Chapter 4
Mary clung to my arm, her voice dripping with sugar. “Thanks, sis! You’re the best!”
Adam draped an arm around my shoulders and kissed my forehead. “My Sophie is so generous.”
Leaning into his embrace, I breathed in his scent—familiar yet utterly foreign—as a cold, hard weight settled in my chest.
Generous?
No. I was simply preparing a gift of fitting weight for their “wedding.”
For the next two days, I played the part of a blissfully oblivious bride-to-be. I helped Mom finalize the guest list, went over last-minute details with Adam, and even joined Mary for one final pre-wedding spa day.
They noticed nothing.
To them, I was still the fool—completely under their control, blind to their filth.
The night before the wedding, tradition kept the groom and me apart.
He called, his voice brimming with barely-contained excitement. “Sophie, tomorrow you’ll be my wife. I’m a little nervous.”
Lying in my childhood bedroom, the room I’d slept in for over twenty years, I listened to his counterfeit tenderness. “Adam,” I asked softly, “do you love me?”
“Of course I do. You’re the only one for me.”
“Then… is there anything you’re keeping from me?”
Silence stretched on the other end, followed by a light, easy laugh. “Silly girl, what are you overthinking now? We have no secrets between us. Get some rest. Tomorrow, you’ll be the most beautiful bride.”
I hung up and deleted every call log, every message between us.
The next morning: ten o’clock. The hour the ceremony was meant to begin.
By now, the hotel ballroom would be packed. My family, his friends, our classmates, colleagues—everyone gathered to witness the wedding of the century. And the joke of the century.
I opened my phone, logged in, and tapped into our family group chat: “One Big Happy Family.”
Inside, aunts and cousins were buzzing, flooding the chat with photos from the venue and endless streams of well-wishes.
I took a deep breath, typed out a message, and hit send.
*Thank you all for coming to my wedding. Unfortunately, I must apologize—it will not be happening. Today, I discovered that my fiancé, Adam, and my beloved sister, Mary, have been in love for six years. Since what they share is clearly the real thing, it is only right that I step aside. From the bottom of my heart, I wish them a joyful wedding, a lifetime of happiness, and a baby carriage in record time.*
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