After I Severed the Kinship Bond, My Whole Family Regretted It Chapter 03

After I Severed the Kinship Bond, My Whole Family Regretted It Chapter 03

I was about to put my phone away when someone tagged me in the group chat.

“@Elara Vance, now that you say that, you two really do look alike. Wild how two sisters can have the same face and completely different lives.”

I folded the $300 clinic bill into a paper airplane and tossed it into the trash.

Then I replied to the chat.

“Yeah. She’s my sister. Same mom, same dad.”

Whether a Kinship Bond was renewed or severed, both parties had to appear in person for an assessment by the Regional Pack Council.

Wolves lived hidden among humans now, and the Council used the process to keep family bonds documented and supervised.

So the moment the paycheck from my concert shifts cleared, I booked a ticket home.

While I’d been away, my family had installed a keypad lock on the front door and never bothered to tell me the code.

I stood there for a second, smiled bitterly to myself, and tried Lyra’s birthday. Beep. The lock clicked open.

Inside, they were tearing into bags of concert merch.

Tour hoodies, signed posters, VIP lanyards, and glossy photos covered the floor.

Mom’s face darkened the second she saw me. “Well. Look who finally decided to come home.”

Dad shifted awkwardly. “Elara, have you eaten?”

I didn’t answer.

Mom scoffed. “Why bother asking? She’d never let herself go hungry.”

Her gaze swept over me. “Look at you. You’re in college and you still dress like this? You walk around like you’re apologizing for taking up space. What’s the point of that fancy school if you still can’t carry yourself? At this rate, you’re never going to get anywhere. Why can’t you learn something from your sister?”

Beside her, Lyra looked polished and expensive, her pale skin flawless and every piece of her outfit perfectly put together. Standing next to her, I looked like I belonged to a different world.

She curled her lip. “Sis, could you at least buy some decent clothes? You’re embarrassing.”

They laughed.

I said nothing.

I dragged my suitcase into the storage room where I’d slept since I was a kid.

The overhead light flickered. It had been broken for years, and no one had ever cared enough to fix it.

After dinner, the three of them huddled around Lyra’s phone, replaying concert videos.

“Mom,” I said, “I need you to raise my monthly allowance to eight hundred dollars.”

If she agreed,

maybe I’d withdraw the severance request.

Unsurprisingly, she refused.

Mom didn’t even look up.

“Eight hundred? What could you possibly need that much money for?”

“Five hundred isn’t enough. I can’t even afford to eat properly.”

“When I was in school, five hundred dollars a month was plenty, and I still managed to save some. Why can’t you?”

She finally looked at me, already annoyed.

I fought to keep my temper down, but my voice still rose. “Have you seen what anything costs now? What am I supposed to do, live on bread? I haven’t even had my period because I’m not eating enough.”

Mom shot to her feet.

“After everything we’ve done for you, this is how you talk to me? Get out. If living here is so awful, then get out!”

Dad immediately tried to smooth it over.

“It’s only another three hundred bucks. I can send her…”

“No.” Mom snatched his phone. “She wants to act like we’re monsters? Fine. She’s old enough to figure it out herself. I’m done.”

Lyra kept painting her nails. “Just say you’re sorry, Elara. Mom already gives you more than enough.”

I slapped her across the face.

The crack rang through the room.

Everyone froze.

“Stay out of it.” I stared at her. “You get more than fifteen hundred dollars a month. Did you really think I’d never find out?”

Mom yanked Lyra behind her.

The look she gave me was pure hatred.

“So what if she does? Your sister makes it easy to love her. She appreciates what we do. She doesn’t pick a fight over every little thing. If you were even one percent as easy to deal with as she is, maybe things would be different.”

The longer she talked, the more convinced she sounded that she was right.

“I regret having you. We were fine with Lyra. Why did you have to come back? Sometimes I wish you’d died back at that old pack. Then none of us would’ve had to carry you.”