Then Ethan.
His voice was cold.
"You're going too far."
"I haven't done anything."
"Your parents used your tuition temporarily. They promised they'll repay you."
"When?"
Silence.
"When they can," he finally said.
I laughed bitterly.
Then I asked him something I'd never dared to ask before.
"If Lily couldn't afford her tuition today, would you have told her to take out a loan?"
Ethan didn't answer.
"That's not the same situation."
"Why?"
"Because Lily just came back."
"So that makes my future less important?"
"Emily, you're stronger than her."
Those words hurt more than anything.
Because suddenly I understood.
Being called strong had never been a compliment.
It had been permission for everyone to take more from me.
That evening, Ethan sent another message.
"If you keep acting like this, don't expect me to come home for Thanksgiving."
I stared at the screen.
For years, that threat would have terrified me.
This time, I simply typed:
"Don't come."
He called immediately.
"What?"
"I said don't come."
"Emily, don't be dramatic."
"I'm not."
I looked around my tiny dorm room.
It was nothing like Lily's.
No flowers.
No expensive laptop.
No family surrounding me.
But every single thing inside it belonged to me.
My choice.
My future.
My life.
Then I received a message from an unknown number.
Emily, you need to know what your family isn't telling you.
I froze.
Another message appeared.
The $6,800 wasn't for Lily's tuition.
My heart began pounding.
Then came a photograph.
It showed my parents standing outside a luxury apartment with Lily—and Ethan.
I zoomed in.
The lease wasn't in Lily's name.
It was in Ethan's.
And the final message appeared:
Ask your boyfriend where your tuition money really went.
I stared at the screen, unable to breathe.
For the first time, I realized something terrifying.
Maybe my family hadn't simply chosen Lily over me.
Maybe they had been planning something much bigger.
And somehow, Ethan was at the center of it.