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Lucas liked to keep to himself. Ever since he was younger, he started slowly becoming more and more introverted. He probably didn't want to talk about all the schools that had sent him letters that he might decline because of financial hardships.

He knew what my situation was, but not what kind of relationship Lux and I had, so maybe it was just making him uncomfortable. I was getting ready to jump in, but then he spoke.

“I just… Okay, don’t kill me, Jules.”

Panic immediately rose in me. He only called me Jules when he had really bad news. I sat up straight, my nails digging into my palms.

Don’t tell me…

“I just… don’t think I’m a college person. I don’t really wanna go.”

My world crashed around me.

For other people, it might have been something really simple. They might not even have blinked at what he said. They would probably ask a few questions, but overall, they would support him, give some kind words, and move on.

But I was different. Lucas was supposed to be different.

And it totally caught me off guard. Because the boy I knew growing up wanted college. He even had a list of his favorite schools on a sheet inside his desk. One he looked at almost every day.

And now he was saying he didn’t want to go?

It had to be because of money. Nothing else made sense.

I gritted my teeth, unable to believe what I was hearing. He had worked so hard to get all his grades up. I knew he didn’t love school, but this was different. This was college. And given how we had grown up and the importance of an education, I was positive he would want to go.

“But you seemed so excited to know you got accepted,” I said, my voice quiet. “You texted me…"

He looked at me with his eyebrows pushed together.

“And then I saw the cost. I did the math. I don’t want to be in debt until I’m forty, Jules. Plus, I can make money in other ways.”

“Lots of really successful people don’t go to school,” Lux supplied. “Not me. I went, but that’s beside the point.”

I closed my eyes, trying to center myself. Then I took a deep breath and looked straight at my brother.

“I was going to wait to tell you this when we were alone, but I’m going to pay for your school.”

Lucas raised a brow at me. “You?” he asked with a scoff. “You babysit for a living. You don’t have any money.”

His words felt like a knife to the chest. Does he really think so little of me?

“Nanny,” Lux corrected, her eyes narrowing at my brother.

“Right, whatever.” Lucas waved her off, and Lux clearly didn’t like the teenage attitude showing through. “Point stands. You’re broke, Jules.”

“I’ve been saving.” I tried my best not to look at Lux as I felt her staring at me. Now she knew what I planned to do with the money she gave me and why I still needed this job.

“Not enough, Jules. These schools, they’re too expens?—”

“I have enough,” I argued. “For all four years. I’m not kidding. Pick whatever school you want. I’m prepared.”

He leaned back, his eyes looking up and down my body, scrutinizing me.

“You? The nanny . Saved up enough for all four years of school. Any school. Even Harvard?”

Geez, just twist the knife, why don't you?

“Yes,” I hissed.

He paused, then crossed his arms over his chest.

“What did you do to get the money?”

“Nothing illegal,” I shot back. I couldn’t help but look at Lux. “Can you please go to Bella for a minute?”

She pursed her lips before nodding and taking her leave.

Lucas looked at her as she left, then back to me.

“Didn’t know you could order your boss around.” He leaned forward. “Actually, I noticed her making eyes at you all night. Don’t tell me?—”

“Let’s stay on track, Luca?—”

“This is on track,” he said. I hated when he was like this. When he could see right through me. It was something only he could do. Maybe it was because we had spent so much time together growing up, but he could always read me like a book. “You’re fucking her, aren’t you?”

I took a sip of my drink.

“I’m not. Now, about your schoo?—”

“I don’t care if you have the money,” he said and stood. “Now that I know it’s not yours, I can’t take it.”

I stood up and grabbed his wrist.

“It is mine. And I want you to have it. I want you to go to school. To live a good life. To succeed. To not be like… me. Take it, please .”

He hesitated for a moment before pulling his wrist from my grasp.

“Tell me what you did to get it then, huh?”

My entire body flushed with shame. I couldn’t. There was a line I wouldn’t cross, and this was it.

“Just leave it and accept the goddamn money, Lucas. Don’t be difficult.”

He took a step closer.

“I’m being difficult?” he asked with a scoff.

“Now I know you opened your legs to get that money. Is that why she looks at you like that? Is there some other arrangement here? Or did you fuck some rich, old geezer just so you could get out of hard work? For the last time, I don’t want to fucking go, and I don’t want your fucking dirty money?—”

“That’s enough,” Lux said, appearing by my side and wrapping her arm around my shoulder. “You’re young, so you might not get it, but you should never talk to your sister that way.”

Lucas glared at her.

“Hey, just because you think you have some weird claim on her?—”

“This has nothing to do with what I feel about her,” she said.

“Yes, I like your sister. And that's none of your business, quite frankly. It's between me and her. But I say this because you never know what could happen. Tonight might be the last time you got to talk to her.” She paused for a second. “Now, I think it’s time for everyone to rest. Bella’s driver will take you home.”

I expected Lucas to fight, but when I stayed silent, he seemed to deflate as well. As he took a step back, tears welled in my eyes.

“I’ll call you,” he mumbled and walked to the door where Marci was already waiting with a scowl.

There was a long, silent moment, then the door shut and Lux turned me to look at her.

“Don’t ever let people, even your brother, talk to you like that, do you hear? You don’t deser?—”

“So you really like me?”

Lux stopped mid-sentence, her face deadpan.

“That’s all you got from that?” she asked, her hands gripping my shoulders. “I’m telling you, you deserve more. It doesn’t matter where that money came from. You shouldn’t feel ashamed. No one should make you feel that way. You’re too important and too good for it.”

I tried to let her words sink in, but all they did was bring back the wound my brother left.

“He’s just a teenager,” I said. “He’s had it hard. And just because I offered him the money doesn’t mean he has to take it.”

She paused for a moment, her expression turning soft.

“There are many things I regret about my relationship with my sister,” she said in a low voice, likely not wanting to alert Bella to our conversation.

“One of them was how I treated her before her death. She was… kinder than me. Always reaching out. But I ignored her. Pushed her away when I was busy. I didn’t give her the attention she deserved, didn’t spend enough time with her.

If I knew she would die so young… If I knew I would never see her again, I… I have so many regrets.”

Her words weighed heavily on me. I couldn’t see it from her perspective, as I’d always been the one worried about my sibling, always the one reaching out, always the one taking care of him.

But now I saw that Lux was more like Lucas. Someone wanting to show that they could live on their own. Succeed. Even if it came off harsh, they wanted to prove themselves.

Before I knew what I was doing, I was wrapping my arms around her waist. She froze, her breath audibly hitching. Ever so slowly, not to scare her away, I placed my head on her chest. I felt as though she could jump ship any moment, but she needed this.

Maybe just as much as Bella did.

After all, they both lost people they loved. She breathed in deeply. Her heart was racing; I could hear the rapid beating as I hugged her.

Her arms twitched, and slowly, she brought them around me, but they never touched my skin. They just hovered there, unsure. I could feel them brush against my back. The invisible weight of them.

“Juliette, are you okay?”

Before we could pull away, we heard the sound of Bella’s footsteps, and her small body slammed into us. She buried her head into us and squeezed, pulling us into a three-person hug.

Lux hesitantly wrapped one arm around Bella, the other around me. I brought my hand to Bella’s head, patting it.

“Lucas had to go,” I finally told Bella, not breaking the hug. “He’ll be back if you want another gossip session sometime.”

Her lower lip jutted out, and she gave me a disbelieving expression. “He sounded angry. Did he hurt your feelings?”

“No, baby.” My voice was calm. “Wait for me outside, and I’ll come play with you, okay?”

She nodded and ran away. Only then did I look up at Lux.

My heart stopped in my chest before slowly breaking because Lux had tears rushing down her face. She was silent, but they never stopped, only slowed. She was looking into the distance.

I looked around to see if anyone was watching, but the chef had disappeared, and Bella was outside.

“It’s okay,” I whispered and leaned my head back on her chest. “Just stay like this.”

I could see her fists balled at her sides as she tried to rein herself in. I let her stay there for as long as she needed.

She was so focused on Bella, she never gave herself time to grieve.

Maybe there was a bigger reason why I was here. I wasn’t sure I believed in fate, but it sure seemed like this family needed some extra love and care.

And maybe I did too.