My father sneered, a look that had haunted me in nightmares for years. “You always were self-centered, Maya. Everything was about you and your damn left hand. You don’t have to like it, but Bella is family.”

Family. The word felt foreign when it came from their lips, a vessel emptied of meaning. As a child, I had yearned for their approval, their love, but all I ever received was scorn. The orphanage had been a sanctuary compared to the house of contempt they had built.

Bella, silent until now, finally spoke. Her voice was fragile, a mere whisper against the storm. “Please, Maya. I don’t want to die.”

I looked at her, really looked at her for the first time. She was a victim too, in her own way. A puppet in their twisted game, living under the weight of expectations that had crushed me. Our eyes met, and I saw fear, desperation, a mirror of what I had once felt.

“You’re asking for the impossible,” I said, shaking my head. “You want me to forget everything, pretend none of it mattered.”

“No,” Bella said, tears brimming in her eyes. “I’m asking for help. Not from them, but from you. The doctor. The person who made something of herself despite them.”

In that moment, I glimpsed something I hadn’t expected—a potential ally in Bella. Someone who might understand the pain and suffering I’d endured, even if our paths had diverged so dramatically.

I took a deep breath, my resolve wavering. I had built my life on the principle of saving lives, not out of obligation, but because it was my calling. Could I refuse someone in need, even if the circumstances were as twisted as these?

“I’ll do it,” I said finally, meeting Bella’s eyes with a steely gaze. “But not for them. For you. And after, I want nothing to do with any of you.”

My parents stiffened, but Bella nodded, relief washing over her in waves. The arrangement was clear. I would save Bella, not as a sister, but as a doctor. A choice made not from love, but from a professional vow to heal. As they left my office, a quiet determination settled in my heart. I would sever the last tie binding me to a past filled with betrayal and forge a new chapter on my own terms, free from the shadows that had haunted me for so long.