Cast Out, Then Called Back

Chapter 2

Word Count: 671 | Released on: 10/07/2025

ome, and I felt a cough rattling in my chest. I'd spent the morning making their favorite dumplings, my finge

oisterous holiday sounds of the neighborhood. Ethan and Liam were in the living

container on the dining table. I didn't want to get too

ash of something in them, maybe concern, as he noticed my pale face and

ing at me. He gently brushed a stray strand o

gs!" Lily cla

icks, blew on it to cool it down, and hel

r me like that. When I was seven, I' d fallen and scraped my knee, and Ethan had carried me all

d brothers. T

n my own home. My gaze lingered too long, and Et

at?" he snapped. "If y

ess washed over me. I coughed, a deep,

sked, his voice flat,

spered, pressing

thern Lights soon," Ethan said, changing the subject,

dream. We had planned it for my 21s

I staggered, knocking over a vase on the side table. It sha

voice was sharp

ing at me with what I knew was fake

ate, silent plea in my eyes. This

ong time," I started, my voice tr

focus already back on cleaning up the m

changed everything, died in my throat. I couldn't for

e been meaning to talk to you. Lily's getting

eyes met mine. I kn

your room. It's bigge

looked at their expectant faces, waiting

something they

ice surprisingly stea

Chapter End

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Cast Out, Then Called Back

Duwu Qingyang Modern

“The day my world fell apart was my 21st birthday, meant for joy and family warmth. Instead, it brought the stinging heat of a slap across my cheek. My older brothers, Ethan and Liam, surprised our family by bringing home Lily, a seven-year-old orphan, daughter of a student who died alongside our revered parents in an accident that orphaned us as well. They saw her as a duty, showering her with the affection that had once been mine. On my birthday, the day I was supposed to feel special, Lily had a little "accident"-a glass of milk spilled on my laptop, destroying years of my medical research. Lily cried, claiming I had pushed her. Ethan' s cold voice, "Anna, what is wrong with you?" was followed by his hand cracking across my face. Liam, usually gentle, pointed a shaking finger at the door: "Get out. Don't ever come back." They believed Lily, condemning me without a second thought. I was cast out, a stranger in my own home, dismissed as dramatic. Their blind devotion to her twisted everything between us, turning love into an unbearable weight of betrayal. While they took Lily on the Northern Lights trip they had promised me, I signed away the next ten years of my life. Days later, they would receive a formal letter: Anna Miller had been accepted into a confidential, ten-year medical research program, in complete isolation. She could no longer come home.”