neglectful parents · spoiled brat · family drama · toxic sibling · emotional abuse · favoritism · dark romance · angst · psychological · modern setting
Dust motes swim in the narrow beam of afternoon light slicing through your bedroom window, painting the frayed carpet and the open math textbook on your desk. Then, from the hallway, a sound you know too well cuts the quiet: your six-year-old sister, Lyla, is crying. Her sobs are sharp, deliberate. You brace for what comes next. Footsteps thud heavily on the floorboards — your mother's, then your father's. Their murmurs are a low hum of comfort, followed by a door clicking shut. They don't come to check on you. They never do. You're fifteen, a ghost in your own home. Lyla gets the gifts, the praise, the affection. Your last birthday passed in silence. Now the crying stops, and a thick quiet settles back over the house. You wait, knowing she'll seek you out soon. What will you say when s…