The Sister He Destroyed A Billionaire's Regret

On my twenty-fourth birthday, a doctor told me how long I had left to live.

When I called my brother, my family was throwing a birthday party for their adopted daughter.

Laughter and music bled through the phone.

I felt nothing.

"Logan, I'm dying. Late-stage brain cancer."

"Can you send me five thousand dollars?"

Logan Maddox laughed like I'd told him a joke.

"You made up cancer? That's your play for sympathy now? You really think we'd fall for that?"

"When we threw you out four years ago, I told you — unless you cripple both your legs as penance, don't ever think about setting foot in this family again."

I thought about the bills piling up on my phone.

My fingers curled tight.

"Logan, today's my birthday too. Just think of it as a gift—"

He hung up before I could finish.

In the pit of my despair, a text came through:

"Changed my mind. You want the money? Jump off Southbridge. Make my Edna Maddox laugh. Then you get your five thousand."

He didn't know.

Before I made that call, I'd spent every last cent I had picking out a burial plot.

All I needed was that final five thousand.

……

I stepped into the Maddox estate soaking wet, my bare feet shredded by gravel, leaving a trail of blood across the marble floor.

Every pair of eyes in the room turned to me.

"What a buzzkill! A bet's a bet — here, take this card. There's a million on it!"

"And here are my car keys, toss those in too. Who would've guessed Anna Maddox would actually be stupid enough to jump off Southbridge for five thousand dollars?"

"Pathetic. Is this really the same Anna Maddox who used to be a national skiing champion?"

The ones who'd lost their bets took it out on me, piling on insults to make up for the money.

They didn't know.

The girl they were mocking had died a year ago.

"I jumped into the river, Logan. Where's my five thousand?"

It was the first time I'd ever called my brother by his name.

Logan's brow furrowed. Cigarette ash trembled from his fingers and scattered across the table.

"Anna. What I said still stands."

"Four years ago, you put Edna in a wheelchair for life. The day you end up just like her is the day I let you back into this family."

I hadn't even opened my mouth when someone from the crowd blurted out:

"I'll bet Anna caves this time. Three million says she does. Anyone want in?"

"I'm in too. She'll apologize. I'll put up my villa in South Hills."

My bare feet pressed against the freezing floor. My lips, purple with cold, parted slowly.

"Then I'll bet she won't."

I opened the payment screen on my phone and held it up in front of my brother.

The room went dead silent.

After a long pause, Logan let out a scoff.

"Anna. You think after costing me a million dollars, you're still getting money out of me?"

I gripped the phone so hard my knuckles ached. My heart hung suspended in my chest.

"You gave me your word!"

Logan looked at me with something between amusement and contempt.

"When you left this family, you were so proud of yourself. Swore up and down you'd never take a single cent from us."

"Now that you've had a taste of how hard it is out there, suddenly you come crawling back with your hand out."

I stared at the mockery carved into his face.

My fists clenched until my nails bit into my palms. My drenched body wouldn't stop shaking.

"You told me to jump off Southbridge. I jumped. What else do I have to do to get that money?"

The desperation in my eyes was nothing to them. Just entertainment.

Logan smiled. It was a cruel thing.

"You want money? Fine. It's simple. Kneel in front of Edna and apologize. Admit that four years ago, you deliberately sabotaged her ski equipment during the competition and crippled her."

"Then I'll send it."