Chapter 5

Then she leaned close to my ear, her voice so low only I could hear it.

"Oh, by the way."

"Mom and Dad told you I got kicked out and struggled for three years, right?"

She let out a soft little laugh.

"Actually, they shipped me overseas the second month. Tuition, an apartment, living expenses — I never went without a thing."

"These three years have been wonderful for me."

My pupils shrank to pinpoints.

My sister added another line, taking her sweet time.

"And that man."

"You really think Mom and Dad had the pull to get him out that fast on their own?"

"It was Lee who arranged it."

"He was afraid you'd keep clinging to us over what happened three years ago. So he said to make you face it head-on, once and for all — get it out of your system and stop hanging on to us."

The last thread in my mind snapped with a roar.

I shoved her away hard.

She stumbled back two steps and suddenly crumpled to the floor.

She clutched her stomach, her face gone white.

"It hurts…"

"Lee, my stomach hurts so much… our baby…"

Lee's expression changed in an instant.

He rushed over and swept her into his arms. When he looked up at me again, his eyes held nothing but fury.

"Are you insane?!"

"You didn't know she's pregnant?!"

I stood frozen where I was.

Mom lost it too. She charged at me and slapped me across the face.

My head snapped to the side.

"Your sister already apologized to you! Why won't you let her go?!"

"You won't be happy until you've driven her to her death, is that it?!"

The room dissolved into chaos.

"That's so vicious."

"He's proposing to her today, and she has to make a scene like this."

The voices bore down on me from every direction.

Before Lee carried my sister out, he suddenly turned back and looked at me.

There was a chilling cruelty in that single glance.

But I couldn't see anything clearly anymore. The ringing in my ears grew louder and louder.

The figures in front of me twisted, one face after another.

The birthday party three years ago. The birthday party three years later.

Lee's retreating back. The ring on my sister's hand.

My body suddenly lost all control, warmth sliding down between my legs.

The roar of the room fell dead silent in an instant. Everyone sucked in a sharp breath and covered their noses in disgust.

I stood there under all those eyes, my body seized up so rigid I'd lost control of it, unable to hold on to even the last shred of dignity.

Everything went black, and I collapsed heavily to the floor.

When I woke again, I was lying in a hospital.

Outside the door, Mom and Dad's voices carried in, clear as day.

Mom sighed.

"That night three years ago, I saw Beverly sitting in the kitchen holding a knife. It scared the soul right out of me."

"She hated Hilary so much back then. How could we dare keep Hilary in the house? All we could do was send her overseas to study first."

I lay there with my eyes open, staring at the ceiling.

So the whole cutting-her-off thing had just been a show, staged for me to see.

Mom went on.

"I really thought after three years, Beverly would be better. Who knew she'd still try to hurt Hilary yesterday, in front of all those people."

"Hilary's about to marry Lee, and she's carrying a baby. She has to stay close to us."

Dad was quiet for a moment.

"Then the only thing we can do is send Beverly away."

"But she'd be all on her own. I can't rest easy with that."

Mom hesitated.

Then Dad said,

"Then let her marry that man. That way someone will look after her for the rest of her life."

My fingertips went ice-cold in an instant.

"Back then he was tricked too — Hilary used Beverly's photos, and he thought Beverly was his girlfriend the whole time. That's how it ended up such a mess."

"When you get right down to it, you can't put all the blame on him."