Lahat ng Kabanata ng Contract with the devil : Kabanata 41 - Kabanata 50

The next morning, Laura woke up to find Scott already awake and on his phone, looking at something that made his jaw tighten.“What’s wrong?” Laura asked as she sat up in bed.“Detective Chen sent over more information about Lily’s background,” Scott said without looking away from his phone. “It’s not good.”Laura felt her stomach drop. “What did he find?”Scott finally looked at her, and his expression was serious. “Lily spent her entire childhood bouncing between foster homes. She was never adopted because of her heart condition and the medical expenses that came with it. She had three surgeries by the time she was ten years old and spent months at a time in hospitals.”“Oh God,” Laura whispered because that meant their parents’ attempt to save Lily’s life by giving her up for adoption had completely backfired.“It gets worse,” Scott continued. “According to the records, some of the foster homes she was placed in were investigated for abuse and neglect. She ran a

I couldn’t speak because seeing Lily standing there looking exactly like me was so overwhelming that my brain just stopped working, and all I could do was stare at her while she stared back with those eyes identical to mine but filled with so much anger.“Are you going to say something or just stand there gaping like a fish?” Lily asked, her tone harsh but with something underneath that sounded like pain.“I…” I started, but my voice came out shaky. I cleared my throat and tried again. “I wanted to meet you.”“Did you now?” Lily said and crossed her arms over her chest. “And what exactly did you want to say to me? ‘Sorry your life was terrible while mine was perfect’? ‘Sorry our parents chose you over me’?”“That’s not what happened,” I said, feeling Scott’s hand on my back, which was reassuring.“Can we come in and talk? I have something to show you.”Lily looked at all of us standing in the hallway then shrugged. “Why not? It’s not like I have anything better to

“What if I mess it up?” Lily asked, sounding scared now instead of angry. “What if I’m toodamaged to have a normal relationship with anyone?”“Then we’ll work through it,” I said. “Nobody’s perfect, Lily. We all have issues and baggagebut that doesn’t mean we can’t try.”Lily looked around her apartment, then back at me. “I don’t have anything to offer you. Nomoney, no home, no job. I’m a mess.”“I don’t care about any of that,” I said. “I just want to know you.”“Why?” Lily asked, voice breaking. “Why would you want to know someone like me?”“Because you’re my sister,” I said simply. “And I think if things had been different, we wouldhave been best friends.”That made Lily cry harder, and I sat down next to her on the mattress and put my armaround her. She didn’t pull away, which felt like progress.“I’ve been so angry at you,” Lily sobbed. “I’ve hated you for having everything I didn’t.”“I know,” I said. “And I don’t blame you for that.”“But it’s not your fault,”

Lily took a deep breath. “It won’t,” she admitted. “But at least it will give me a chance to havea decent life now. Do you know how hard it is to get ahead when you start with nothing? When you have no education, no connections, and no safety net?”Laura said carefully, “I can imagine,” because she didn’t want to make her angrier.“No, you can’t imagine,” Lily said sharply. “You’ve never had to worry about where your nextmeal was coming from or whether you’d have a place to sleep at night. You’ve always hadsomeone to catch you when you fell.”“You’re right,” Laura said. “I haven’t experienced what you have. But that doesn’t mean I oweyou money for it.”“Then maybe I should tell George the truth about your little arrangement with Scott,” Lilysaid, a mean edge to her voice. “I’m sure he’d love to know that his beloved sister basicallyprostituted herself to pay for his medical bills.”Laura felt like she had been slapped because using George against her was a low blow, andL

"By making sure she can’t hurt you," Scott said. "By removing the threat.""She’s not a threat," Laura said. "She’s a scared, hurt person who doesn’t know how to askfor what she needs.""She threatened to tell George about our contract," Scott reminded her. "She tried to use theperson you love most against you. That’s not caring.""She’s desperate," Laura said. "Can’t you see that? She’s been alone her whole life anddoesn’t know how to trust or have healthy relationships.""That’s not your job to fix," Scott said. "You didn’t cause this, Laura. You don’t have to solveit.""But I want to help her," Laura said, tears coming. "Why can’t you understand that?""I get that you feel guilty," Scott said. "But guilt isn’t a good reason to let someone use you.""I’m not being used," Laura said. "I’m choosing to help because it’s right.""The right thing is protecting yourself," Scott said. "That means setting limits with people whohurt you.""By making her go away?" Laura asked b