The Day I Stopped Saving Her
My sister Brenda fell in love with Don Joseph Genovese because he saved her life once.
She thought a man that dangerous had chosen her.
Then she learned the truth. Joseph had only pulled her out of that riot because she looked like his wife, Maria, when Maria was young.
Any sane woman would have walked away.
Brenda decided Maria had to die.
She tracked Maria’s schedule, planned a hit-and-run, and meant to play the heroic bystander after putting Joseph’s wife in the ground. If Maria was gone, Brenda believed she could take her place.
In my first life, I stopped her.
I knocked her out before she could make her move. I begged her to understand that Joseph was not some lovesick man from her mafia novels. He was a Don. If he found out, he would not just punish her. He would burn our whole family with her.
Brenda cried. She nodded. She promised she understood.
That night, she poured paraquat into my water glass.
As I died, she whispered, “You ruined my shot at the big life, Sharon. So I ruined yours.”
Then I opened my eyes again.
I was back on the day she made her move.
This time, I stayed where I was.