The Twin They Saved, The Twin They Destroyed Chapter 07

The Twin They Saved, The Twin They Destroyed Chapter 07

“Blake, your illness was fake?” Mom’s voice cracked.

Blake shook her head frantically. “No! Mom, she’s lying!”

She rushed forward and grabbed Mom’s hand.

“That recording is fake! She made it up-she hates me! That’s why she did it!”

“Then let’s find out,” I said. “Right now. A real hospital-psychiatry, psychology, whichever. If they diagnose her, I’ll take the gap year.”

“No! I won’t go.”

Cole frowned. “Why not? If you prove you’re sick, Avery will do the gap year for you.’

Tate stared at her. “Blake, you don’t want to go… unless all of it really was a lie?”

Blake just stood there, her mouth moving but no words coming out. She saw Mom’s ashen face,

Cole’s tight jaw, Tate’s wavering expression.

Someone in the crowd scoffed. “Pretty obvious at this point. Total fraud.”

“Man, she played her whole family for years.”

“And they were dumb enough to fall for it. Avery got screwed for eight years, and the mom was

blind for eight years.”

Mom stared at Blake, her voice finally cold. “Blake. Why did you do it?”

Blake jerked her head up, tears streaming. “Why? Because Avery was perfect. She aced tests

without trying. Won awards without trying. Got everyone to love her without trying.”

“You always said I was your favorite, but you never looked at me the way you looked at her. When she did something good, your whole face lit up. When I did something good, it was just… ‘Good job,

honey. Try harder next time.’ Like I was never enough.”

Her voice kept rising. “Why? Why does she get to be loved? I made sure you all paid attention to me. Was that so wrong?”

Her chest heaved, her face drenched in tears.

Mom stepped backward, her knuckles white. “When were we ever biased? She earned everything

herself. We never hired Avery a tutor. But you? Private lessons, therapy, supplements, new clothes

-you always came first.”

Blake let out a cold laugh. “You always loved the smart one more: Guess what? The smart one doesn’t love you back anymore.”

Mom spun to face me. “Avery. I didn’t know. I swear I didn’t know.”

I looked at her, my voice cold. “You never once tried to check if her illness was real. You never once wondered if I was hurting. Mom. This is the last time I’m calling you that. I stopped wanting this

family a long time ago.”