Brother, My Heart Hurts So Bad Chapter 05

Brother, My Heart Hurts So Bad Chapter 05

The line was full of noise. But no voice.

So Ethan said sharply. “Ellie, why aren’t you answering your messages?”

A tiny gasp came through the phone, like someone had gotten scared. Then a little girl’s voice asked, “Are you the person

Miss Pretty is waiting for?”

Ethan paused. Then he softened his tone. “Who are you?”

‘I’m Little One.”

For a second, he didn’t seem to know what to say. Then he got serious again. “Can you please let the owner of the phone

answer?”

“Um…” the little girl said quietly. “But Miss Pretty is asleep. She looks really tired. Mommy says good kids shouldn’t wake

people up.”

Ethan smiled helplessly. “Then when she wakes up, tell her to stay where she is. I’ll come get her soon.”

“Who are you?” Little One asked. “Are you the person she’s waiting for?”

“Yes.”

“That’s weird,” Little One said. “Miss Pretty said she was waiting for her brother. She said he’s really gentle and really good

to her. She said he’s the best brother in the whole world.”

Then she lowered her voice even more. “But you sounded really mean just now… You don’t sound that good.”

Ethan froze. Then he said quietly, “Sorry.”

After he hung up, Mom looked at him in disapproval. “You made Ellie wait so long she fell asleep?”

His face turned hard again almost instantly. “It’s just a lesson. Otherwise she’ll keep lying.”

Mom looked worried. “Ellie has always been the one you care most about. Why are you suddenly being this hard on her?

Just because she isn’t your real sister?”

He said nothing. Only shook his head.

Then Mom said, “You’re not someone who gets worked up over just anyone. If someone can really make you angry, it’s

because they matter to you. But Ellie is sensitive. Don’t hurt her.”

Hurt? Maybe a little. When Ethan said I was faking. Lying. Asking him for money. My heart had hurt so sharply it almost

stopped all over again.

Mom still didn’t know about my confession, so she didn’t know the real reason Ethan was angry. But how could this be

because he cared? How could someone be this cruel to the person he cared about?

1 never understood that.

By the time Ethan left, snow was falling. New York winter. Wet. Bitterly cold. Traffic was a mess, and the Rolls-Royce kept

stopping and starting.

Twice Ethan lowered the window to look ahead, but he forced himself not to rush the driver.

I sat beside him, farther away than I used to.

When we got close to Grand Central, Ethan took out his phone and texted me.

[Can you walk to the exit by yourself?]

Then another message.

[Forget it. Stay in the waiting hall and don’t move.]

He still didn’t get a reply.

By the time he parked, he looked furious again. He got out, walked toward the waiting hall, and muttered. “Ellie, you’ve

really gotten bold. Just wait till I-

Then he stopped. Completely.