Emma, where are you? I need to leave right now, come over immediately!
The message from Emma lit up the phone at half past nine in the morning. Olivia set her halffinished mug of tea down and rubbed her eyes. It was the third time that week. The third urgent. The third immediately.
I cant, Im working, she typed back and turned to her laptop.
A minute later the phone buzzed again.
What work? Youre remote! Just shut the laptop and come. Tom and Sophie are alone, I have to go out.
Olivia smiled despite herself. Emma and David had both been staying at home for a year and a half. He pretended to be looking for a respectable job, she claimed to be looking after the kids. In reality the husband spent whole days scrolling forums, and the sister endlessly messaged friends and bingewatched series. Without Davids inheritance they would have been on the brink of starvation.
I have a deadline in three hours. Call Mum.
The reply came instantly, as if Emma had a finger hovering over the keyboard.
Mums busy! Olivia, seriously, whats the problem? You live next door!
I cant, Olivia repeated. Im really busy.
The phone rang. Emma decided to switch to fullblown pressure.
Olivia, what nonsense is this? she snapped, not even greeting her. Im asking you as a human being for help!
And Im telling you as a human being: I have work.
What work? Youre just sitting at home on a computer, you lazy hero!
Olivia closed her eyes. It was the same routine every time.
Emma, my client is waiting for the project. If I dont deliver, I wont get paid. If I dont get paid, I cant pay the rent. Clear?
Good heavens, its just a little delay! Were family, Olivia. Family! Do you even understand what that means?
I understand, but I cant right now.
So you dont want to, Emmas voice turned icy. Just like that, you refuse to help your own sister, your own nieces and nephews! How selfish can you be, Olivia?
Emma, I
No, listen to me! Whenever I need help you have some excuse, some excuse! Were family, and you wont help!
Olivia almost laughed. In the past month she had spent at least ten days at Emmas house, feeding the children, putting them to bed, reading fairy tales, picking up scattered toys. Each time Emma vanished for a couple of hours, which turned into a full day.
Emma, I really have to work.
Excuses! All excuses! You invent nonexistent tasks just to avoid the family!
Olivia pressed the end button, her fingers trembling with irritation. She inhaled deeply, took a sip of cooling tea, and returned to the project.
An hour later the phone buzzed againthree missed calls from Emma, two texts, a fourminute voice note. Olivia didnt listen. She knew what it would contain: accusations, guilttripping, pleas for sympathy.
By evening she had twelve messages, all variations on were family, why wont you help?. Emma and David were two adults at home, yet they expected the working sister to drop everything and become a nanny.
The next day the pattern repeated, and the day after, and the day after that. Emma called three or four times, sent long messages labeling Olivia an egoist, heartless, someone who has forgotten what family is. David stayed out of the conflict, a silent background presence.
Olivia stopped answering the calls. She simply ignored them and kept working. She realized that if she gave in once, the demands would never end.
She had her own life, her own plans, her own dreams. She wasnt about to sacrifice them to someone elses whims.
On Saturday her mother called.
Olivia, whats happening? Margaret said sternly.
Nothing, Mum. Im working.
Emma says youre refusing to help with the kids.
Emma says a lot of things. Im not refusing to help; Im refusing to drop my job every time she decides she needs a hand.
Olivia, shes your sister. The older sister. Younger ones should help the older, thats how its always been.
Mum, Emma is thirty, she has a husband. Theyre both home all day. Why should I be the one to babysit?
Because youre family! Margarets voice sharpened. What kind of selfishness is that? In our day nobody acted like this! Everyone helped each other, no one said no!
Olivia leaned back in her chair. At twentyeight she still hadnt learned to argue with her mother. Margaret had always sided with Emma since childhood. The elder daughterthe clever, beautiful, proper onewhile the younger was the appendix.
Mum, Im not going to discuss this.
There! Thats it! You dont even want to talk to me! Youve grown up, found a job, and think you can just ignore family?
Im just living my life.
Your life is family! Remember that, Olivia!
She remembered, but drew her own conclusions.
The next two weeks turned into a relentless nightmare. Emma called, texted, sent photos of the children with captions like look how Sophie misses you. Margaret chimed in every other day, repeating the same arguments about family duty and respect for elders.
It couldnt go on forever. Olivia saw two options: break down and return to the unpaid nanny role, or make a radical change.
A job offer in another city arrived like a lifeline. A good salary in pounds, an interesting project, clear career prospects, and most importantlyabout eight hundred miles between her and the family.
Olivia accepted the same day.
She packed quietly, found a new tenant for her flat, bought train tickets, and left without telling anyone. She knew if she said anything a fullblown argument would erupt, Emma would sob, Margaret would scream, and shed be pressured to stay. No more.
She left on a Wednesday morning train. In the early hours she sent a brief text to mother and sister saying she was moving, then switched her phone off at the station. She turned it on only a day later after shed settled into a new flat.
Fortythree missed calls, eighteen texts, five voice notes waited. The first thing she played was Margarets frantic voicemail.
Olivia! What have you done?! How could you leave without telling anyone?! This is this is betrayal! Come home at once!
The second was Emma, sobbing into the mic, mixing gasps with accusations. How could you youve left us the kids keep asking where Aunt Olivia is you hate us
Olivia listened to the end, then calmly deleted all the messages and called her mother back.
Mum, Im fine. Ive got a new job, Ive moved.
Come back! Immediately! The family needs you!
No, Mum. Im staying here.
Olivia, you dont understand! Emma needs help! The kids
Emma needs to start looking after her own children, or hire a nanny, or get Dave off the computer. Im not obligated to be on call all the time, Mum.
She hung up without hearing further shouting.
An hour later Emma called again.
Olivia, how could you? Were sisters! You should be close!
I owe you nothing, Emma. Youre an adult. Sort your own life out.
But the kids
Theyre your kids, and Daves. Raise them yourselves.
You know how hard it is for me!
I know. Thats why I left.
In the weeks that followed Olivia settled into her new routine. A new city, a new office, new colleagues. She went to work, tackled interesting projects, and in the evenings returned to a quiet flat. No frantic calls, no guiltladen demands.
The calls from her family dwindled to almost nothing.
Two months later she met Max at a work function, exchanged numbers, and discovered a man who was funny, smart, and completely dramafree. No you owe me strings attached.
One day Olivia caught herself smiling for no particular reason, waking up feeling genuinely happy about the day ahead instead of dreading a flood of sisters messages.
Six months after the move she sat on her balcony with a mug of tea, watching the city that had become home. A rescued tabby, adopted from the blocks lift a month earlier, curled up at her feet. In the kitchen Max was humming while making breakfast.
The eight hundred miles had been the best medicine for the manipulation and entitlement she had endured. She had made the right choice by walking away.
She realised that love does not require selfsacrifice at the cost of ones own wellbeing. True family support respects boundaries, and happiness grows when you honor your own needs.
