She Stole My Brain

That evening, when I got home, I went straight to my room to keep studying while Chloe lounged in the living room playing video games. That only strengthened my suspicion, because how could someone who never studied suddenly improve so dramatically?

Hence, the real question was how she was actually doing it.

Chloe suddenly barged into my room with a smug look on her face. "You should just focus on studying and stop overthinking things. After all, you're not that smart, and you're not pretty either. So, working hard is the only realistic option for you."

Something clicked in my mind: Chloe could hear my thoughts.

So, I immediately forced myself to think as loudly as I could.

'Gosh! Why is Chloe so smart while I'm so dumb?'

Chloe's smile grew even wider as she said, "Because when our parents had me, they gave me your share of the brains when I was born!"

It had been the same in my past life. Even when I did not say anything out loud, she would react to whatever I was thinking.

I had never thought much of it before, just assuming that living together every day meant we had somehow become in sync, even though we did not get along.

Looking back, she must have been standing too close to tell which thoughts I actually meant versus just thinking.

When I was little, I lived with our grandmother, and I learned a bit of a foreign dialect. However, Chloe had always lived with our parents, so she did not know it.

So, I cursed at her in that foreign dialect. There was no way she could suddenly understand it now.

'I hope you get a zero on the college entrance exam!'

"What?"

As expected, she did not understand a word. However, she immediately ran off to complain to our mother.

"Mom! Look at her; she's speaking some weird dialect at home! It's so lame! I don't want a sister like her!"

Our mom had been cooking in the kitchen, and when she heard that, she rushed over. "Why are you speaking in that dialect? Only country bumpkins do that! You should be speaking properly!"

I nodded obediently.

Seeing how cooperative I was, our mom suddenly seemed to remember that during this period, she was supposed to be nice to me.

She softened her tone and said, "I'm making clam chowder in the kitchen. It's very nutritious! You're going to be living in the big city someday, and if you keep speaking in that dialect, your classmates will make fun of you. I'm just looking out for you."

Chloe pouted. "Mom! You're playing favorites! Don't I get any clam chowder?"

Our mom quickly reassured her, saying, "Of course you do! When have I ever left you out?"

Despite that, Chloe was still not happy. After all, in the past, anything good in the house had always gone to her alone. Since she had to share with me, of course, she was upset.

When I was little, our parents had gone out to work and dumped me at our grandmother's house. They always said that once things got better, they would come back for me and take me to the city.

I had spent every single day desperately waiting for them to come home. Instead, they returned with a little girl, claiming she was my baby sister.

They felt like they had missed out on raising me and had failed as parents, so they had just had another kid. All the guilt they felt about me, they poured into spoiling Chloe instead.

Right then, Chloe held up her report card. "Mom! Look how well I did this time!"

Mom glanced at the grades and was over the moon. "Chloe, you're amazing!"

I had always been first in my class, but she had never once told me I was amazing. I shot them both a cold look and swore to myself that I would not let them get away with it.

I would get out of here and never come back.