He Put Me On Do Not Disturb For Three Years, But Prioritized His Stepsister Chapter 09

He Put Me On Do Not Disturb For Three Years, But Prioritized His Stepsister Chapter 09

After that day, Sean fell ill, and badly.

After the fever broke, he was thinner all over, his eyes hollow.

Aria came back from her hometown and was shocked by how he looked.

“Bro, how did you get like this? So she left. So what? I’ll introduce you to someone better…”

“Get out.”

Sean’s voice was hoarse, but cold.

“Aria, you make me sick.”

Aria froze, tears springing to her eyes at once.

“Bro, what are you saying? I’m your sister, aren’t I…”

“Enough.” Sean waved a hand wearily.

“Get out of this house, and never show your face here again.”

“And pay back that a huge amount of money. That was Ellie’s and my house fund, not pocket money for you to blow.”

Aria ran out in tears.

The door slammed shut behind her.

Sean sat on the sofa and looked around.

The apartment had been decorated just the way Ella liked it.

Cream curtains, warm lighting, and the open kitchen she’d always wanted.

But she wasn’t there.

No smell of her cooking, no sound of her laughing at a show, no sight of her sitting on the rug painting.

The smart speaker still sat in the corner under a layer of dust.

Sean walked over and plugged it in.

“Alexa.”

“Listening,” a flat, mechanical female voice said.

“Play my recent messages.”

The speaker paused for a few seconds.

“Sorry, there are no new messages.”

“Play last Friday’s messages.”

“Message from ‘Sis’: shared a location and requested a voice call.”

“Message from ‘Sis’: marked a message as a to-do.”

Listening to that voice, Sean started crying without warning.

He crouched on the floor, buried his face in his hands, and sobbed like a child.

It was the first time he understood that Do Not Disturb wasn’t silence. It was loss.

Some words, once the moment passes, can never be said.

He picked up his phone and used a spare account to check Ella’s WhatsApp.

Her profile picture was still the one of her by the sea, and her last post was from three months ago.

The final post said, “The sea breeze in Northport is lovely.”

It was paired with a photo of a sunset.

No sadness. No complaints. She hadn’t even mentioned him.

As if someone named Sean had never existed in her life.