I Watched Them Love Her Novel by Anonymous _ Novel




I Watched Them Love Her Chapter 01

When Chloe pushed me off the 102nd floor of the Empire State Building, what I saw was...
Mom step in front of her. Dad held back the guards. Nico stood right by her side.
In that one falling second, it all clicked.
The family I had spent my life trying to protect had chosen her side long ago.
When I opened my eyes again, I was fifteen again.
Back to the day my parents brought Chloe home.
This time, I didn't scream. Didn't ask why.
The way they spoiled her. The way Nico watched over her. Even the way Rowan would fall for her later...
I didn’t want any of it.
I just never expected that this time they still were the ones begging me to come back.
…
I stood at the top of the stairs, my hand resting on the banister.
Down in the foyer, Mom and Dad were flanking a young girl.
She wore an old coat, the cuffs frayed and thin.
Her head was bowed, her eyes darting around the sprawling Scarsdale house as if she were afraid to look at it directly.
“Chloe, don’t be nervous,” Mom said softly. “This is your home now.”
She reached out and stroked Chloe’s hair, her touch impossibly gentle.
Once, a scene like this would have stung. Now, I felt nothing.
Dad was clearly in a good mood.
“This is your brother, Nico. He came all the way back from college just to meet you.”
Nico pulled a small Tiffany box from his backpack.
“Welcome home,” he said. “This is for you.”
He was usually cool and distant, but his expression softened with patience as he looked at Chloe.
I watched it all from the stairs, feeling like a guest in someone else’s home.
Chloe accepted the gift with a quiet thank you. When she lifted her head, her expression was one of perfect, practiced obedience.
She had always been a talented actress.
If I hadn’t known that ten years from now, she would push me from the 102nd floor of the Empire State Building, I might have been fooled, too.
But even the memory of it left me strangely calm.
Mom finally noticed me.
“Tessa, come down. Meet your sister.”
I descended the stairs.
All four of them turned to look at me.
“Hi,” I said.
My voice was steady.
Unlike last time, there was no loss of control. No tears, no scene. It was as if those emotions had been carved out of me.
Chloe seemed surprised by my indifference. She shrank behind Mom.
“Tessa.” Mom’s brow furrowed slightly. “It’s Chloe’s first day. Is that all you have to say?”
“That’s all.”
I turned and went back upstairs.
Behind me, I heard Mom's awkward explanation to Chloe. “Don’t mind her. Tessa’s always been like this. She’s not great at expressing herself.”
I didn’t look back.
Whatever they said had nothing to do with me anymore.
I went back to my room and closed the door.
It was exactly as it had been when I was fifteen.
The photo frame on the desk, the books stacked beside the bed, the small potted plant on the windowsill.
Nothing had changed.
But looking at it all, I didn’t feel like I was home.
This was just a place I was staying. For now.
In another week, the dorms would open for the semester.
I planned to move in.
A knock sounded at the door.
It was Nico.
He pushed the door open, his eyes landing on my open suitcase. He froze.
“Tessa, where are you going?”
“To the dorm.”
I kept my head down, folding my clothes and placing them in the suitcase.
Nico frowned.
“Because of Chloe?”
“Because the freshman honors and AP tracks are intense,” I said. “I need to focus.”
I placed the last T-shirt inside.
“Chloe can have this room if she wants.”
In my last life, she had come up with a hundred reasons to take my room.
First, she was afraid of the dark, and the guest room at the end of the hall was too isolated for her to sleep.
Then, she wanted to be closer to Mom and Dad.
Later, she claimed my room had better light, and her therapist had suggested she get more sun.
Every time I refused, my parents called me cruel and selfish.
In the end, they always took her side.
So what was the point of fighting?
It made no difference to me where I slept.

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