Chapter 2: I Have a Stepsister Who's Fun to Play With

Emily's POV

The swirl of memory pulls me back to that autumn afternoon ten years ago. Sunlight streams through the massive windows of the Harrison house living room, making everything look like it belongs in a magazine. I'm sitting in the corner of the leather sofa, wearing the light blue dress Mom picked out, trying my best to look like I belong here.

"Emily, how do you like your new home? Settling in alright?" Judge Richard's voice fills the room with that courtroom authority that makes everyone sit straighter.

"Very good, thank you, Uncle... Dad." The words barely make it out of my throat.

Mom's smile looks painted on. "Emily's always been well-behaved. She'll adapt just fine, won't you, sweetheart?"

My hands are strangling my dress. David's at the piano bench, pretending to flip through sheet music, but his eyes keep sliding toward me.

Three months I've been living in this perfect house, and I still feel like I'm trespassing. Every piece of furniture costs more than Mom and I used to spend on food in a month.

I keep trying to shrink myself down, hoping not to mess up the careful balance everyone's working so hard to maintain.

"Emily, want to hear me play? I've been working on Moonlight Sonata." David's voice is silk-smooth.

"Yes, thank you, David."

Judge Richard nods like we're performing exactly the show he wanted. Mom practically glows. Everything's going according to plan. The broken single mother and her damaged daughter are being absorbed into respectable society.

After dinner, I head upstairs for homework. Passing David's room, I hear voices. The door's cracked open, and something makes me freeze. Maybe it's how different his tone sounds.

"You guys don't know how interesting it is having a stepsister now," David's saying into his phone.

"Interesting how? Is she hot?" Male voice from the speaker.

"She's decent, but that's not the point. She's so fucking jumpy. I can say anything and she practically pisses herself."

I press against the wall, holding my breath.

David's pacing, and there's something in his voice I've never heard. Something that makes my skin want to crawl off my body.

"Want to meet her? We're having a party next weekend. Dad's bringing his colleagues and their kids."

"Sounds good. What's the plan?"

"Haven't decided yet, but it'll be entertaining. The way she tries so hard to please everyone... it's really fucking stimulating."

The confusion hits first. Then understanding creeps in like ice water. This is the family I've been killing myself to fit into? This is the "sweet big brother" Mom keeps gushing about? I want to run, want to burst into Mom's room and spill everything, but my feet might as well be nailed down.

A week later, the house buzzes with party prep. Housekeepers setting up the dining room, a chef preparing fancy finger foods, some florist arranging expensive flowers. Everything looks so normal, so beautiful.

"Emily, there'll be lots of guests tonight, including young people David's age. You need to be more social, okay?" Mom's fixing my hair, movements gentle but tone firm.

"Mom, could I maybe skip it? I could stay in my room and..."

"Don't be ridiculous. Richard specifically arranged this hoping you'd integrate better. You can't keep hiding."

I'm staring at myself in the vanity mirror. The face looking back is pale and scared. David walks past my doorway and flashes me a smile.

"Emily, tonight's going to be very special. My friends are all excited to meet you." He just walks away.

Evening comes. Guests filter in. All Judge Richard's colleagues and friends, plus their teenage kids. I plant myself in a corner, trying to blend into the wallpaper.

"This is my stepdaughter Emily, a very well-behaved child," Richard announces during introductions.

The guests make appropriate noises. "What a lovely girl." "She seems so polite." Their smiles are the kind adults give kids they don't actually see.

Then David's friends arrive. Several boys his age walk in, and the way they look at me makes every nerve scream danger. One particularly tall kid has something cruel glinting in his eyes, like he's already anticipating a show.

My palms start sweating. I don't know what they're planning, but every instinct screams run.

"Mom, I have a headache. Could I go rest?"

"Absolutely not, Emily. We rarely have guests like this. You cannot be rude."

After dinner, the adults settle in for conversation while the young people cluster together. David approaches with that smile that'll haunt my nightmares.

"Emily, I want to show you some cool stuff I collect, up in my room."

"Right now? But the guests are..."

"Just for a minute. Quick look. My friends want to see too."

Even though every cell screams no, I have no choice under everyone's eyes. David's friends fall in behind us, creating this formation that feels like being herded to slaughter.

We reach the second floor. David stops at the staircase landing. I notice several glass marbles scattered near the stair edge, catching the hallway light.

"David, there's something on the floor..."

"Oh, those? Cleaning crew probably dropped them. No big deal."

Inside David's mind, something twisted is stirring.

He's been planning this moment for weeks, ever since he figured out how perfectly breakable Emily is. Those marbles aren't an accident. He placed them there. He wants to see her fall, wants to see her hurt, wants to see her become completely his. This need to control and destroy gives him a rush he's never felt before.

"David, what exactly do you have up there that's so mysterious?" The tall kid's getting impatient.

"Yeah, Emily looks really nervous," another friend adds with a smirk.

David suddenly makes this big gesture, like he's showing off something amazing, then "accidentally" bumps into me.

"Emily, look over there..."

His shoulder hits mine with way more force than it looks. I lose my balance, my foot hits one of the marbles, and suddenly I'm flying.

"Ah!"

I feel myself tumbling through space, hitting each stair like it's made of knives. The worst pain shoots from my left leg. I hear this sharp crack, then agony that whites out the world.

"Oh my God! Emily! What happened? Someone help!" David's performance deserves an award.

Some of his friends look genuinely shocked. Others are trying not to laugh. The tall kid actually gives David a subtle thumbs up.

I'm lying at the bottom of the stairs. Warm liquid spreading from my leg, staining my light blue dress red. Pain and fear and despair crash together in my chest. But the worst part is looking up toward the top and catching that flash of satisfaction in David's eyes.

Adults come running. Judge Richard, Mom, other guests crowding around.

"What happened?" Richard demands.

"Emily accidentally stepped on some marbles and fell. I tried to catch her, but I couldn't reach her in time..." David's voice shakes with perfect distress.

"Emily! Baby! Are you okay?" Mom kneels beside me, but I feel her panic isn't just about my injuries. She's terrified about what this "accident" might do to her new marriage.

At the hospital, the doctor's words fall like a death sentence.

"Compound fracture of the left tibia. We need to operate immediately. Even with successful surgery, there may be permanent complications."

Later, there's a family "meeting" about what happened.

"This was clearly an accident," Judge Richard pronounces with courtroom authority. "Children playing together, these things happen. We need to focus on helping Emily recover, not pointing fingers."

"Exactly right," Mom agrees eagerly. "David feels terrible. We can't blame him."

David puts on his guilt mask for everyone. "Emily, I'm so sorry... I should've been more careful. I'll take care of you, I promise."

But when we're alone, his expression is completely different.

"Now you understand, don't you?" he whispers, leaning close to my hospital bed. "In this family, you're nothing. You're just my toy."

That moment, fifteen-year-old me finally gets the brutal truth: I will never be truly accepted by this family. I'm just an outsider who can be hurt without consequences. The pain isn't just from my shattered leg bone. It's from my shattered heart.