My Sister’s Secret System Picked the Wrong Victim Chapter 03

My Sister’s Secret System Picked the Wrong Victim Chapter 03

The comments picked up again.

[These parents. I’m speechless. The favoritism in this family is unreal.]

[They have no idea the money’s going straight to Chelsea, and they’re still blaming their own daughter for being irresponsible.]

[Girl, wake up. Do something already.]

[Great, now the family’s about to guilt her into being the fall guy again…]

I lowered my eyes and slid my hand into my pocket.

In my left pocket sat the mints I’d bought myself, packaged to look almost exactly like the ones Chelsea gave me.

In my right pocket was the actual tin, the marked one.

I pulled one from the left, unwrapped it, and popped it into my mouth.

“Fine. I ate it,” I said, my mouth still full.

Chelsea stared at my mouth for two seconds, then smiled.

“See? Was that so hard? Good, right?”

“Good.”

“I’ll buy you more next time.”

Her voice went light and easy again.

The comments practically sighed in relief.

[Close call! Good thing she normally buys these mints for herself.]

[She bought it! Look at that smile. She can’t even hide it!]

[She actually pulled that off? Not bad!]

Mom’s tone softened too.

“See, wasn’t that easy?”

Dad didn’t say anything else, just looked down at his phone.

I chewed the mint, the cool sweetness spreading through my mouth.

Chelsea’s tin stayed exactly where it was, tucked safely in my right pocket.

After dinner, I went back to my room and locked the door.

I pulled out my phone and opened the banking app.

Thirty thousand dollars.

Not a cent missing.

I let out a breath, then scrolled back through my old statements.

The few hundred dollars I’d had left over before were gone, probably siphoned off the last time I’d eaten something of hers.

At least it wasn’t much.

Without a second thought, I transferred the entire thirty thousand to Grandma’s account.

I told Grandma I was worried I’d spend it carelessly and wanted her to hold onto it for me.

Grandma, sweet as ever, said, “My girl wouldn’t waste money. I trust you. Call me if you need any of it, and I’ll send it right back.”

I pushed down the lump in my throat and looked at the comments floating by.

[Good. At least she didn’t just leave it there to get stolen. Props for that.]

[Props for what? That’s not exactly genius. It’s just common sense.]

[Chelsea’s going to get suspicious when the money doesn’t show up. Let’s see how she handles this.]

The next day, I got back from my summer job at the coffee shop.

I pushed open my bedroom door and found Chelsea crouched in front of my nightstand, the drawer yanked wide open, everything inside tossed around.

She spun at the sound, panic flashing across her face.

“You—you’re back already?”

“Chelsea, what are you looking for?”

She stood up, brushed the dust off her knees, and smiled.

“Lost an earring. Thought maybe it fell in your room. Guess I was wrong.”

I knew exactly what she was looking for.

The mints were hidden inside the cardboard sleeve of a tampon box.

She’d gone through every inch of that room and never once touched it.

The comments lost it.

[Hid it in a tampon box? That’s genius, hahaha.]

[Oh my God, she searched the whole room and missed the one place she would never check.]

Chelsea spoke up casually.

“Josie, where’d you put that thirty grand Mom and Dad gave you?”

My stomach dropped, but I kept my face still.

“Oh, I lent it to a friend.”

“Lent it? All thirty thousand?”

“Yeah. Her family had an emergency and needed cash fast. She said she’d pay me back before school starts.”

Chelsea stared at me for a few long seconds, like she was weighing whether I was lying.

[Is she finally waking up? She can lie now too?]

[Weak excuse, but it’ll hold. If Chelsea pushes, just give her a friend’s name.]

I met her gaze without flinching.

She finally looked away and smiled.

“Fine. Just make sure she writes you an IOU.”

“Sure.”

She turned and left.

I shut the door and let out a long breath.

A minute later, she was knocking again.

I opened the door, and she was holding two iced coffees.

She handed one to me.

“Josie, I got you one. It’s hot out. Drink something cold. Don’t worry, it’s sugar-free.”

I stared at the cup.

Comments drifted past again.

[Another one? Does she think you’re that gullible?]

[Don’t drink it—oh, she already did. Okay, whatever makes you happy, I guess.]

I hesitated, then took it anyway and drank a sip.

The sickly sweetness spread through my mouth, and I swallowed.

Chelsea watched my throat, saw me swallow, and the corner of her mouth curled up.

My thirty thousand had already been moved to Grandma’s account.

No matter how powerful her system was, it couldn’t pull money from an account that no longer held it.

But to make sure she’d never suspect anything, I’d left twelve hundred dollars in the account on purpose, money I’d earned working at the coffee shop that summer.

Two weeks on my feet behind that counter for that.

Chelsea headed to the bathroom pretty quickly after that.

I pulled out my phone and opened the app.

Balance: $0.

The twelve hundred dollars was gone.

The comments sighed.

[Ugh, there it goes. That twelve hundred hurts.]

[Consider it the cost of peace of mind. Worth it.]

[I feel like she’s cooking up something big.]

[Don’t tease. She hasn’t caught a single break in years.]

They were right.

That twelve hundred dollars was the price of admission.

If she didn’t get that money, she’d start to suspect the system was broken, and she’d try some other way to test me.

Then the whole plan for the graduation dinner could fall apart.

Sure enough, when Chelsea came back from the bathroom, her smile was brighter than it had been in days.

For the next two days, she stopped testing me altogether.

She spent that time planning the graduation dinner with Mom and Dad instead: booking the venue, sending out invitations, and picking the menu.

She was completely in her element.

Every so often, a relative would ask in the family group chat what I was doing.

Mom would just reply, “She spends money like it’s nothing. We already give her an allowance, and she’s still out there working.”

Then everyone would start praising Chelsea instead.

“Chelsea has great grades, and she’s so considerate. We got so lucky with her.”

The family group chat only ever showed off Chelsea’s score report.

Mom would say, “Chelsea already got her acceptance letter from Ravenwood State University, and with that 1520, she’ll probably land a merit scholarship too.”

If anyone brought me up, Mom would wave it off.

“Josie? Well, getting into any college at all would already be something.”

The comments picked back up.

[A 1550 and nobody even asks? Where are this family’s priorities?]

[Character matters more than a score, come on.]

[Excuse me, what’s wrong with her character? Somebody explain that one.]

I scored a 1550.

Thirty points higher than Chelsea.

By then, I’d already received my college decisions and completed my financial aid forms.

I never told anyone where I had been accepted.

Mom and Dad knew I had applied.

But maybe because of my supposed habit of lying, they let it erase every good thing about me.

I shut myself in my room and pulled out the tin of mints.

The comments had already revealed one more rule.

Anything Chelsea intentionally gave away remained linked to her system, even if it was crushed or mixed into other food.

Using a small knife, I scraped the mints down to a fine powder and sealed it in a small plastic bag.

A thin, unremarkable layer.

The mints themselves were harmless.

But they were more than enough to make Chelsea’s system process twenty-some people at once.

The morning of the graduation dinner, I got up early and headed straight to the hotel kitchen before anyone else arrived.

“Hi, I’m one of the host family’s daughters. Just checking on how the food’s coming along,” I said, smiling at the head chef.

“Well, aren’t you a hard worker,” he said, nodding.

I pretended to help plate the food.

When nobody was watching, I emptied the entire bag of powder into the pot simmering on the stove.

It was the last course of the night: the restaurant’s signature soup, one bowl for every guest.

I stirred it with the long ladle.

The powder dissolved instantly, disappearing without a trace.

The comments floated by.

[Oh my God. She’s really going for everyone at once!]