Chapter 1 - The Sister Who Always Paid
For seven years, I paid for my sister Norah’s medical degree.
Not because I was rich.
Not because anyone asked if I could afford it.
Because in my family, I was the oldest daughter, and that meant sacrifice was treated like a personality trait.
My name is Ashley Cole. I was thirty-three, a private investigator, and the person everyone called when money, shame, or consequences showed up at the door.
Norah was the golden child.
Pretty. Charming. Brilliant when people were watching. She cried easily, smiled faster, and somehow turned every problem into proof that the rest of us should help her.
When she got accepted into medical school, my parents wept like she had cured cancer already.
Then everyone looked at me.
Mom said, “Just help her get through the first year.”
Dad said, “Family pulls together.”
Norah hugged me and whispered, “You’re the only one I can count on.”
So I co-signed loans.
Then I paid tuition.
Then rent.
Then books.
Then licensing fees.
Then groceries.
Then a new stethoscope because the old one, according to Norah, “made her feel cheap.”
Seven years passed.
I lived in a tiny apartment, drove a car that rattled in cold weather, and took surveillance jobs until three in the morning while my sister posted photos in white coats with captions about hard work.
Grandpa Henry was the only one who noticed.
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Once, before he died, he took my hand and said, “Ashley, don’t let them turn your love into a job.”
I should have listened sooner.
