When Karma Knocks: My Sister’s Downfall
My name’s Ethan, and I’ve always been the black sheep of my family. My parents didn’t outright hate me, but they never believed in me either. My younger sister, Olivia, took it a step further. She loved making my life miserable. For years, she mocked me for chasing my dreams of starting my own business, while she lived off my parents’ money, flaunting designer brands and looking down on “losers” like me.
Funny enough, when my business finally took off, suddenly she had no problem accepting expensive gifts from me. At first, I didn’t mind. I had more than enough money, and I figured, “Hey, maybe this will make her respect me.” Oh, how wrong I was.
One evening, my family had a big gathering at my parents’ house. Everyone was there – cousins, aunts, uncles. Olivia showed up wearing a $2,000 coat I had bought her last Christmas, along with a purse I knew she couldn’t afford on her own. The moment she saw me, her face twisted into a smirk.
“Well, well, well,” she said, loud enough for the whole room to hear, “if it isn’t our successful businessman. Oh wait, no, you’re just a pathetic failure, right?” She laughed, and to my disgust, half the room laughed with her.
I clenched my fists under the table. “Nice coat,” I said, my voice calm. “Where’d you get it?”
She flicked her hair. “Oh, this? You bought it, didn’t you? Guess you’re good for something, at least.” More laughter erupted. My parents just sat there, saying nothing. My uncle snickered, my aunt hid a smile behind her wine glass. It was like they all found it hilarious to watch Olivia tear me down.
I should have said something, should have called her out, but I didn’t. I just stood up, picked up my keys, and walked out. No yelling, no fighting, just left. And that was the last time I gave her a single dime.
For the next month, I ignored every message from her. No more gifts, no more fancy handbags, or spa days. She’d taken my kindness for granted, and I was done. At first, she didn’t seem to care. She had other people to leech off of, right?
But then something changed. One night, out of nowhere, I got a call. It was Olivia. She was sobbing. “Ethan, please, I need your help!”
I almost laughed. Now she wanted my help after years of treating me like garbage? “Why would I help you?” I asked, my voice cold.
“It’s Mom and Dad,” she choked out. “They…they took all my money! I don’t know what to do!”
I stayed silent for a moment, then leaned back in my chair, a slow smile forming on my lips. “Oh,” I said. “Tell me everything.”
Olivia sobbed into the phone, her words barely coherent between gasps. “They…they took everything, Ethan! I don’t have a single scent! My bank account is empty! My credit cards are maxed out! I don’t even know how I’m going to pay rent this month!”
I leaned back, letting her words sink in. “Huh,” I said, as if I were genuinely surprised, “and here I thought you didn’t need my help.”
She sniffled loudly. “Ethan, please! I was wrong, okay? I shouldn’t have said those things. I shouldn’t have laughed at you. But I need you right now. You’re the only person who can help me!”
I resisted the urge to laugh – the only person who could help her? The same person she called a pathetic failure in front of our entire family? The same brother she spent years belittling? Oh, the irony was delicious.
“What happened exactly?” I asked, keeping my tone neutral. “How did they take all your money?”
Olivia let out a shaky breath. “Dad told me he’d help manage my finances, right? Since I’m ‘irresponsible’ or whatever. So, I let him have access to my accounts.”
I nearly dropped my phone. “Wait, you gave him access?”
“Don’t say it like that!” she snapped, her usual temper flaring for a moment. “I trusted him! He said he was just going to help me with investments and make sure I didn’t overspend. And at first everything was fine, but then I noticed weird withdrawals, big ones! And whenever I asked, he said, ‘Oh, don’t worry about it, it’s for your future.'”
I almost wanted to feel bad for her – almost. But then I remembered every insult, every sneer, every time she and our family laughed at me. “So, what changed?” I asked.
Olivia hesitated. “Last week I went to buy something, and my card got declined. I called the bank, and they told me my account was completely drained. Not just low – empty! Dad took every last scent! When I confronted him, he just shrugged and said, ‘Well, you always said money wasn’t a problem, right?'”
I let out a low whistle. “Wow, that sucks.”
“Ethan,” she wheezed, her voice desperate now. “I’m begging you! I don’t know what to do. I have rent due in 3 days! I have bills! And they don’t care! Mom just told me to ‘figure it out,’ and Dad told me I should be grateful he even supported me for this long!”
I took a moment to think. This was the first time in years that Olivia had ever been on the receiving end of life’s cruelty, and now suddenly she expected me to swoop in and fix everything. I could easily do it – one wire transfer and all her problems would disappear. But where was she when I needed help? Where was she when I was working 16-hour days grinding to build my business while she mocked me? Where was she when I was eating Ramen for weeks because I couldn’t afford groceries?
I let the silence stretch, then I sighed dramatically. “Olivia, that’s a tough situation.”
“I know,” she cried. “So, will you help me?”
I smiled to myself. “No.”
“What? Why wouldn’t I?” I asked, my voice calm. “You said it yourself, I’m a pathetic failure who will never succeed, right? So how could I possibly help you?”
“Ethan, I didn’t mean that! That was just…Ugh, I was joking!”
“Oh, so it was a joke? Funny thing about jokes – they stop being funny when life decides to turn the tables.”
She was silent, probably realizing for the first time that she had no leverage here.
I continued, my voice light. “You spent years treating me like garbage. You took my money, my gifts, my generosity, and then turned around and humiliated me in front of our whole family. You never took me seriously, Olivia, and now you want my help?”
She let out a choked sob. “Ethan, please! I don’t have anyone else!”
I sighed, pretending to consider. “Hm, you know, I’d love to help, but I think you should figure it out on your own. After all, that’s what Mom and Dad told you, right?”
“Ethan, I…”
“Oh, and by the way,” I added, my voice suddenly sharp, “you might want to check your credit score. Something tells me Dad didn’t just stop at your savings.” The sharp gasp from the other end of the phone told me all I needed to know.
I grinned. “Good luck, Sis! I mean it.” And with that, I hung up. Now all I had to do was wait, because something told me this was far from over.
Two days passed before I heard from Olivia again. I expected more desperate calls, maybe even a groveling apology. Instead, I got something far more entertaining – a text from our cousin, Lisa.
“Dude, you won’t believe what Olivia just did.”
Curious, I called her immediately. “Alright, spill.”
Lisa didn’t even say hello. “Olivia stormed into your parents’ house last night!”
I laughed. “She finally confronted them?”
“Oh yeah, screaming, crying, the full breakdown! She kept demanding her money back, and when your dad just shrugged her off, she lost it! I mean full-on – threw a vase at the wall lost it!”
I raised an eyebrow. “She what?”
“Yeah,” Lisa said. “She was fuming, kept shouting about how they ruined her life and how she was basically homeless now.” Lisa paused, then added, “I don’t think she’s ever been told ‘no’ before.”
I chuckled. “Well, there’s a first time for everything.”
And then Lisa continued, her voice dropping as if she were about to share the best part. “Your dad just sat there and laughed at her!”
I blinked. “Wait, laughed?”
“Oh, hard too! Like full-on mocking laughter! He was like, ‘Oh, poor baby, welcome to the real world!’ And Mom just sat there nodding like she agreed with him!”
Damn, even I wasn’t expecting that. I could practically see it – Olivia standing there, eyes red, hair disheveled, wearing one of her expensive designer outfits that she didn’t even pay for, realizing for the first time that she was completely alone. No trust fund, no family support, no backup plan, just her and the cold, hard reality of the world she spent years looking down on.
“And the best part,” Lisa continued, “she stormed out and tried to call like everyone she knew for money, but uh, turns out when you spend years treating people like dirt, no one actually wants to help you.”
I smirked. “Shocking.”
Lisa laughed. “Oh, and get this – her landlord is already threatening eviction! She’s 2 months behind on rent, and I don’t think she even realized because Dad was paying it before he, you know, robbed her blind.”
I let out a low whistle. “Yikes. So, what’s she going to do?”
Lisa hesitated. “Well, I was going to ask you that because she’s been telling everyone she’s working things out with you!”
I barked out a laugh. “Oh really? That’s interesting considering I haven’t answered a single one of her calls.”
Lisa sighed. “That’s what I thought, but I just wanted to warn you. She’s desperate now, Ethan. She might do something crazy.”
“Crazy” was an understatement. Olivia had never not gotten what she wanted, and now that she was cornered, she was dangerous. And as if Q, my phone bust.
Olivia.
I let it ring, then another text popped up.
Olivia: Ethan, I’m outside your place. Please let me in. We need to talk.
I stared at my phone for a moment, then stood up and walked to my window. And there she was, standing on my doorstep, designer handbag clutched in her trembling hands, makeup smeared, eyes red from crying. She looked wrecked.
I took my time opening the door. When I did, I leaned against the frame, arms crossed. “Huh, didn’t expect to see you here.”
Olivia looked up at me, her face a mess of desperation and anger. “Ethan, please! I…I have nowhere else to go!”
I tilted my head. “That’s funny. A month ago you were laughing in my face, telling me I’d never succeed, and now you’re begging me for help?”
She swallowed hard. “I look I was wrong, okay? I get it now. You were right. I was a terrible sister, but please, I have nothing left!”
I let the silence stretch, let her squirm, let her feel the weight of every insult, every mockery, every time she treated me like I was beneath her. Finally, I smiled. “Oh, I’ll help you.”
Her eyes lit up. “You will?”
I nodded slowly. “Of course, but on one condition.”
She wiped her eyes. “Anything! I’ll do anything!”
I stepped forward, lowering my voice. “I want you to get down on your knees, her breath hitched. and apologize for everything.”
Olivia‘s face Twisted in shock. “You…you’re joking, right?”
I raised an eyebrow. “Do I look like I’m joking?”
Her jaw clenched. “Ethan, come on!”
I shrugged. “Fine. No apology, no help.” I moved to close the door.
“Wait!”
I stopped. Olivia stood there frozen, her pride Waring with her desperation. Then slowly, she sank to her knees. She looked up at me, eyes burning with humiliation.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
I kept a hand around my ear. “What was that? Didn’t quite hear you.”
Olivia fist quenched, she took a deep, shuttering breath. “I’m sorry, Ethan!” she said louder this time, “for everything! For laughing at you, for treating you like a joke, for she swallowed hard taking you for granted I watched her for a long moment, then I smiled.
“Good.” And then I stepped back and shut the door in her face. Because some lessons they have to be learned the hard way, and Olivia she was just getting started.
I stood there for a moment, listening to Olivia‘s frantic knocking. She was losing it. “Ethan, open the door! You said you’d help me!” she cried. “You can’t just leave me out here!”
I sighed, rubbing my temples. A month ago she had mocked me in front of everyone, calling me a failure while draped and expensive clothes I had bought her now she was outside my door begging something wasn’t adding up.
My parents had never treated Olivia this way before. She was their Golden Child, their perfect daughter. If they had taken her money, there had to be a reason. I pulled out my phone and called my dad.
He picked up almost immediately. “Ethan,” he said, sounding unsurprised, “she’s at your place, isn’t she?”
“Yep,” I said, glancing at the peephole. Olivia was pacing outside, her arms wrapped around herself.
Dad let out a short chuckle. “Didn’t take long.”
I frowned. “What happened? Why’d you take all her money?”
Dad sighed like he was being forced to explain something painfully obvious. “Because she was about to waste every last s of it!”
I raised an eyebrow. “Wa-“
“She has zero Financial sense, Ethan,” Dad said. “You think she sat down and thought about how to use that money? No! She got access to her inheritance and immediately started burning through it! She spent almost 10 grand on some ridiculous luxury handbag and was this close to Putting a down payment on a sports car!”
I stayed silent, processing that. I shouldn’t have been surprised. Olivia had always been Reckless she never had to think about money because our parents had always covered for her.
“She was weeks away away from going completely broke,” Dad continued. “She doesn’t have a job, she doesn’t have savings, and she doesn’t listen. So yeah, we stepped in.”
I exhaled slowly. “So, you took it all?”
Dad snorted. “Would you rather we let her waste it all and come crying to you when she’s got nothing left?”
He had a point. Olivia wasn’t responsible. If she had blown through her inheritance, she would have never admitted it was her fault. She would have blamed everyone but herself. She needed a wakeup call.
“That said Grandma left that money for her future not for Handbags and sports cars so we put it somewhere safe,”
I hesitated. “Where?”
Dad chuckled. “That’s not important.”
That was the part that didn’t sit right with me, but at the same time I couldn’t argue with why they did it. Olivia had never been held accountable for anything in her life. Now, for the first time, she had to face the consequences of her own actions.
Outside the knocking had stopped. I checked the peephole again. Olivia was leaning against the wall, her face buried in her hands.
A month ago she laughed in my face when I needed help now she needed me I took a deep breath.
I wasn’t going to bail her out I stepped away from the door debating whether I should even open it Olivia was still outside, but she had stopped knocking. Instead, she had slid down against the wall, hugging her knees. Her shoulders were shaking. She was crying. A month ago she had humiliated me in front of everyone she wore the expensive clothes I had bought her while she called me a failure she laughed with my parents parents while I walked away alone and now here she was broke desperate and suddenly realizing she had no one else to turn to
I could let her sit there, let her stew in it, but I knew Olivia she wasn’t just here to apologize. She needed something, and knowing her, she was willing to say anything to get it. I finally unlocked the door and opened it just to crack.
Olivia‘s head shot up, her eyes were red, her makeup smudged. “Ethan,” she breathed, scrambling to her feet.
I leaned against the door frame, arms crossed. “So, I said you finally hit rock bottom.”
Her lip trembled. “Please,” she whispered. “I just need what money.”
I scoffed. “You already had a fortune, Olivia, and you wasted it.”
She shook her head frantically. “No, I didn’t waste it! I barely got to spend any before they stole it!”
I raised an eyebrow. “Oh? And what exactly did you buy before they took it?” Her face twitched. She opened her mouth, then closed it. “That’s what I thought,” I said. “10 grand on a handbag, Olivia? A sports car? You didn’t even try to be responsible.”
Her expression Twisted in frustration. “It’s my money, Ethan! grandma left it to me!”
“And what do you think Grandma would have said if she saw you blowing through it in a month?” Olivia flinched. That shut her up.
I sighed. “Look, I talked to Dad. I know why they took it, and honestly,” I Shrugged, “I don’t blame them.”
Her face contorted with rage. “Are you serious? You’re siding with them?!”
I didn’t say anything.
She took a step forward, her voice Rising. “You you hate them! They treated you like garbage! And now just because it’s me suffering you think they’re suddenly right?!”
I narrowed my eyes. “No, Olivia, I think you were wrong, and for once they actually did something smart.”
Her face crumbled. She wasn’t just mad, she was panicked. “But I don’t have anything, Ethan! They took everything!”
“Then maybe you should have planned better,” I said coldly.
A choked SOB escaped her. She shook her head violently, gripping her hair. “I can’t believe this,” she whispered. “You’d actually let me suffer?”
“Olivia,” I said, rubbing my temples, “you’re not suffering. You’re finally dealing with what the rest of us have to deal with: responsibility.”
Her hands balled into fists. “I’ll pay you back,” she pleaded. “Just help me now, please! I just need enough to… no her face Twisted I said I’ll pay you back,” and I said no.”
Her breathing was erratic now, like she couldn’t handle hearing the word “no” for the first time in her life. “Fine,” she snapped, then at least let me crash here until I figure things out!”
I let out a bitter laugh. “You mean the way you let me crash at your place when I needed help?
she piled she knew exactly what I was talking about. A year ago, when I had lost my job and needed a place to stay, I had turned to her I had begged her for just a few weeks to get back on my feet, and she had laughed in my face she had mocked me told me to figure it out like everyone else did.
I stared at her watching as the realization sank again. She swallowed. “Ethan, that was different!”
“No, Olivia, it wasn’t.” silence.
Her chest Rose and fell rapidly then her face snapped into something different, something ugly the tears were still there but now there was something else in her eyes. Fury.
“You like this, don’t you?” she hissed you love seeing me like this you think you’re so much better than me now!
I didn’t respond.
She let out a sharp laugh. “Fine you want me to beg is that it she spread her arms go ahead gloat say ‘I told you so’!”
I tilted my head. “I don’t need to.”
She glared at me, her whole body trembling. Then without another word she turned on her heel and stormed down the hallway I watched her go, my jaw tight she had come here expecting me to save her to throw her a Lifeline just like everyone always did but this time she was on her own for a few days.
I expected to hear from Olivia again a text a call or something maybe another round of begging or some half-hearted apology wrapped in manipulation but nothing came she had stormed off and for once in her life she actually stayed gone I told myself I didn’t care that I was done with her drama but then about a week later I got a call not from Olivia from my parents.
“She’s in trouble, Ethan,” my mom said, her voice thick with worry. “She’s completely out of money, she maxed out her credit cards, and now she’s been evicted.”
I let out a slow breath and Mom hesitated “she’s staying at a friend’s place, but it’s not stable she’s been calling us non-stop begging us to give her the money back she even threatened to Sue”
I couldn’t help but laugh sue you with what lawyer she can’t even afford a sandwich. Dad sighed. We’re not giving it back Ethan she just wasted again good.
Mom hesitated. Ethan she might come to you again I scoffed she already did I said no then she might try something desperate”
That part made me pause. “Desperate how?”
Dad exhaled sharply. “I don’t know just be careful.”
I hung up feeling uneasy. Olivia wasn’t just broke, she was desperate, and knowing her that meant she was dangerous.
A few nights later I found out exactly what they meant it was around midnight when I heard the noise a faint scratching at my door at first I thought I was imagining it but then bang a loud thud like someone was testing the lock I grabbed my phone and checked my security camera.
There she was Olivia standing outside my apartment door wearing a hoodie her face shadowed. My stomach Twisted I turned on the microphone Olivia what are you doing she froze then she looked up straight into the camera, and she smiled.
That was when I called the cops I don’t know what she was planning to do that night maybe she thought she could force her way in maybe she was just trying to scare me but whatever it was that was the moment I knew I had made the right decision. Olivia wasn’t just entitled she wasn’t just spoiled she was vindictive and when she didn’t get what she wanted she escalated I haven’t seen her since that night she left before the cops arrived I don’t know where she is now, and honestly I don’t care.
Some people only learn when they have to maybe this is the lesson she finally needed, or maybe she’ll just find another victim to leech off either way I’m done playing the fool. But what do you guys think was I too harsh should I have given her some help or was I right to finally cut her off let me know because I’m still trying to wrap my head around how my own sister could stoop this low.
#Karma #FamilyDrama #SiblingRivalry #FinancialResponsibility #Revenge #Entitlement
