The Miracle of You

Patricia was absolutely taken with Hailey. The sight alone puzzled Christian, but he wisely decided not to say anything.

‘If this gets into dangerous territory, I’m going to have to put a stop to it,’ he thought to himself as he watched the girl playing with his younger sister in the living room.

Patricia wanted to play tag, which was really childish and he wanted nothing to do with it, so only she and Hailey were the participants.

But in spite of himself, he couldn’t help but give Hailey a lingering look. He couldn’t seem to read her. It was as if she had two different personalities.

One moment she was cool and polite, and the next she was happy and smiling so brightly that the corners of her lips almost reached her ears.

The effect was almost like whiplash.

‘She seems genuine,’ he thought absently as he watched her scour the area for Patricia’s hiding spot. She even seemed to enjoy the game.

Why an eighteen-year-old would be interested in such a childish game was beyond him. Personally, he had never played that much with Patricia. His sister was a nuisance, and she annoyed him from time to time, but of course he didn’t hate her. He just didn’t like playing with her.

It wasn’t just Patricia. He hated playing with little kids. He found babysitting irritating in any way. He wasn’t good with children, and he figured he never would be.

No wonder Patricia didn’t like him.

Though he could hardly bring himself to care.

“Found you!” Hailey exclaimed as she spotted Patricia hiding in a large closet. Patricia squealed as Hailey suddenly started tickling her, causing her laughter to fill the entire living room.

Apparently, the punishment for the hiding person was a three-minute tickle session. Christian resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Hell would freeze over before he would even consider playing such a game.

Ever since their mother left – even before she died – Christian never knew what to do with his sister. Their mother, Pamela, often fussed over Patricia and took care of her most of the time.

Christian, on the other hand, was trained by his father from an early age, so he felt a sense of distance from both his sister and his mother.

That wasn’t to say that Pamela never tried to bond with her son. She did, but it would ultimately end in an awkward atmosphere. Pamela was clearly trying, but Christian was adamant about not tearing down his walls. He wasn’t interested in bonding or having a relationship with his mother or sister. He only cared about pleasing his father.

Even now, he wanted his father’s approval. He was a goal-oriented person, just like Gregory. Patricia, on the other hand, was different. She was softer, more emotional, and kinder.

Sometimes people commented on how different the siblings were. Then again, it felt like people were always bored and wanted something to talk about. It was one of the stupid things about being famous.

Since his father was famous in the business world, he and his sister were naturally thrust into the spotlight. People seemed to admire Gregory for being able to raise his children all by himself.

It was silly that these people had time to pay attention to their family when they still had jobs or schoolwork to do.

“Chris!” Patricia’s voice suddenly snapped him out of his thoughts. “Play with us, too!”

Christian sighed. “I told you, Patricia. I won’t play this game with you.”

“Meanie!”

The remark annoyed him. She had known since they were little that he hated playing games with her, but she kept pestering him to spend time with her.

Sometimes he wondered if it would have been better if his parents had given him a younger brother instead. Having an annoying little sister was tiresome, to be honest.

So he decided to give her a piece of his mind.

“Patricia. You’re already in middle school and yet you still act like a child,” he said coldly. “Maybe act your age for once and I’ll take you seriously. Our mother coddled you so much that your brain is still that of a kid. She should’ve raised you better. Then again, her parenting skills were disappointing from the beginning.”

Patricia stared at him in shock. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Hailey’s mouth hanging open.

This was clearly the wrong thing to say. Obviously.

But it was true. No matter how much Patricia denied it, their mother was never going to win Parent of the Year.

She left them for the damn gardener. She never really cared about them. Patricia loved her so much, but the woman just ran off without a care in the world, thinking she was still a lovesick teenager.

“You’re the worst brother ever!” Patricia screeched before running off, stomping upstairs to her room.

Hailey tried to grab her by the shoulder, but she shook her away, yelling, “Leave me alone!”

Hailey stood there and watched as Patricia slammed the door before everything went silent.

Christian sighed. Really, his sister was getting used to throwing tantrums now and then. She was getting way too spoiled for his liking.

If this continued until she grew up, she would be a laughingstock. The public would not stay considerate of her forever.

Hailey turned to him, the shock still evident in her expression. “Wha… How could you say that to your own sister?” she said.

Christian sent her an icy stare. “This is none of your business.”

How dare she even say something like that to him? Other people knew to keep their mouths shut during personal matters like this.This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.

She stared at him incredulously. “What, you expect me not to react after you said those things to her? She’s really hurt right now. She might even be crying in her room.”

“Then let her cry it out. She should learn how to be a big girl and realize that not everything is going to go her way.”

Silence.

Christian didn’t even bother to look at Hailey anymore and started browsing the internet on his phone.

Patricia would live. She needed those harsh words anyway. It was for her own good.

“You’re a bastard.”

That made Christian raise his head in an instant, narrowing his eyes.

What did that girl just say?

“Excuse me?” he said, a challenging tone lacing his voice.

Hailey was glowering at him with arms folded across her chest.

“I said, you’re a bastard.”