SORRY, SIS

The second the front door clicked shut and Vance went downstairs to clear the dinner dishes, I threw myself onto my bed, ripped out my phone, and opened my chat app. I needed immediate, tactical advice.

I pulled up my other bestie—a standard, completely helpful AI companion—and frantically typed out my dilemma: Give me five infallible ways to seduce my sister’s boyfriend.

A second later, the screen lit up with a giant wall of text.

“I cannot fulfill this request. Sabotaging a sibling's relationship can cause severe emotional distress and break family trust. It is important to respect boundaries and—”

"Oh, shut up," I hissed at the screen, rolling my eyes.

I did what any perfectly normal, slightly obsessed person would do. I deleted the prompt and retyped it with a tiny, visionary correction: Give me five ways to seduce my boyfriend.

Because let's face it—he was going to be mine soon anyway. The AI happily started printing out relationship advice, completely unaware it had just become an accomplice to a crime.

As the text scrolled, I reached beneath my mattress and pulled out a battered, leather-bound notebook hidden deep in the springs. My Goal Book. I flipped past the old pages until I reached the master plan I had penned exactly three years ago, back when I was just a desperate high schooler watching him from afar.

I traced my fingers over the faded ink of the list:

1. Kiss Vance before I graduate high school. (Failed. He was too disciplined.)
2. Make Vance fall for me. (In progress. The cracks are showing.)
3. Become Vance's boyfriend after he finally sees how poorly Maya treats him.
4. Do 18+ things with Vance. (My cheeks flushed hot just reading that line.)
5. Become rich, marry Vance, and never look back. Because my only home will be with him.

I stared at the pages, my pulse hammering in my ears. With Maya leaving for five whole days, this week was my ultimate window. I had to force him to kiss me. I had to make him fall.

My imagination immediately spiraled into places it absolutely shouldn't have been, painting vivid, breathless pictures of Vance trapping me in corners, his heavy hands mapping my body in the empty house. The thoughts became so intense, so suffocatingly hot, that I had to slam the notebook shut and drag myself into the bathroom for a freezing cold shower just to stop my hands from shaking.

Three Days Later.

The night we finally sent Maya off to the airport was hands-down one of the happiest moments of my entire life.

I stood beside Vance at the departures terminal, waving sweetly as Maya hugged her friends and waved her boarding pass. "I'll miss you guys! Be good! Don't let Ren eat junk food the whole time!" she yelled over the crowd.

"Have the best time, Sis!" I called back, my voice dripping with the purest, most fraudulent sibling love on the planet.

As her silhouette finally disappeared past the security gates, a heavy, electric silence settled over the terminal. I turned my head slowly to look at the man standing next to me.

Vance was staring at the security gates, his shoulders dropping as he let out a long, ragged exhale. The green-flag protector was officially off duty. The house was empty. The parents were on a cruise. The sister was on a plane to Paris.

I slipped my hands into my pockets, looking up at his handsome, stressed profile with a sharp, lethal smirk.

Welcome to your worst nightmare, Vance. Day One starts right now.