My Brother Only Loves the Adopted Sister

After my adopted sister died, my brother Ethan became the person who hated me most in this world.

He hated me so much that he shipped me off to a casino in Las Vegas to be auctioned off to the highest bidder.

I begged and pleaded, but his eyes held nothing but contempt:

If it weren't for donating her kidney to save you, Lily never would have died on that operating table! You killed her now spend the rest of your life paying for it.

But when a gang ambush hit, he didn't hesitate for a second.

He pulled me into his arms and took every bullet meant for me.

With his last breaths, he touched my face and said, coughing up blood:

"If there's a next life, I'd rather never have you as my sister. Having Lily was enough."

Those dying words dragged me straight into hell.

I put a gun to my head and pulled the trigger.

When I opened my eyes again, I'd been reborn five years in the past.

Dear brother, this time, I don't want Lily's kidney. And I don't want your love anymore.

I'll give you exactly what you wished for. I'll make sure you only ever have one sister.

"Grace! You actually held Lily's hand in boiling water over a piece of candy she saved your life! How do I have such an ungrateful, vicious sister?!"

The familiar voice rang in my ears. I slowly opened my eyes and stared at the scene in front of me.

This was five years ago. The day I burned Lily's hand.

I really had been reborn.

The Ethan standing before me had no blood at the corner of his mouth. No bullet holes in his body.

My nose stung. I forced down the flood of emotions rising in my chest and spoke in a hoarse voice:

"I'm sorry, Ethan. I shouldn't have burned Lily's hand."

Ethan froze.

I looked at him and let out a bitter smile.

That piece of candy it was the one he'd pressed into my palm the day our parents died in the car accident. His eyes had been red, and he'd been trying so hard to comfort me.

"Grace, don't cry. I'm here. I'll take care of you for the rest of my life."

Ethan had only been a teenager back then. The weight of the whole family had crashed down on him without warning and he still had little me to look after.

It made sense that he'd forgotten. I shouldn't have held onto it.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and turned to bow deeply toward Lily, who lay in the hospital bed:

"I'm sorry. I won't try to take your brother away from you anymore."

Lily blinked, and her eyes slowly turned red. She looked like she was about to cry again:

"Grace, I didn't mean to step on that candy. Please don't"

Without a word, I turned, picked up the kettle of just-boiled water on the bedside table, and poured it over my own right arm without hesitation.

Searing pain exploded across my skin. Cold sweat instantly soaked through my shirt. I was shaking so hard I could barely breathe.

"Is that enough?"

The two of them were completely stunned by my sudden shift in behavior. It was Ethan who snapped out of it first. He lunged forward and grabbed my arm, shouting:

"Grace, are you out of your mind?!"

Before I could answer, he was already barking at the assistant standing by the door:

"What are you standing there for? Get a doctor!"

Something warm flickered through me. I watched the scene with quiet relief.

Right now, Ethan still cared about me.

The eyes he turned on me weren't just cold and full of disgust.

That was enough.

Even if this love was never truly mine to keep.

I still clung to the warmth of it.

But before I could say another word, Lily grabbed the hem of Ethan's shirt and sobbed:

"Ethan, I know Grace wants all your attention for herself but she shouldn't be hurting herself on purpose."

Then she turned to me, crying and pleading:

"Grace, you and Ethan are real siblings. I'm the outsider here. Please stop hurting yourself, okay?"

Ethan's expression grew noticeably cooler at her words.

Seeing that, I quietly closed the mouth I'd been about to open.

A second later, just as I expected, Ethan's voice turned cold:

"I actually let myself hope you'd changed. What a fool I was. You never change, do you? Are you really my sister? What kind of person even does this?"

Those cruel words were nothing compared to what he'd said in my past life. I lowered my head in submission:

"Fine. Whatever you say."

"You!"

Ethan's jaw tightened. He raised his hand and pointed at me, unable to speak for a long moment. Then he turned to the assistant:

"Take her to get her arm bandaged. And keep her away from Lily. She's exhausting."

I nodded and quietly stepped out.

But I didn't go get bandaged.

From the moment I'd come back, a familiar sharp pain had been radiating from my kidneys, spreading to every nerve ending in my body.

The pain was so bad I could barely stay on my feet.

Because this was the day. In my past life, this was the day the kidney disease had been discovered.

Without a transplant, I had two weeks to live.

I'd been sick my whole life. Rare blood type on top of everything else every illness felt like a coin flip between life and death.

Once, during a surgery, I lost so much blood that the hospital's supply ran out.

Ethan searched like a man possessed and finally found an orphan who shared my blood type Lily.

Her blood saved my life.

And just like that, she went from a penniless orphan to the adopted daughter of the Whitmore family, one of the wealthiest families in the country.

But after that, Ethan changed.

He stopped checking in on me. Stopped looking after me the way he used to.

When Lily and I were both hurt at the same time, he wouldn't even glance at me. He'd leave me where I fell and carry Lily who was always less injured straight to the hospital.

I went crazy with jealousy. I resented her. I made her life difficult every chance I got.

Between a sweet, gentle sister and a difficult, spiteful one, the choice was obvious. It didn't take a genius to figure out which one Ethan would choose.

But even through all my tantrums and acting out, I secretly believed that deep down, Ethan loved me most.

The only reason he treated Lily so well was because she'd saved my life.

I was wrong. Completely, catastrophically wrong.

In my past life, after my kidney disease was diagnosed, Lily died on the operating table during the transplant surgery.

I survived, against all odds.

But from that day forward, Ethan looked at me with nothing but hatred.

He said the cruelest things imaginable to me as if we weren't siblings at all, but bitter enemies with blood between us.

This time, I don't want things to end up that way.

This time, I'd rather be the one who dies.

Winter up north was brutal. The wind carried snow like razor blades, slicing across my face.

The dull ache in my kidneys tangled with the sharp burn along my right arm until even breathing normally felt like a luxury I couldn't afford.

I hunched over, pulled my coat tight, and walked down the street.

I'd been greedy just now.

I came back to fulfill Ethan's wish a life where he only had one sister, Lily.

I should leave. Now.

That was what I was thinking when a car horn sounded beside me.

The window rolled down, revealing Ethan's cold expression:

"Get in."

I started to refuse. But his bodyguard grabbed me before I could say a word and pushed me into the car.

The heat inside was turned up high, but I still felt cold.

To keep from looking out of the ordinary, I curled up against the window and stared silently at the streets rushing past outside.

"You didn't get it bandaged. What are you up to now?"

Ethan's voice was as cold as ice.

"Playing the martyr didn't work, so now you're pulling back to move forward?"

I was quiet for a moment. Then I turned and looked at him calmly:

"Ethan, I mean it. From now on, you don't have to be put in the middle because of me. I'm going to move out. I'll stay far away from both of you."

He looked at me like I'd just said something laughable. The corner of his mouth curved into a thin, mocking smile:

"Move out? Grace, everything you have came from this family. Without the Whitmores, without me, you're nothing. How long do you think you'd last?"

Not very long at all.

I thought that, and looked down:

"How long I last is my business."

"I know I've been out of line. I always thought that if I made enough noise, fought hard enough, you'd pay more attention to me. But I get it now. Some things aren't mine to have. Lily saved my life you loving her is right. And I I shouldn't have been in the way."

Ethan's sharp gaze swept over me. He seemed to be searching my face for a crack for the manipulation, the calculation he expected to find there.

But what he found was a pile of cold, dead ash. Whatever had burned there before the jealousy, the desperation, the aching need to hold onto him it all seemed to have truly gone out.

That unfamiliar stillness made him more unsettled than her outbursts ever had.

"You think saying all that will make me go soft? You think I'll suddenly believe you've grown up? Grace, I've seen every trick you have!"

"I'm not playing tricks, Ethan."

My voice was quiet, carrying a faint, bone-deep exhaustion:

"I'm just tired. I don't want to fight anymore. I just don't want to"

I don't want to go to Mom and Dad carrying your hatred.

The car passed through the sweeping gates of the Whitmore estate.

I got out and walked directly to my room the one tucked in the far corner of the house.

It was large. Lavishly decorated. But there was no warmth in it. It felt like a beautiful cage.

I started packing. I took only the bare essentials a few changes of clothes, some cash, and an old photo album our parents had left behind, the one Ethan had probably long since forgotten existed.

I'd just shoved everything into a worn backpack when the door swung open.

Lily leaned in the doorway. Her left wrist was wrapped in fresh white bandaging, and her face was still a little pale.

But her eyes carried the quiet, barely-there satisfaction of someone who'd already won.

"Grace, are you really leaving?"

Her voice was soft and gentle.

"Did Ethan say something to upset you? Don't be angry with him he just cares about me so much. Even though you two are real siblings, Ethan still trusts me more, you know."

I watched her performance without a flicker of reaction.

In my past life, words like that would have set me off like a match to gasoline. I would have gone for her, and then Ethan would have torn into me.

But now, I just wanted out.

"Move," I said.

Lily stepped forward instead, blocking my path. Her voice dropped until only the two of us could hear:

"Grace, take a good look around. In this house, you're nothing to Ethan. You staying here is just a joke. The sooner you get out, the better for everyone."

I ignored her and tried to step around her.

That was when Lily let out a sudden scream. Her right hand moved from somewhere, she'd produced a small fruit knife and before I could blink, she dragged the blade hard across her own left forearm.

Blood welled up immediately.

"Grace! What are you doing?!"

She shrieked, stumbling backward, face twisted in shock and disbelief.

"I already apologized to you! Why do you keep hurting me?!"

Footsteps thundered down the hall. Ethan appeared in the doorway, his face dark. He took in the blood on Lily's arm. He took in me standing over her with my backpack. He took in the fruit knife lying on the floor.

Three seconds of frozen silence.

Ethan didn't ask a single question. Fury tore through his expression, and he raised his hand and struck me hard across the face.

Time stopped.

The burn along my arm, the grinding ache in my kidneys all of it vanished.

Only the fire on my cheek remained.

This was the first time in two lifetimes that he'd ever laid a hand on me.

It hurt more than every other injury on my body combined.

Even at his worst in my past life, when the cruelest things had come out of his mouth, he'd never hit me.

So he really did love Lily that much.

I stood there, dazed, thinking that with something strangely close to peace.

"Grace!"

Ethan froze too. His hand trembled for a long moment before words finally forced their way through his teeth:

"I actually let myself believe, for one second, that maybe you had changed! I'm an idiot. A leopard doesn't change its spots. How black is your heart? What has Lily ever done to you? Why do you keep hurting her, over and over again? She saved your life!"

The familiar accusations, the cutting words like poison-tipped needles, one after another, straight into the softest part of me.

I'd prepared for this. I'd told myself to go numb. But hearing Ethan speak to me with such naked hatred still sent a sharp, blinding pain through my chest. My legs nearly buckled. My vision went dark at the edges.

I looked at his handsome face, twisted slightly with rage. I looked at Lily crying softly behind him, her eyes briefly flicking to mine with a gleam of triumph she couldn't quite hide. And I felt something settle in me a terrible, quiet clarity.

Explain? He wouldn't believe me.

In his mind, I'd been beyond redemption for a long time.

That was fine.

I drew a slow breath. I swallowed the metallic taste rising in my throat and the sting behind my eyes. I gathered what was left of my strength and pulled my arm free.

Then I bent down and picked up the small knife from the floor the one still wet with Lily's blood.

Ethan's eyes narrowed: "What do you think you're doing?"

I turned the knife around and pressed the handle into his hand. I made him close his fingers around it.

Cold metal against his palm. And in its surface, a reflection my face, white as paper.

I stepped forward until I was almost pressed against his chest. I tilted my head back and looked up into his furious eyes.

My voice came out soft and unsteady, like a dry leaf in the wind, ready to fall.

"Ethan. You hate me this much. You think I hurt your Lily."

"Then make it right for her. Okay?"

Before he could react, before he even understood what I meant, I lunged forward.

Thud.

The dull, sickening sound of a blade sinking into flesh.

Agony detonated below my right shoulder blade and swept through my entire body in an instant. I felt the cold metal enter me felt it tear through muscle and with it came a deep, bone-level chill that felt like the edge of death.

Time stopped.

The fury on Ethan's face locked up. It became shock. Pure, total shock. He let go on instinct, but the knife was still in my shoulder. Blood soaked through my thin shirt fast, a spreading stain that was almost hard to look at.

Lily's crying cut off completely. She stood there with her mouth open, frozen.

"Gr Grace?"

Ethan's voice came out cracked and barely there. He stared at his own bloodied hand, then back at my face, which was draining of color by the second. Something appeared in his eyes that I'd never seen there before a vast, near-panicked fracturing.

I looked at him, and I thought about the one thing I hadn't said out loud.

This is to cancel the debt. The one from our last life when you threw yourself in front of every bullet meant for me.

After this, we're even.

But the cold spreading from the blood loss made it impossible to speak. My body slid downward.

"Grace!!!"

Ethan let out a sound that didn't seem like it could come from a human throat. He caught me as I went down, his hands scrambling frantically to press against the wound and then pulling back, afraid to touch the knife.

His arms were shaking. His whole body was shaking.

"Get a doctor! Call an ambulance! NOW!"

He was screaming at the frozen housekeeper and assistant, his eyes red, every trace of the cold, controlled man he'd always been completely gone. Only terror remained.

When I came back to consciousness, I was in a hospital room that smelled heavily of antiseptic.

My shoulder was wrapped in thick bandages. A dull, constant ache pulsed through it. But stronger than that was the familiar, crushing weight inside my body that deep, systemic exhaustion I recognized.

So it's here. Just like I knew it would be.

The room was quiet. From beyond the door, I could make out muffled arguing.

Ethan and Lily.

"I'm asking you one more time. That knife did she use it to cut you? Or did you do it yourself?"

Ethan's voice was low, but it carried the still, heavy pressure of a storm about to break.

"Ethan you're doubting me? How could you doubt me? It's Grace who hates me she's always hated me for taking you away from her"

Lily dissolved into sobs.

"I only believe what I actually saw. Grace acts out, yeah but she's never gone this far with herself before. Lily. Don't lie to me."

Ethan's voice had taken on a quality I'd never heard from him a cold, quiet ferocity that was somehow more frightening than shouting.

"If I find out you did I'll destroy you."

Lily stumbled back a step, the color draining from her face. She couldn't get another word out.

Ethan's footsteps moved away.

He stepped out onto the balcony and smoked a cigarette before he trusted himself to feel anything clearly.

When Grace had gone limp in his arms barely breathing, barely there he'd finally understood what it felt like for his heart to stop.

"Look into it," he said, his voice rough.

He turned to his assistant:

"The door to Grace's room was open. The hallway camera should have had a clear angle into the room. Pull the footage."