the doors were thrown open. Within minutes, every guestincluding the citys most powerful power-playersfiled out through the back exits in a stunned, disciplined silence. No one dared to laugh. No one dared to linger.

Cassidy had no idea. She didn't know that for the last five years, I was the one who had bled for this family. I was the one who navigated the shark-infested waters of the shipping industry to save our company from bankruptcy while our fathers heart was failing. I was the one who took the hits, intercepted the lawsuits, and maintained the "Montgomery dignity" while she was playing house with a gambler.

Without the "fake" daughter, the Montgomerys would have been a cautionary tale years ago. She didn't have the luxury of judging me.

"Im asking you one last time," I said, my voice flat. "Sign it, or don't."

She looked at our parents, her eyes pleading for a miracle. My father looked away, and my mother fixed her gaze on the floor. Their silence was my mandate.

Cassidy broke. She collapsed into a fit of hysterical sobbing. "Dad, Mom... the people who raised me were monsters. Jax was the only one who ever looked at me like I mattered. Without him, Im nothing. I cant lose him."

She crawled toward my father, clutching at his tuxedo trousers. "Dad, please. Just this once. Just help him this one time!"

Then, in a blur of desperate motion, she scrambled toward the buffet table and grabbed a steak knife, pressing the serrated edge against her own throat. "If you don't help him, Ill end it right here!"

I didn't flinch. I walked straight up to her, grabbed her wrist, and turned the point of the blade into her skin just enough to draw a pinprick of red.

"You want to die? Let me help you."

I applied a fraction more pressure. She gasped, the bravado evaporating as the reality of cold steel hit her.

"Ah... stop!" She slumped to the floor, the knife clattering away.

I knelt beside her, whispering so only she could hear. "Listen to me, little sister. You play by my rules, and you stay a Montgomery. You get the trust fund, the connections, the life you were born for. But there is a price: you dump the gambler. You marry the youngest Moretti son. That is your job. That is what a real Montgomery does."

After a long, agonizing silence, she nodded weakly.

"Fine."

For a few days after the gala, Cassidy went quiet. she retreated into her wing of the estate, refusing to speak, eating her meals in solitary confinement.

"Keep an eye on her," I told the housekeeper. "Every move she makes, I want a report."

I was in the middle of a high-stakes negotiation with a West Coast logistics firm when my phone buzzed. It was the head of security.

"Miss Montgomery, Cassidy just left the house."

"Follow her. Tell me where she goes."

Ten minutes later, the update came in. "Shes at a high-end pawn shop in the Diamond District. She brought your vintage Birkin and the sapphire necklace."

The idiot. She was hockng my heritage to fund her losers addiction.

"Let her go for now," I said, my jaw tightening.

A few days later, I pulled Cassidy out of her room. "Get in the car. Im taking you somewhere."

We drove to an illegal gambling den tucked behind a dry cleaner in Queens. Inside, the "love of her life" was draped over a blackjack table, a cocktail in one hand and a scantily clad dealer on his lap, laughing as he blew through thousands.

"See that?" I pointed. "Thats the jewelry you stole. Hes literally throwing your 'sacrifice' into the trash."

Cassidys eyes turned a violent shade of red. "You brought me here just to mock me, didn't you? I love him, Jessica. I don't care what he does. At least hes human. Youre just a cold-blooded killer. You don't even know what love is. Youre pathetic."

I actually laughed. It was a sharp, bitter sound.

"Maybe I don't know love, but I know the penal code. That jewelry was worth ten million. The bags? Five. Thats grand larceny, Cassidy. I could have you in a jumpsuit by dinner."

She crumpled into a heap on the sidewalk.

For the sake of our parents' reputations, I didn't call the police. I just gave the order: "Cut off her accounts. Move her into the smallest guest room. She stays there until she learns how to be a daughter."

I thought that would be enough. I thought the shock would clear the fog. I was wrong.

A week later, security caught her sneaking out to meet him again. I dropped everything and drove to the fleabag motel where they were hiding. I kicked the door in.

They were in bed, a mess of tangled sheets and cheap booze. But that wasn't what made my blood boil. Cassidys face was a map of bruisesyellow and purple welts across her cheek and brow.

I didn't even think. I grabbed her by her hair, pulled her off the bed, and slapped her hard enough to make her head ring.

"You stupid, God-awful brat!" I screamed. "Youre engaged to a Moretti! If the press gets a whiff of thisif the Morettis find out youre slumming it with this parasitetheyll pull out of the shipping merger. The overseas routes weve spent a decade building will evaporate in a day."

The Morettis controlled the three major Atlantic shipping lanes. They were the key to our survival. Ten years, countless millions, and more than a few 'disappeared' rivals had paved the way for this alliance. Three years ago, I had saved the Moretti matriarchs grandson from a kidnapping attempt. That was the only reason they even considered us.

If they knew Cassidy was cheating on their son with a street-level gambler, they wouldn't just cancel the deal. Theyd bury us.

But Cassidy just looked at me with a swollen eye and a defiant smirk. "So what? Your business is a drop in the bucket compared to my heart. I said Id marry the guy, isn't that enough?"

"He beat you, Cassidy!" I pointed at her face. "Thats how he loves you? With his fists? Next time, he won't just bruise you. Hell break you into pieces."

I turned to the man on the bedJaxwho hadn't said a word the entire time. He was a coward, through and through. I looked at my security team. "Take him to the pier. Let him see if he can swim with the fishes."

"No!" Cassidy shrieked. "Jessica, you can't! Thats murder! Ill go to the cops!"

"The cops?" I leaned in close. "I played poker with the Police Commissioner last night and 'lost' half a million to his favorite charity. Go ahead. Tell them whatever you want. The door is right there."

She collapsed, the fight leaving her. "Fine... just let him go. I won't see him again. I promise."

When we got back, she didn't say a word to our parents. But at dinner, she made a sudden announcement. "Dad, Mom... I want to start interning at the firm. I want to be like Jessica. I want to help the family."

My parents looked at me, waiting for my approval.

"Fine," I said. "Start tomorrow. Youre my junior assistant."

She started to protest, but a sharp look from my father silenced her.

At the office, I threw a mountain of files on her desk. "Learn them. Ask if youre confused."

Later that afternoon, during a senior management meeting, the door swung open. Cassidy walked in, looking more polished than Id ever seen her. "Hope Im not late, sister. I thought I should start learning how the big decisions are made."

Technically, she didn't have the clearance. But for the sake of peace at home, I let her stay. She was suddenly attentive, asking questions, hovering. I answered everything, thinking maybejust maybeshe was finally growing up.

The day we were set to sign the final contract with the Morettis, she insisted on coming along. "I want to see my fianc. And I want to be there for our big win."

We were in the Moretti boardroom. Victor Moretti, the CEO, had the pen poised over the signature line when his phone rang. He listened for ten seconds, and his face turned the color of a thunderstorm.

He hung up and stood, pulling a sleek black pistol from his desk drawer and leveling it at my forehead. "Jessica. Are you here to spit in my face?"

I didn't move. I raised my hands slowly. "Victor, weve worked together for years. If theres a problem, tell me."

"A problem?" He threw his phone onto the table. "You sign a merger with me, while your people are currently hijacking my shipments at the Jersey docks. Look for yourself."

The video was clear. Men in Montgomery uniforms were raiding a Moretti vessel.

"Victor, this is a mistake. Let me make a call." I dialed my logistics manager. "What the hell is going on at Dock 3?"

"Boss? You gave the order! You said to seize the Moretti cargo so we wouldn't have to pay the transit fees!"

"I never"

I turned. Cassidy was standing by the window, a smug, dark smile playing on her lips.

"And then theres the matter of my son's honor," Victor growled. He threw a stack of photos onto the table.

They were high-resolution shots of Cassidy and Jax in the motel room. Graphic. Humiliating.

Click. Victor cocked the hammer. "My gun hasn't tasted blood in a long time. Today, one of you stays here permanently."

I closed my eyes for a heartbeat. Then I looked at Victor. "Ill stay. Let her go."

Cassidys smile faltered. She looked at me, stunned. "Youre... letting me go?"

"Get out!" I barked.

She didn't wait. She scrambled out of the room, her heels clicking frantically down the hall.

A minute later, a shot echoed through the penthouse.

I walked into the Montgomery estate hours later, my white silk blouse stained with red. Cassidy was already tucked into bed, probably dreaming of her "victory."

I didn't knock. I burst into her room, grabbed her by her hair, and slammed her head against the mahogany headboard.

"You stole my corporate seal," I hissed. "You sent those men to the docks to sabotage the Moretti deal, didn't you?"

"Get off me! You're crazy!" she screamed.

"Tell me the truth, or you won't live to see the sunrise."

I slammed her again. Her nose started to bleed, the red dripping onto her silk pillowcase.

"Yes! It was me!" she shrieked. "So what? You lost a business deal. Big deal! I lost my life! I lost Jax!"

She laughed, a jagged, broken sound. "I wanted to destroy you. I wanted to burn the Montgomery name to the ground. Your status, your precious companyit's all a lie anyway. I sent the photos to Victor myself. How does it feel, Jessica? To lose everything?"

"Housekeeper!" I yelled. "Lock her in the basement guest room. No phones, no visitors, no exits."

I didn't tell my parents the truth. I told them Id been in a minor car accident. But while I was in the hospital getting my shoulder stitched up, they came rushing into my room, frantic.

"Jessica, its Cassidy! Shes gone!"

"I told the staff to keep her locked down," I gritted out, the pain in my shoulder searing. "Idiots."

My fathers phone chimed. It was a video.

Cassidy was tied to a chair, her face battered, her clothes torn. Dad, Mom... please! They kidnapped me! They want fifty million or theyll kill me! Please, just pay them!

My mother collapsed into a chair, sobbing. "Jessica, you have to save her. I know shes been difficult, but shes our blood. Please."

My father looked like he was about to drop to his knees. I caught him before he could. "Dad, stop. Ill get her back."

I called the CFO and authorized the fifty-million-dollar wire. Then, I put a call out to every contact I had in the city's underworld.

Find her. Ten million for the location of the kidnappers.

Three days later, I got a hit. An abandoned construction site in the industrial outskirts of the city.

When I arrived, the only sound was the wind whistling through empty steel beams. Then, a gunshot cracked near my ear.

"You really aren't as smart as you think you are, Jessica."

Cassidy was standing on a catwalk, looking perfectly fine. Beside her stood Jax, holding a rifle.

"I knew theyd send you to 'save' me," she mocked. "So I set a trap. Youve been the queen of this family long enough. Today, the fraud dies."

Before I could move, a dozen armed men in black tactical gear emerged from the shadows, surrounding me.

"You stupid, treacherous girl," I said, staring at her. "Youre tearing your own family apart for a man who would sell your organs for a winning parlay."

Jax walked up to me and kicked me square in the ribs, sending me to the dirt. He climbed on top of me, raining blows down on my face until I tasted copper.

"Shut up, bitch! You ruined my life. Today, I take whats mine."

I spat a mouthful of blood into his face and grinned. "You? Youre a one-handed gambler who can't even pay his own rent. You think youre a king?"

He roared and kicked me again. My ribs groaned under the impact.

"What's the matter, Jax?" I wheezed. "Swing harder. You hit like a debutante."

He grabbed a pistol from one of the mercenaries and pressed it to my temple. "Ill kill you right now!"

I looked him dead in the eye. "Do it. Pull the trigger. And tomorrow, my people will find your mother in her little rent-controlled apartment and make sure she never wakes up. Go on. Shoot."

His hand began to shake.

"He might not have the guts, but I do."

I looked up. Tristan Blackwood, the CEO of Blackwood Holdingsour primary rivalstepped out of the shadows.

"Jessica. Long time no see."

"So, youre the puppet master," I muttered. "You used this idiot to steal my seal, sabotage the Morettis, and lure me here."

Tristan chuckled. "You were always the smart one, Jessica. Too bad the 'real' daughter is such a convenient tool. But lets be honestyou aren't even a Montgomery. Why die for them?"

He dropped a stack of papers in front of me. "Transfer the Montgomery shipping assets to Blackwood, and Ill let you walk."

"Is that so? Well, well see whos walking out of here today."

I looked at Cassidy. "You see him, Cassidy? Youre dancing with a wolf. You want my life, but he wants your legacy. Youre just a pawn hes going to discard the second Im dead."

"Shut up!" Cassidy shrieked, snatching the gun from Jax and aiming it at my head. "Id rather the company go to a stranger than stay with a liar like you!"

"Don't hesitate, babe," Jax urged. "Kill her and were rich!"

Cassidy pulled the trigger.

But before her bullet could find me, a sniper round whistled through the air, shattering the gun in her hand.

Suddenly, the perimeter exploded. Hundreds of my men, backed by heavy tactical vehicles, stormed the site.