Don‘t Make Me End You

The moment my birth parents found me, bringing the girl who had stolen my life with them, I had a wild Siberian tiger pinned to the forest floor, my knee pressed firmly against its neck as I injected a tranquilizer.
They saw me, covered in dirt, taming a predator with my bare hands, and their faces went white with terror.
My sister—the girl who had taken my place—was pale with fear. “Mom, Dad, I’m scared! We came to find my sister, but… what is that beast doing here?”
My parents shot a wary glance at the tiger, then rushed to comfort their precious fake daughter.
“Don’t worry, Vivian, darling,” my mother cooed. “We’re only taking your sister home. We’re not bringing… that… with us.”
They instinctively shielded Vivian behind them, as if I were more dangerous than the man-eater at my feet.
I let out a short, sharp laugh, patting the tiger’s belly. My gaze fell on Vivian, cold as ice. “You should be scared. Drop any ridiculous ideas you have, or I’ll tear you to pieces.”

1.
The air was thick with a dead silence, broken only by the low growl of the beast beneath me.
The impeccably dressed middle-aged couple stared in horror at the fanged tiger, their legs trembling. They instinctively shielded the terrified girl, Vivian, taking shuffling steps backward.
Tears welled in the woman’s eyes, her voice shaking. “Arden! This is your sister! We all came to take you home. How could you say such a thing?”
She wanted to step closer but was paralyzed by the sight of the predator. Her eyes flickered over my worn, tattered clothes, and a flash of disgust crossed her face.
I ignored them, finished injecting the sedative, and released the pressure on the tiger. Then, I turned my cold gaze to the uninvited guests.
“Isn’t this my home?”
The porcelain doll of a girl behind them, who looked to be my age, trembled even more violently.
The man, holding her hand tightly, spoke in a panicked voice. “Arden, I’m your biological father, Richard Vance. It was our mistake when you were born… we took home the wrong child. All these years, you’ve suffered out here…”
His voice caught with a sob. “We’re here today to bring you home. We’ll make up for all our past negligence…”
“Which home?” I cut him off with a sneer, my eyes sweeping over to Vivian. She immediately wiped the venom from her expression, her eyes turning red as she shrank behind the man I now knew was my brother, Ethan.
Vivian was the daughter of their former nanny.
Twenty years ago, we were born on the same day. To give her own child a better life, the nanny swapped us, dreaming her daughter would become the Vance family heiress.
As for me, she tossed me into the deep mountains like a piece of trash, meant to be fodder for wild beasts.
Fortunately, I was born with the ability to communicate with animals. It’s how I survived. It’s how I became the Queen of the Beasts.
This forest… this is my real home.
“Sister… I didn’t mean for this to happen…” Vivian stammered, her face ashen.
My mother, who had supposedly come to beg me to return, rushed to her side. “Vivian, darling, this has nothing to do with you. When she comes back, you’ll just have an older sister to protect you. You’ll always be Mommy and Daddy’s precious baby!”
Ethan’s face was grim as he stared at me. “Isn’t Vivian a victim in all this, too? We’re all family now. Can’t you stop picking at her wounds?”
Richard’s tone grew impatient. “Just come with us. The Vance family can certainly afford to raise you. We can’t have people thinking we’d abandon our own daughter…”
Watching their synchronized performance was grating. It was as if my very existence was a threat to their happy family. If it weren’t for their precious reputation, would they have ever even remembered they had a biological daughter?
But the life I’d lived had forged me into something far stronger than the delicate flower they saw.
I saw the dark, vicious glint in Vivian’s eyes, and I smiled.
If I can tame a tiger, how hard can it be to handle a pampered little princess?
I was done with their phony sentimentality. I pointed to the beast on the ground, now licking its paws. “Fine. I’ll go back with you. But he comes with me.”
“Absolutely not!” My mother’s face drained of color.
My father’s brow furrowed. “That’s absurd! What if he…”
Ethan met the tiger’s gaze for half a second and immediately backed down. “That’s… that’s too dangerous, Arden. Anything you want, I’ll buy it for you when we get back. Just… let’s not do this…”
Vivian burst into tears. “Brother, I’m scared! I don’t want a beast in our house!”
I ignored her double-edged comment, casually stroking the tiger’s fur. “Scared already? He’s much better behaved than some of the two-faced cubs in these mountains.”
My voice hardened. “And he’s not a beast. He’s my only family.”
I looked at my so-called parents. “You want me in your gilded cage? Fine. But we play by my rules.”
“Either he and I walk through the Vance family doors together…”
“Or you can all go back the way you came.”
The silence stretched for a full ten seconds.
“Daddy! Mommy! You see?!” Vivian’s wail shattered the quiet. She clutched Ethan’s arm, her body trembling, her head bowed to avoid looking at me and the tiger. “If sister doesn’t want to come home, she should just say so! What good does it do to scare you and Mom to death? Ethan, let’s just go, please… I’m so, so scared…”
She peeked at their reactions through her fingers.
My parents’ faces were storm clouds.
Between the tiger’s low growl and Vivian’s crying, Richard’s resolve crumbled. “This is ridiculous! It’s a wild animal! Who will be responsible if it hurts someone?”
“I will,” I answered flatly.
My mother, Eleanor, shrieked at the sight of the tiger’s claws. “Can you afford to be responsible? Arden, look at what you’ve done to Vivian! You’ve terrified her!”
“Mom!” Ethan looked from the sobbing Vivian to me, a flicker of confusion in his eyes. “Dad, Mom, let’s calm down. Maybe Arden…”
Vivian looked at Ethan in disbelief, her wails escalating into a desperate shriek. “Ethan! It will eat people! …I get it. If you don’t want me anymore, I’ll leave as soon as she comes home…”
She had been showered with affection her whole life; the mere suggestion of her leaving sent them into a panic. I watched, my eyes cold, as a triumphant, malicious glint appeared in Vivian’s.
“So, have you decided? The tranquilizer is wearing off. My family is getting impatient.”
As if on cue, the tiger let out a deep, rumbling growl, sending them all stumbling backward in fear.
My father’s expression was ugly. He looked from Vivian to me, clearly weighing his options. “I agree,” he finally ground out. “But it stays in a cage! If anything happens, you are fully responsible, and then you get the hell out of our house!”
He flinched as the tiger shifted. “Now, make it be quiet!”
“Richard!” my mother gasped, shooting a pained look at Vivian.
Vivian’s eyes were filled with tears. “Daddy! It’s going to hurt someone! And when it does…”
Richard’s gaze darted to the tiger, his voice low and final. “Enough! This is how it will be!”
Vivian’s crying stopped instantly, though her shoulders still trembled with feigned distress.
When we arrived at the villa, the servants screamed and scattered at the sight of the tiger.
Click.
I led the tiger into an iron cage in the backyard and locked it.
Vivian sidled up to me, her voice a venomous whisper only I could hear. “A beast is a beast. Even a tiger has to live in a dog kennel if it enters the Vance home. Everything here is mine. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll get lost.”
I stared at her without a word, then let out a sharp whistle.
The tiger’s head shot up. A threatening rumble emanated from its throat as it lunged at the bars, its massive jaws snapping at Vivian.
She screamed, scrambling backward, and tripped, landing hard on the ground.
“Ahhh! It’s getting out! It’s going to eat me!” she shrieked, tears and snot streaming down her face. “She did it on purpose! She’s trying to kill me!”
My parents came running.
“Vivian! Are you alright?!”
My mother helped her up, her voice a furious hiss directed at me. “Arden! Are you happy now that you’ve made her cry? How can you be so vicious?”
My father’s face was ashen with rage. “You haven’t been here a day and you’re already causing chaos!”
Ethan stood protectively in front of Vivian, his eyes filled with disappointment.
Vivian, gasping for breath, continued her slander. “She… she told me… that she’s the real heiress and that I should get out… or she’d let the tiger… eat me… She said there’s only room for one of us in this house…”
Her pathetic act was nauseating. I turned my gaze to the cold iron cage. In a way, it was my cage, too. But having grown up in the mountains, I’ve never been afraid of confinement.
A little white rabbit raised in a greenhouse, no matter how pitiful it acts, is no match for a tiger from the wild.
I didn’t waste my breath arguing. After calming the tiger, a maid, clearly acting on Vivian’s orders, impatiently showed me to my room.
Less than ten minutes later, a notification popped up on my phone. It was a new post from Vivian.
“Sister, can you please not let the tiger eat me? I’ll be good, I promise. I won’t fight with you over anything.”
The accompanying picture was a close-up of her tear-filled, red-rimmed eyes.
Below, a flood of comments from clueless netizens offered her sympathy while calling for a witch hunt against the “evil sister.”
Soon, hashtags like #VanceHeiressIsFeral and #JusticeForVivian started trending.
I ignored the torrent of online abuse, letting out a small, contemptuous laugh.
“How predictable.”
Vivian, you’ve basked in the Vance family’s resources, but the only world you know is the tiny patch of sky above your head. You have no idea how vast the real world is.
My screen lit up with several encrypted messages.
“Boss, the Vances are discreetly investigating our organization.”
“Abnormal fund transfers detected from Vivian Vance’s account, traced to an offshore shell company.”
That evening, a sharp knock rattled my door.
Dinner was an exquisite spread, but the entire family fussed over Vivian, treating me like a complete stranger.
Richard slammed his phone down in front of me. The screen was filled with hateful comments. “If you hadn’t insisted on bringing that beast back, the Vance family name wouldn’t be getting dragged through the mud like this! Can’t you learn to be more like Vivian?”
“Do you have any idea what your selfishness is costing us? A major project is about to fall through because of this!”
Vivian’s voice was smugly sarcastic. “Dad, let it go. Sister came from the backwoods, after all. She’s used to being wild. What would she know about business projects?”
My mother’s tone was sharp. “That’s no excuse! Now that you’re home, you’ll follow this family’s rules! For starters, we need to change that name. What kind of girl is called ‘Arden’? It’s ridiculous.”
Vivian’s laugh was louder this time. “She’s right, Mom. People might think the Vance heiress is some kind of savage…”
For once, Ethan didn’t defend Vivian. Instead, he looked at me with a spark of curiosity. “Arden… how did you subdue that tiger? Have you had training? Maybe for this project…”
My father’s expression shifted.
I set down my fork and knife, my gaze sweeping meaningfully over Vivian.
“When you have no one to protect you, you learn to fend for yourself. After a while, you pick up a few skills. And, of course… you learn to watch out for things that might try to bite you from behind.”
Vivian’s face went pale. Her chopsticks clattered to the floor.
Her eyes, red-rimmed and fearful, locked on mine. “Sister, even if I did take your place, do you have to bring up that… that beast every time? You’re home now. Mom and Dad will protect you. You don’t have to deal with terrifying animals anymore…”
My father’s face darkened instantly. “Arden! That’s enough of your wilderness nonsense. You are a Vance now. Learn some grace and dignity from Vivian! Stop associating with that animal and embarrassing this family!”
Vivian chimed in sweetly. “It’s okay, sister. I can teach you about posture and etiquette. You can just learn from me. After all, what are sisters for? I just want you to be better, to be more accepted by everyone.”
I was about to be sick. “No, thanks,” I scoffed. “I have no desire to become a two-faced hypocrite.”
“And by the way,” I added, my voice dropping, “after your real mother abandoned me, it was the ‘beasts’ you so despise that raised me. Don’t you feel disgusted, putting on this good-person act now?”
Vivian’s dam of tears finally broke. “I’m so sorry, sister!” she wailed. “I stole your life! If you really hate me this much, I’ll leave right now…”
She always used their favoritism to needle me, but I never played her games.
“Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”
My parents’ heads snapped up, their eyes wide with shock and alarm.
“Vivian! Don’t talk nonsense!”
Ethan frowned at me, his face a mask of disappointment. “Arden! You’ve gone too far! Apologize to Vivian right now! Her health has always been delicate. As her older sister, can’t you show her some grace?”
Delicate health? More like weaponized fragility. And what did her health have to do with me?
Vivian hid in my mother’s arms, but not before flashing me a triumphant smile.
I looked down at my phone, at the information displayed on the screen, and a slow smile spread across my face.
A hothouse flower, no matter how skilled at silent assassinations, is no match for a predator from the jungle, who kills with a single, decisive strike.
“If you’re leaving, you’d better do it quickly. Once the investigation into your little asset transfers is complete, leaving might not be an option.”
I leaned forward, my gaze locking onto her like a cold, sharp blade.
The color drained from Vivian’s face. Her eyes darted around frantically. “Sister, what are you talking about? What assets? I… I…”
“Mommy, Daddy, I don’t know what she’s saying! Why is she always targeting me?” she shrieked, her voice echoing through the dining room, her body trembling with fear.
“You don’t know?” I asked calmly, placing a file on the table for them to see. “Then how did I find out about the payments you’ve been making to your birth mother’s offshore account? The most recent one was three days ago, wasn’t it? What was that, hush money? Or were you just trying to bleed the family dry before skipping town?”
Her face was a mask of pure terror. She forgot to even cry. “You… you’re lying! Slandering me! I didn’t! Daddy, Mommy, she’s making it all up!”
I kept my voice even. “Is it slander? A quick look at the bank records would clear it all up, wouldn’t it?” I tapped the file. “Would you like me to provide the account number and transfer records, my dear sister?”
Vivian looked as if she were being strangled, unable to utter a single word. Tears just streamed down her face as she swayed on her feet.
As my family read the report, their faces contorted with shock and horror. Vivian, who had been sitting on her throne of privilege just moments before, looked completely and utterly broken.
“You see?” I said, my voice soft. “There’s your precious little princess. Surprised?”
Amidst their pale faces and Vivian’s broken sobs, I spoke again. My quiet voice was like a clap of thunder, making their expressions even more priceless.
“If I recall correctly, the International Wildlife Conservation Summit is next month. The Vance family is desperate to land that key government partnership, right? A bit difficult without the right leverage, isn't it?”
The color drained from my father’s face. His eyes were wide with disbelief and suspicion. “How do you know that?”
I smiled. When faced with a lucrative deal, what was their pathetic favoritism for Vivian really worth?
“A Siberian tiger, tamed and part of a cutting-edge conservation research program… is currently locked in your dog kennel.”
“The access rights and data from the ‘beast’ you so despise… that is the leverage you need to win this international contract.”
“And the person who holds that leverage, the one with absolute authority in the world of conservation…”
I picked up a dinner knife, tapping the cold steel with my fingertip. The sharp ping echoed in the silent room, a sound of absolute control.
“…is the very person you’ve been trying so hard to ‘fix’… me.”
My gaze shifted from the catatonic Vivian, finally landing on my dumbfounded, suspicious parents.
“So, shall we have a new discussion about who…”
“...makes the rules in this house?”

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