The Sister I Raised Took My Bed And My Man Chapter 01

The Sister I Raised Took My Bed And My Man Chapter 01

My sister got fleeced by a gold-digging asshole and came crawling back to my place in tears.

I tore into the guy for her. I tracked down what he owed her. I even wired her my entire year-end bonus just to keep her afloat.

As long as she could pull herself together, that was all that mattered.

My boyfriend, Julian Croft, grew more impatient by the day.

“You keep fighting her battles for her, and she can’t even say thank you. She maxes out her credit cards and you just pay them off. She calls you wasted at three in the morning and you drag yourself out of bed to go get her. Elena, what are you, her mother? Do you owe her or something?”

“She keeps her eyes wide shut and walks straight into a scam, and somehow that’s your problem? She made her own mess. Let her lie in it.”

I threw my coffee mug at him for the first time. It shattered against the wall behind his head.

“She’s my little sister,” I said. My voice came out sharp enough to cut. “She was eight when our mom died. I’m the one who raised her.”

“So, Julian, be good to her. If you can’t do it for her, do it for me.”

Later, my company sent me out of state to oversee a project. I called Ivy every day.

I watched her find a new job. Learn to cook. Slowly, her life started resembling something normal again.

Two months later, I changed my flight and came home early.

I pushed open the bedroom door and found her curled against Julian’s chest. Wearing my silk chemise.

He was feeding her the very center of the watermelon, the best bite, right off his own spoon. His face had that look, the one halfway between annoyed and completely wrapped around her finger.

***

The silence that hit the room was suffocating.

Ivy reacted first.

She launched herself off Julian, her lips trembling. “Elena? What… what are you doing here? Your flight wasn’t until the day after tomorrow… ”

Julian’s spoon froze midair. Juice dripped onto my silk sheets.

His face went pale. He didn’t say a word.

I stood in the doorway, my carry-on handle still gripped in my hand, my fingernails digging so hard into my palm they nearly drew blood. The AC was blasting, but cold sweat was running down my back.

Ivy forced a smile that looked more like a grimace. “You must be exhausted. Let me take your bag…”

She scrambled toward me barefoot and slammed her knee into the bed frame. The sharp gasp she let out made her eyes flood instantly.

Julian frowned and reached out to steady her. “Slow down. You’re all over the place.”

His tone was scolding, but his hands on her were so gentle it made me sick.

I stared at his fingers wrapped around her arm, and my stomach dropped straight through the floor.

“How long has this been going on?”

My voice came out steadier than I expected.

Ivy went rigid. She glanced up at Julian on instinct.

He pulled her back behind him and finally looked me in the eye. 　　“This has nothing to do with her. It’s on me.”

Julian was never a man of many words. He didn’t wear his emotions on his face.

That was the reason I’d said yes to him in the first place. He was solid. Reliable. Not like those smooth-talking men who could make you feel safe one minute and vanish the next.

I was twelve when my mom died. Ivy was eight.

My dad couldn’t handle it. He drank. He stopped showing up to work. Eventually his company fired him, and two years later, he was gone too.

From that point on, I never leaned on anyone.

Julian was the first person who made me feel like being taken care of wasn’t a debt I had to repay.

Like I was allowed to be weak sometimes.

But now he was standing across from me, shielding Ivy behind his body, looking at me with the coldest eyes I had ever seen.

Like I was a stranger.

Ivy peeked out from behind him, her eyes red and swollen. “Elena, it’s not what you think. We…”

“You two get your story straight yet?” I cut in.

“Go ahead, then. You wanted to explain, so explain. What exactly are you two now? When did it start? How far did it go?”

Ivy’s face crumbled. Tears spilled over, and she pressed her hands to her eyes, letting out these pitiful little hiccups.

I laughed once. I don’t know if it was aimed at her or at myself.

Julian squeezed her hand. His voice dropped soft. “Alright. Let me handle this. Put some shoes on. The floor’s cold.”

Then he looked up at me. “Elena, let’s talk outside.”

“Julian. This is my house.” My voice started shaking. “And you’re asking me to leave?”

He said nothing for a few seconds. He glanced back at Ivy. She was standing there with her shoulders hunched, her toes curled under, looking like a frightened rabbit.

Julian’s voice went impossibly softer, nearly a plea. “She was up until four in the morning with insomnia. Let her rest. Please.”

A dull ache spread through my chest, like someone had packed my throat full of cotton I couldn’t swallow and couldn’t cough up.

In three years with Julian, I had never once seen him beg.

This was a man so proud he never bowed his head in a negotiation. He never backed down even when he’d crossed the wrong people.

And now he was begging me. For my sister.

Julian grabbed his jacket off the back of the chair and turned to Ivy. “Get some sleep. Don’t wait up for me. There’s milk in the fridge, heat yourself a cup before bed.”

I spun around and walked out the door.

One more second in that room, and I was going to break down in front of them.

Julian stayed half a step behind me the whole way, his eyes downcast, his face unreadable.

When we reached the parking garage, he opened the car door for me.

I didn’t move. “Say it here.”

His hand paused on the door handle. Then he shut it, pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, and lit one.

The garage lights were dim. The ember flared and faded in the dark.

“I’m the one who started this.” He took a drag, his voice low and rough. “Don’t blame her.”

“Ivy’s your sister. You raised her yourself, you know her better than anybody. She scares easy. She falls apart if there’s nobody to hold onto.”

“After that guy cleaned her out, I couldn’t just… stand there and do nothing.”

He tapped ash onto the concrete. He still wouldn’t look at me.

“But you’re different. Elena, you are the strongest woman I’ve ever met. You don’t need me. You’ll land on your feet no matter what.”

I stared at him, my nails biting into my palms.

“So what? Because I’m strong, I deserve this? You two get to do this to me and I’m just supposed to take it?”

It was so absurd it circled back to almost funny.

Back when Ivy first moved in, Julian wouldn’t even say her name. If he caught her wandering around the living room in her pajamas, his face would knot up so tight you’d think he’d swallowed poison.

He’d drag me into the bedroom and hiss at me under his breath. She’s a grown woman with zero boundaries. This house isn’t a shelter.

Two months ago when I left for the project, I asked him to keep an eye on her.

He stood in the airport departures lane with his hands shoved in his pockets, stone-faced from start to finish. “She’s your sister. She’s not my problem.”

That was only two months ago.

Now here he was, wearing the face I knew better than my own, saying words I didn’t recognize at all.