Taming My Unruly Sister

After the SAT

The night after the SAT, my sister sent me a wish list.

"iPhone: ¥10,000, iPad: ¥5,000, Laptop: ¥8,000, Clothes: ¥3,000, Cosmetics: ¥2,000... Total: ¥50,000."

I was just a worker earning ¥3,000 a month, and our parents were manual laborers. How could we possibly come up with that much money for her all at once?

Our family scraped together everything we could and decided we could only give her ¥20,000. Instead of being grateful, she threw a fit and threatened to harm herself.

My parents and I had no choice but to borrow money from everyone we knew, working several jobs a day to repay the debt.

When my parents died in a car accident due to overwork, my sister and her boyfriend were still indulging in luxury at a five-star hotel.

Overwhelmed by the pressure, I developed depression and committed suicide.

Given a second chance at life, I personally sent her to work in an exploitative factory. She finally became obedient.

Chapter 1: The Shopping Feast

Amid the frenzy of the 618 shopping feast, I stumbled upon a tutorial online on how to enjoy discounts by reaching the minimum order requirement. I noticed that the pair of shoes my sister, Lilah, had been longing for was on sale at a very tempting price, so I didn't hesitate to place the order.

As the SAT approached, her grades had consistently been excellent, so I decided to buy these shoes as an encouragement for her. However, when I eagerly showed her the purchase record, she questioned me.

"Why are they so cheap? I saw these shoes on a shopping platform for over five hundred, and you only spent a little over three hundred? They must be fake."

Instead of expressing gratitude, her initial reaction to the order screenshot was suspicion.

"I bought these by following the 618 shopping tips I found online. This is from the official flagship store on Amazon. How could they be fake?" I explained patiently.

"If they're that cheap, they must be fake! Why did you buy me fake shoes? People will make fun of me if I wear them!" she retorted.

Our family had struggled financially in the past, and I had endured many hardships during my childhood. When our situation improved, my parents had Lilah, and we all showered her with love, inadvertently fostering her spoiled temperament.

Faced with her anger, I didn't dare say much, fearing it would affect her mood for the SAT. I silently returned the shoes and repurchased them from the shopping platform, which finally appeased her.

On the night of the SAT, our family gathered to celebrate Lilah's achievement. Unexpectedly, she pulled out a 'wish list,' as if she had meticulously planned it.

"An iPhone for ten thousand, a tablet for five thousand, a computer for eight thousand, clothes for three thousand, cosmetics for two thousand... totaling fifty thousand."

"Dad, Mom, and Sis, this is my post-exam shopping list."

"You promised me before that you would give me money after the SAT," she said.

My parents and I were stunned by her words. We had indeed promised her, but we only intended to give her around ten thousand for a new phone and maybe a trip.

I had just started working, earning a monthly salary of three thousand, and my parents were laborers. How could we come up with fifty thousand all at once?

"Lilah, fifty thousand is too much. We can't afford it," Dad said helplessly.

"Yes, Lilah, ten thousand for a phone, three thousand for clothes, and two thousand for cosmetics is too expensive. You just got a new phone at the beginning of the year, so there's no need to replace it. And we already have a computer at home," I quickly echoed Dad.

Lilah's expression suddenly changed.

"Why is there suddenly no money? You promised me before the SAT!"

"Yes, we did promise, but we didn't expect you to ask for so much..." Mom explained from the side.

Lilah slammed her bowl and chopsticks down and stormed into her room without looking back. The loud sound of the door closing left the three of us in the living room staring at each other in shock.

From that day on, Lilah cried, threw tantrums, and even threatened to hang herself to get us to give her money. She eventually climbed onto the rooftop, threatening to end her life if we didn't comply.

Her behavior terrified us, and my parents had no choice but to promise her the money. To cover Lilah's expenses, my parents and I had to borrow money from others. Our financial pressure returned to what it had been before, and my parents and I had to take on multiple jobs to repay the debt.

When my parents died in a car accident due to fatigue driving, Lilah was enjoying a lavish meal with her boyfriend at a luxurious five-star hotel. Overwhelmed by the burden, I eventually succumbed to depression and took my own life.

When I opened my eyes again, I realized I had been reborn.

"You bought me fake shoes to make my classmates laugh at me. Are you happy now?" she said, repeating the familiar scene.

I threw the shoes at her face.

"Take them or leave them, I don't give a damn. I'll return them right now if you don't want them."

Chapter 2

Lilah stared at me in disbelief.

Ever since we were kids, as her older sister, I had always given in to her and had never been so harsh with her before. She naturally assumed I would continue to indulge her like before, but unfortunately for her, I didn't.

Her face turned bright red with anger, and she cried and threw a fit, eventually kicking me out of the room. For the next few days, she ignored me completely. Every time she saw me at home, she would give me the cold shoulder.

On the day she finished her SAT, she suddenly became nicer to me. I knew she was up to something, and the next second, I received a long list of her wishes.

"No money, no way."

"I'm your sister, not an ATM."

I coldly replied to her. After being rejected, she went crazy just like in the previous life. She started running away from home, threatening to kill herself, and eventually, we found her on the rooftop.

"Lilah, how about we give you twenty thousand? We can't give you any more than that. We only earn a little over ten thousand a month..."

"I've worked so hard studying all this time, and now that the SAT is over, you go back on your word. I hate you all!"

"If you don't give me the money today, I'll jump off and die right in front of you!"

Lilah stood at the edge of the rooftop, crying and screaming at us. My parents were pale with fear. Seeing that they were about to give in, I had to say something to prevent the tragedy of the previous life from happening again.

"If you're really brave, then jump!"

Lilah cherished her life more than anyone. Her pretend suicide attempt was just a way to threaten us, and I knew this better than anyone. She never expected me to say that, and even my parents looked at me in disbelief.

"Davina, what are you saying?"

My parents were getting anxious, afraid that I might actually push her to jump. But I chose to add fuel to the fire.

"We've been looking for you for hours. If you wanted to jump, you would have done it already. What are you waiting for?"

Hearing my words, Lilah turned and pretended to get ready to jump, but she didn't move, seemingly waiting for us to rush up and stop her. Her legs were shaking uncontrollably. Seeing me remain unmoved, she was caught in a dilemma.

At that moment, the firefighters suddenly arrived. Seeing her frozen on the rooftop, they rushed up and pulled her down. Realizing she had been saved, she immediately started crying and throwing a tantrum again.

"Why did you save me? My family treats me so badly, you should have just let me die!"

"Let go of me! I hate all of you!"

Watching her pretend struggle, I couldn't even be bothered to expose her. After returning home, she realized that threatening us with her life wouldn't get her the money. She had no choice but to compromise and agree to take twenty thousand.

After the compromise, our family seemed to return to the peaceful and happy life we once had. Until the day the SAT results were released, our whole family sat in front of the computer, eagerly waiting for the results to be announced.

Lilah suddenly said she felt sick and went back to her room to rest.

"Why isn't it loading? This is taking forever!" Dad kept hitting refresh on the webpage. Everyone was getting impatient.

"It's out, it's out!"

The moment the results appeared, Mom and I quickly leaned in to see. The result left us all in shock.

Chapter 3

"Didn't you score over 600 in both your mock exams? How did you end up with just 364 on the SAT?"

After checking the results, Dad stormed into Lilah's room, furious at her score, which wasn't even good enough for a decent college.

Lilah glanced at our faces, sensing the tension in the air, and immediately started playing the victim.

"I didn't perform well on the SAT. Shouldn't you be comforting me first? Is this how family should treat each other?"

She burst into tears, covering her face.

"Nonsense! You expect me to believe you underperformed by over 300 points? Aren't you feeling guilty?"

Dad had always been the one to coddle Lilah. He would immediately back down and apologize whenever he saw her cry. But this time, it seemed she had really crossed a line. He wasn't giving in at all.

Lilah was momentarily speechless. She looked over at me, who was silently watching, as if she suddenly thought of something.

"It was Davina! Before the SAT, she gave me a pair of knock-off shoes. I said I didn't want them, and we had a big fight. I was so upset that it affected my performance."

"That happened a week before the exam! With your carefree personality, could you really be affected by something for that long?"

Seeing her trying to pin the blame on me, I quickly defended myself.

Lilah was shocked to see me, who usually took the blame for her, standing up for myself.

Hearing my defense, Dad became even angrier.

"How dare you blame your sister? Even if you were in a bad mood, could it really cause such a huge drop in your score?"

"I bragged to everyone about you every day, telling them my daughter was going to an Ivy League school. And this is what you give me?"

Dad looked like he was about to faint from anger, his whole demeanor radiating fury.

"Dad, I really didn't perform well..."

Lilah cried even harder, as if she was truly being wronged.

"Stop acting!"

"Are you going to tell the truth or not?"

Dad picked up a rod nearby, ready to hit her. Mom, looking heartbroken, rushed to protect Lilah.

"I bought the answers for the mock exams. Is this what you wanted?"

No wonder she was always asking for money. I thought our family was well-off enough to provide for her. It turned out she was using the money to buy answers.

Although we all had our suspicions, hearing her admit it out loud made Mom and Dad's faces darken even more.

"It's because you kept praising my good grades and pressuring me to get into an Ivy League school. I was so stressed and afraid of letting you down that I had no other choice..."

"Slap!"

Mom, who had just been protecting her, suddenly slapped her.

"Lilah, you've gone too far! Think about it, who in this family has treated you badly? You didn't work hard and indulged in pleasures, and now you dare blame your family?"

"During those months you were preparing for the SAT, the three of us walked on eggshells, afraid of disturbing your studies. We couldn't afford to send Davina to college, so we pinned all our hopes on you. And this is how you repay us?"

"Forget about ten thousand dollars. We won't give you a single cent now. Think carefully and prepare to repeat a year!"

With that, they slammed the door and left. I followed them out, feeling a sense of schadenfreude.

Late at night, as I was feeling satisfied with the day's events, I passed by Lilah's room and overheard a shocking conversation.