Kicked Out For My Sister’s Baby I Returned Rich Chapter 03
I hauled my suitcase out of the neighborhood and down the hill to the park by the river.
The wind rolling off the water made my eyes sting.
I sat on a bench, suitcase at my side. Before long, I heard hurried footsteps coming up behind me.
“Thea!”
Trent had followed me.
He halted in front of me, breathing hard, looking like a man with no idea what to say. Then he slowly crouched and reached out, trying to smooth back the hair the wind had lashed across my face.
It was a familiar gesture.
Every time my family upset me badly enough to make me cry, he used to comfort me exactly like this.
I’d rewritten his résumé, mapped out his career moves, and sorted his credit cards, insurance policies, and tax documents by due date. I’d even logged his savings goals and dentist appointments in our shared calendar and sent him the reminders.
The day he landed his big promotion, he held me and said, “My life would have fallen apart years ago without you. You’re my stabilizer. My chief operating officer.”
Back then, I’d honestly believed that was love.
I turned my head just before his fingers could reach my cheek.
His hand froze in midair.
“Why?” I asked. “Wasn’t eight years enough? Why did it have to be Regina?”
Trent lowered his head. After a long moment, he said, “She’s different from you.”
Trent lowered his head. After a long moment, he said, “She’s different from you.”
“She gets so flustered. She can’t handle anything on her own. If her car breaks down, she calls me. If debt collectors are after her, she calls me. The way she looks at me… it’s like without me, she can’t do a thing.”
As he said it, he actually sighed.
“I know it’s messed up. But that feeling… of being needed… I couldn’t resist it.”
I stared at him.
So because I’d made his life easy and steady, he’d stopped seeing what I was worth.
And all Regina had to do was stir up chaos, cry, and wait for him to play the hero, and that passed for being needed.
“But I never meant to abandon you,” Trent said quickly. “There’s a baby now. I have to be responsible. But I can keep my distance from her. Once the dust settles, we can go back to how things were.”
“How things were?”
“Thea, we’ve been together for eight years. We’re a good team. The best.”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
“A team?”
I pointed back toward the house.
“A minute ago, they were in my apartment planning which of my things to throw out, and you were measuring for the crib.”
“They stood around Regina calling me jealous and a blackmailer, and you didn’t say a word.”
“My father threatened me with my own credit score, telling me to keep paying their taxes after I was gone, and you just stood there and watched.”
I asked him, one word at a time, “Is that your idea of a team?”
Trent’s lips parted.
“I was just—”
His phone rang.
Regina’s name flashed on the screen.
He hesitated, then answered.
Her panicked voice came through at once. “Trent, come back, hurry! I can’t get the baby’s car seat installed, and I can’t find the confirmation email for tomorrow’s prenatal appointment. Will they cancel it? What am I going to do?”
“Don’t cry,” Trent said immediately, getting to his feet. “The instruction manual is in the box. Search for the hospital’s name in your email—”
“I did! I can’t find it!” Regina sobbed harder. “I can’t handle all this by myself.”
I said evenly, “Read the manual, or call customer service. If she can’t find the confirmation email, she can contact the hospital. These are all things she can solve on her own.”
There was a beat of silence on the other end of the line.
Then Marlene’s voice broke in.
“Trent, what are you doing listening to her? Regina is carrying your child, and you ran off chasing that troublemaker? Get back here now!”
Trent tightened his grip on the phone. He looked at me, then listened to the crying on the line.
At last, he looked away.
“Thea, I have to go back. She’s too upset. It’s not good for the baby.”
He reached for my wrist.
“Wait here for me. Once I deal with this, we’ll talk. After all these years, we shouldn’t just—”
He reached for my wrist.
“Wait here for me. Once I deal with this, we’ll talk. After all these years, we shouldn’t just—”
“That’s enough.”
I pulled my hand back.
“I don’t care if Regina can’t install a car seat, can’t find an email, racks up more debt, or manufactures another crisis tomorrow. None of that has anything to do with me.”
I looked at him.
“And you are no longer on my team.”
Trent’s face went white.
Regina called his name again through the phone. He turned and ran, soothing her as he went, telling her not to be scared, that he’d be there in a second.
I sat back down on the bench and watched him vanish over the hill.
The wind swept across the river, carrying off the last of his warmth.
He still believed that if he came back and knocked on my door, I’d be there to clean up his mess.
But my account was closed for good.