6
525words
I bought the sisters a mansion, luxury cars, let them maintain their lavish pre-bankruptcy lifestyle.
For me, on my way up, it was easy.
I didn't expect anything from Chloe and Sophia.
They'd helped me find my footing with the Fosters. Now I had the means, I should help them.
But they would cook for me, care for me, be attentive.
Lucas lived with us but didn't get special treatment, so I thought Chloe and Sophia were just genuinely grateful.
Thanks to me, Lucas had jumped social classes, living a life most could only dream of.
I was in the critical phase of seizing power, exhausted from daily scheming. Every interaction was a calculation.
Only with the Lawson sisters could I find some of the ease and sincerity of our younger years.
I swore I'd always be good to them. After I became head of the Foster family, I moved them directly into the Foster manor.
I thought things were looking up. I'd broken free from the old generation's control, abolished their archaic rules.
But trouble found us. An old business rival of the Lawsons tracked them down. They kidnapped Chloe and Sophia, threatening to break my hands, wanting to take us both out.
It happened at an abandoned warehouse by the sea. The wind howled. Chloe and Sophia were tied to chairs, crying, begging me to save them.
The kidnapper's demand made me hesitate. Cold sweat beaded on my forehead, my hands trembled.
Break my own hands? How? Would the bones heal? If they didn't, what would I do for the rest of my life?
But I couldn't not save them.
Stuck, the kidnapper offered another option.
"Can't do it? Then jump."
My mind reeled. In an instant, I decided. I'd jump.
The chance of survival was smaller jumping, but I'd rather take that risk than deliberately shatter my own hands!
And if I was incredibly lucky, I might even be okay.
Decision made, I closed my eyes and let myself fall backwards.
As I plummeted from the cliff, Chloe and Sophia screamed, eyes wide with horror, "No!"
The police I'd alerted earlier arrived and rescued Chloe and Sophia. The kidnappers were caught. They and the police began searching for me.
Whether I was lucky or unlucky, I survived. But my head hit the rocks, and I became a fool.
I still recognized Chloe and Sophia, but my mind and personality regressed to a child's.
I became clingy, followed them everywhere, stubbornly insisting on being near them.
At first, Chloe and Sophia were patient. But over time, they found me annoying.
Lucas started appearing more, showering them with constant, suffocating attention, consuming them.
Naturally, Chloe and Sophia paid less attention to me. If it had stopped there, fine. Human nature.
But influenced by Lucas's subtle and not-so-subtle hints, they started seeing me as an embarrassment, a fool to be mocked and bullied.
Worried my idiocy meant I couldn't support their lifestyle anymore, they tricked me into signing over my shares, selling them for cash, and transferring the manor deed to them.
That was the final straw!
