Her Familial Usurper System Failed On Me Chapter 02

Her Familial Usurper System Failed On Me Chapter 02

The next morning, before I was even fully awake, my door creaked open.

Light footsteps paused in front of my glass display cabinet. Then the cabinet door opened.

There was a brief stretch of silence, followed by a sharp crash. The exclusive crystal music box Mom had given me split into fragments on the floor.

I pulled my face out from under the covers and saw Nora standing by the cabinet.

She was wearing a white dress. No tears this time. She even smiled.

“Awake, Anna?”

The music box lay in pieces, glittering wreckage on the floor.

Mom had bought it at an auction. Inside, a little girl holding the moon danced in circles.

I couldn’t dance, so I liked watching her dance.

Now she wasn’t dancing anymore.

Nora dropped to her knees, grabbed a sharp porcelain shard and scratched her arm., never once shrinking away.

A thin line of blood appeared.

Her face didn’t even twitch. The next second, she collapsed to the floor, and the tears came on cue.

The door swung open, and she cried out, “Anna, don’t hit me!”

Mom stood in the doorway, taking in the scattered fragments and the blood on Nora’s arm.

Nora shrank into the corner, shaking violently. “Mom, I was just trying to dust Anna’s music box. She said I was an outsider and didn’t deserve to touch her things, and then she cut me with the pieces!”

Between sobs, she shoved the broken remains toward my bed. She planted fabricated evidence, and spared no effort doing so.

I sat up in bed, tangled messy hair covering half my face. I wanted to explain, but just thinking about it tired me out.

I’d have to start from the very moment she walked in: shutting the door, rummaging through the cabinet, smashing everything in sight, and cutting herself. And I never laid a hand on her.

So many words. So much effort.

I threw off the covers and got out of bed.

Nora’s eyes lit up. She leaned forward slightly, waiting for me to lunge at her.

But I just walked around her, heading for the medicine kit in the corner.

Her face changed. She screamed and ducked behind Mom. “Mom! Anna’s going for a knife!”

There was no knife in the medicine kit. Just gauze, iodine, and a box of pink cartoon band-aids.

I peeled one off and walked over to Nora, grabbing her wrist.

She struggled hard, but I was persistent.

I pressed the band-aid over her wound. I didn’t get it on straight, and blood seeped out around the edges.

I stared at it for two seconds, then leaned down and blew on it softly. “Blow on it, and it won’t hurt. Next time, don’t hurt yourself. Red isn’t a pretty color.”

Nora’s crying stopped.

Mom stood in the doorway, that cold look on her face wavering for a split second.

Nora was thrown off balance by my move. It took her a long moment to shake off my hand.

She almost snapped at me, but forced herself to swallow it and turned back to Mom with tears. “Mom, I’m sorry. It hurts so much.”

Mom bent down and picked up a piece of the broken porcelain. She looked at the blood on it, then at Nora.

She didn’t call her out on the spot. Instead, she called the butler to clean up.

“You entered her room without permission. She didn’t bother to explain. Both of you are at fault.”

“Go stand in the corner. Both of you.”

Nora’s eyes first flickered with anger, then transformed into hidden triumph.

She probably thought Mom was finally putting us on equal footing. Punishing both of us meant we were the same now.

I shuffled out into the hallway in my slippers and leaned against the wall, eyes closed.

Nora stood beside me and whispered, “Anna, Mom’s starting to stop favoring you.”

“Mm,” I said.

She choked on my response, then pressed on. “Everything you possess will soon be mine.”

I thought about it seriously. “Are you going to take the calming herbal tonic too? That bowl at night? It’s really bitter.”

Nora’s expression shifted again.

I leaned against the wall, sleepiness creeping back.

She can have anything of mine if she wants. I wasn’t stingy.