Chapter 19: Determination

LISA'S POV

I stood up, my body shaking with sobs, and my mother rushed to my side. "Lisa, darling, don't cry," she said, trying to wrap her arms around me. But I pushed her away, my anger and hurt boiling over.

"You always defend her, no matter what she does!" I cried, my voice echoing off the walls. "You always take her side, even when she's wrong!"

My mother tried to calm me down, but I was beyond consolation. I sank to the ground, my chest heaving with sobs, and my mother knelt beside me.

"Lisa, sweetie, that's not true," she said, her voice soft and gentle. "I love you both equally, and I want what's best for both of you."

But I was too far gone to listen. "You don't know what it's like to be constantly belittled and criticized," I said, my voice bitter. "You don't know what it's like to be treated like I'm nothing."

Louisa stood in the doorway, her arms crossed and a smirk on her face. "Oh, poor Lisa," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Always playing the victim."

I gla