Page 3 of Well Aware

We’d grown up safe and protected, but only realized after they’d both died in a drunk driving accident of their own—though they’d been the transgressors this time—that they’d not only taken care of us, but they’d also spent every single cent of money doing so.

At eighteen and nineteen, Rose and I had a harsh reality check.

We hadn’t had the money to pay for our college. We hadn’t had the money to pay for the estate’s taxes. We hadn’t had the money to pay off all the debtors.

We’d been metaphorically fucked.

But we’d persevered.

We’d both gone off to college, accruing more student loan debt than we should’ve, and graduated with our bachelor’s degrees in nursing.

Though, only Rose went into nursing full-time.

I’d continued to take advanced college courses while simultaneously playing professional soccer. I’d also worked part-time, and I’d lived in my big sister’s apartment with her.

At least, until she met Cain.

The moment they’d started seeing each other, I’d moved out.

I’d gotten an apartment with a teammate and left my sister to Cain.

I should’ve never left my sister to Cain.

Maybe if I’d thrown a fit, we wouldn’t be in this predicament.

“No arguments,” Rose said. “You had that offer a week ago. I’ll bet it’s still good.”

I was already shaking my head. “Rose…”

“Go,” she ordered. “Take Iris with you. And don’t ever come back.”

“Won’t he think it’s suspicious that I’m not here anymore?” I tried.

“No.” She stepped back from the stroller, a look of determination on her face. “He told me a week ago when I made mention of you moving to Texas that it was a good thing that you were leaving. That you were a bad influence on me, and that he was tired of wondering what we were plotting together. He gave me an ultimatum. Him or you.”

I closed my eyes as I felt tears well in my eyes. “This is the worst idea ever.”

My sister smiled, and it was the saddest smile I’d ever seen. “It’s for the best.”

I hugged her fiercely. “We’ll find a way out for you, Rose.”

She squeezed me so hard that I was breathless when she finally let me go. “We will.”

Except, we didn’t.

I moved to stupid Texas for a soccer career and the promise of daycare and free tuition for the rest of my nurse anesthetist degree.

Four months after I moved, Cain called me to tell me that my sister was dead.

Apparently, she had found a way out of her life after all.

One that came at the bottom of a pill bottle.

The sad fact was, I didn’t blame her at all.

And when the letter came in the mail two days later, explaining her reasoning, I knew that no matter what I did, I’d see that Cain McDuff paid.

I didn’t care if it took me twenty years to do it.