I told Brandon I was going to start saying no—really saying it. He said, “Finally.” That night I scrolled through my sister’s messages and blocked her. The little notice popped up: “You’ve blocked this contact.” It didn’t feel petty. It felt necessary. In the morning, I archived the family group chats and muted them. I opened my laptop and made a list of every monthly bill I still covered for them—subscriptions, a spare line on my phone plan, a car insurance payment I hadn’t realized was in my name. The quiet week was over. If there was going to be payback, it would be methodical.

Click, Cancel, Gone

I started small. Netflix signed out on their living room TV. Then Hulu. Then Spotify. No announcement. Two days later, my sister tried a new number: “Hey, did Netflix get hacked? It logged us out.” Block. Another number: “At least tell me if I should reset the password. We’re trying to watch something.” Silence from me.