Chapter 2
Erik has hated me for as long as I can remember.
He thinks my mother and I are just here to mooch off the Svensson. family’s money, so he has always been on high alert.
When I was 14, he put two geckos on my bed just to scare me into leaving the house. I cried like crazy.
My stepdad felt bad and handed me some pocket money. The moment I saw the cash, I stopped crying.
When I was 16, Erik and I ended up at the same high school.
He did not want to be in the same class as me–and he definitely did not want his dad scolding him and comforting me again–so he cut straight to the point.
“Thirty thousand,” he said. “Transfer out of this class.”
So I did.
I switched schools for my first year. But second year? I came back. He did. not say I could not.
When I walked into the classroom with my bag on my back, Erik looked
like a storm cloud.
The boy in front of him grinned and said, “Erik, your sister’s really got guts.”
Erik shot back, stone cold, “She’s not my sister.”
Everyone around us laughed like they knew something.
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Chapter 2
He stared at me, brows furrowed. “What do you want from me to stay the hell out of my sight?”
My eyes went red. “Do you really hate me that much?”
He gave me a number.
I bit my lip. “Oops, looks like I signed up for the wrong class again.
At that moment, I saw a business opportunity.
Erik is filthy rich. His mother lives overseas and practically laid out his future for him.
When he played golf, I would be there cheering him on, handing him water, and draping a coat over his shoulders. Eventually, he could not take it anymore and asked what I was doing.
I looked up at him, eyes wide and sparkly. “I just admire my brother. Is that so wrong?”
He sent me some money and said, “If you’ve got nothing to do, go take a walk. Stop bothering me.”
So, naturally, I smiled and accepted it.
I have been clinging to Erik for over a year now. Everyone knows he has a clingy stepsister, and they even tease him about it. After a while, Erik stopped trying to explain. He just kept shoving money at me, telling me to get lost.
However, I am not about to walk away from my personal ATM.
On his coming–of–age night, he drank a little too much. When we got back from the hotel, I was holding hangover medicine in one hand and supporting him with the other, secretly hoping that in his drunken haze, he would add an extra zero to the transfer.
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Chapter 2
He squinted down at me and suddenly said, “Hallie, you’re really something. So scheming and clever.” His voice dripped with sarcasm.
I froze halfway up the stairs. I would need more money for the insults.
Then, out of nowhere, he grabbed me by the waist, flipped off the lights, pushed me up against the spiral staircase railing, and kissed me.
The world went dark in a flash. All I could see were his eyes and eyebrows. They were way too close, and the air around him was overwhelming like a storm.
Shocked, I shoved him away. The pill bottle in my hand dropped, crashing and clattering down the stairs.
From upstairs, my stepdad called out, “Hallie, what’s going on?”
Holding back the shake in my voice, I cried like always, “Erik’s drunk again. He threw the pill bottle in a fit of rage.”
Erik leaned silently against the railing in the dark.
My stepdad sighed. “He’s always like that when he drinks. Don’t take it to heart. Go rest, I’ll take care of him.”
I ran back to my room.
At 3 a.m., Erik messaged me.
“Sorry.”
“I didn’t see clearly. Thought you were someone else.”
It was the first time he ever apologized to me, and it felt like an insult. He attached a money transfer, too.
But I left him on read and did not accept the money.
