"Come on, Joanna, say something!"

The sting of Silvia's pinch snapped me back to reality. Her freshly manicured nails dug into my arm, leaving a visible mark.

Biting back the urge to retaliate, I managed a weak smile. "Sure. After all your misfires, you're bound to hit the jackpot."

Silvia seemed puzzled by my lack of urgency, unlike before, when I would be all over the place, desperate to bring her home.

"Joanna, you're a med student. Don't those red spots on him look like some nasty bug?"

Silvia hung back, wary of getting too close.

I chuckled to myself. It seemed Silvia was not as clueless as I thought. In our previous life, she would not listen to me and had to touch it herself. Now that I was on board with her decision, she suddenly got cold feet!

I put on my best sincere face and answered, "It's probably just an allergy. I mean, snagging the title of 'young madam' trumps a little infection any day, right?"

"Hey Joanna, can you lend me a hand here? I can't lift him on my own."

Silvia, her worries seemingly washed away by my reassurance, grabbed my arm, her nails digging in painfully. I jerked away from her grip.

"Joanna, what's the matter?" She could tell I was repulsed, her voice laced with confusion.

I managed a strained smile.

"It's nothing. I just remembered I've got a night shift waiting for me. You handle him, okay? You don't want anyone stealing the spotlight from your leading role, do you?"

With that, I was ready to bolt, but then I added over my shoulder, "Things are crazy at work, so I'll be crashing at the hospital dorm for a bit."

The last thing I wanted was to live with a guy who had syphilis. Better to find an excuse to move out.

However, before I could make my escape, Silvia caught up and clung to me.

"Who's going to cook and clean if you're gone? Don't be so selfish. What's more important–making money or your little sister?"

I froze, almost forgetting that for over 10 years, I had been taking care of Silvia like she was a helpless giant baby. She could not do a thing around the house, not even cook, and I footed the bill for everything.

After our parents died, our grandparents would not take us in because they could not afford to. So there we were, just the two of us, living in the shabby old house our parents left behind. I was three years older, so I had to juggle taking care of Silvia while still going to school.

Our lives had been funded by the savings left by our parents, but by the time college rolled around, that money had dried up. I was grinding through my senior year, while Silvia had just scraped her way into a local college. Juggling jobs and classes, I was drowning in coursework. Silvia? She was too busy keeping up with the Joneses, piling up a mountain of debt with online loans.

I understood. Silvia had always been starved for affection, and I had been her safety net, never once snapping at her. Still, I never thought I would end up nurturing a snake in the grass.

Watching her act like the world owed her something, I lost it. I swatted her hand away and snapped, "You're pushing thirty. Do you really expect me to wait on you forever? Who do you think wiped your debt clean? Who's been footing the bill for your cushy life? What's on your plate, what's on your back?"

"What's that supposed to mean? You're making a big deal over a few meals? We've always lived off Mom and Dad's money, so don't act so high and mighty!

"For all I know, you've been lining your pockets with it. I'm already doing you a favor by not calling you out on it!" Silvia spat back, her face red with rage.

Her words hit me like a ton of bricks. She really believed I had been living large on our parents' dime! A chill ran through me.

The absurdity of it all made me want to laugh.

"Fine, you think that? Wait till tomorrow when I lay out every single expense. Then we'll see who's been dipping into the pot," I retorted.

With that, I stormed off, leaving Silvia's screams trailing behind me.

"Go ahead, Joanna, leave! And don't you dare come back!"

I did not look back. I did not say a word.

The emergency shift at the hospital was just a cover. The first thing I did when I got back was to cut Silvia off from the family account.

I flicked on the home security feed and caught Silvia heaving Derrick Shaw back into the living room. Derrick was clamoring for a drink, and for a second, Silvia hesitated over her own glass before, unbelievably, grabbing mine to serve him.

My stomach churned with disgust at her audacity.

She stood a whole meter away from Derrick as she handed him the water, her face twisted with revulsion. I smirked, turned off my phone, and let it go.

There was nothing left at home I cared about, and thankfully, I had taken all my valuables with me on my last trip. No need to return and risk catching anything nasty.

Lying on my dorm bed, small as it was, I felt a peace I had not known in ages. I had never really rested before, always juggling school, caring for Silvia, and working side gigs. I had hoped life would ease up after Silvia's graduation, but she bailed on her job within days, leaving me to pick up the slack.

I had been running on less than four hours of sleep for too long.

At this point, all I wanted was a good night's sleep.

However, then, my phone buzzed like crazy in the dead of night. I wanted to ignore it, fearing it might be work, but in my groggy state, I accidentally answered. The voice that blasted through was sharp enough to split my eardrums.

"Joanna, what's your deal? Why'd you shut off the joint card? Are you trying to starve me?!"

It was Silvia, of course, never minding the time or if I needed rest, always putting her needs first.

I snapped back, "You're grown up, Silvia. It's not my job to keep you afloat anymore."

My voice was tired, and I had not planned on clashing with Silvia so soon, but her actions were just too much.

As I was about to end the call, Silvia's voice erupted with curses. "Joanna, I'm younger than you. You're supposed to take care of me–always have, always will! It's your duty!"

Her words froze me in place.

'Yeah, that's the mantra I've been fed by everyone since I was little,' I mused.

They preached from their moral soapboxes.

"Joanna, Silvia's the baby, and you're all she's got. You've got to look out for your little sister."

"You two are all each other has now, so you've got to keep her safe."

I thought I had done my share. I remembered when our parents passed away, Silvia was a mess of tears, asking me with her little kid voice, "Joanna, does this mean we don't have a mom and dad anymore?"

Back then, I was already numb, juggling the mourners and worrying about our future. However, Silvia's question hit me like a tidal wave.

I hugged her tight, sobbing uncontrollably, all the while trying to reassure her.

"It's okay, you've still got me."

I nearly forgot that I was just a kid, too.

"Silvia, I'm only three years older than you."

Just three years, but it felt like a lifetime of weight on my shoulders.

My voice was raspy, and there was a brief silence on the line before a dismissive snort.

"You're only three seconds older, but you're still my sister. Hurry up and reattach the family credit card. I want to take Derrick out for dinner."

Her sense of entitlement was as strong as ever, and in that instant, I felt utterly defeated.

I did not respond, just hung up and blocked every way Silvia could reach me.

The very person who made my previous life a misery got the nerve to ask me for favors?