Three months before our wedding, my fiancé Ryan posted photos on social media of his marriage certificate with my stepsister Chloe, along with pictures of her pregnant belly. The caption read: “Legally welcoming our little one into the world.” Chloe commented with a shy emoji. My mom liked the post and commented: “Once the baby is born, I’ll take care of it so you two can enjoy your time together.” I couldn’t help but reply with a question mark. Immediately, Ryan’s harsh rebuke came flooding in. “She’s just borrowing my name for a year of marriage. Once the baby is born, I’ll come back to you.” “Don’t be so petty. My mom also said we should only get the marriage certificate after you give birth to a son. It works out perfectly to have the wedding first and get the certificate later.” I let out a faint “mm” in response, then deleted all my social media posts related to Ryan before posting a new one: “Need a new groom. Who wants to marry me?” Ryan was the first to reply. [Olivia Young, are you out of your mind? I’m just marrying her, why are you making such a big deal out of it?] [You don’t actually think posting on social media will make me jealous, do you? That’s laughable. I’m warning you, stop causing trouble for no reason, and don’t give Chloe a hard time.] Chloe quickly followed up on Ryan’s comment. [Sis, Ryan just wants our child to be born legally. I won’t steal him away from you. After you and Ryan get married, my child can call you mom too.] My mom scolded me for being ungrateful. [You get to have a child without suffering. Chloe is helping you so much, shouldn’t you be thanking her?] Several of Ryan’s friends chimed in to agree. [You and Chloe are sisters, so it doesn’t matter who Ryan marries, you’re all family anyway. How about Chloe gets him Monday, Wednesday, Friday and you get Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday!] Everyone was joking and laughing. I stood there stunned, tears welling up in my eyes. Until they could no longer be contained, dripping down my chin onto my phone screen. They were clearly in the wrong. Yet they had the audacity to turn around and blame me. How ridiculous. These people weren’t worth my tears. I wiped my eyes forcefully and noticed an eye-catching comment amidst the chaos: It was from Ethan Shaw: “Can I be your new groom?” Ethan and I grew up together. After college graduation, I stayed in the city while he chose to study abroad. We had avoided close contact since I started dating Ryan in college, and it had been a long time since we last spoke. As I was pondering this, Ethan called me directly. “Olivia, I’ve liked you for a long time.” “You know I’ve always disliked your stepsister, so I would never have anything to do with her. I don’t have any messy group of friends either. All these years, I’ve been focused on my career and haven’t had any ex-girlfriends.” As he spoke, I suddenly received a contract. When I opened it, I saw it was the transfer rights to all his assets and shares. While I was still surprised, Ethan nervously continued. “Olivia, this is all my sincerity. Will you give me a chance?” My nose stung with emotion. I suddenly remembered when we were kids, the teacher rewarded us with two candies he loved. Even though he really wanted them, he didn’t eat a single one and gave them both to me. He had always given me his utmost sincerity. I choked up a bit as I said: “I will.” Love had seemed so intangible. I once tried to grasp it, only to end up hurt all over. I had thought… Thought that being alone would be fine. But my grandmother’s dying wish was to see me married, to know that someone would take care of me from now on. Ryan wasn’t worthy. But I thought, if the groom was Ethan, grandma would be really reassured. Ethan’s voice was full of joy. “Then I’ll wrap up work and come back to marry you within two weeks.” “Olivia, you’ll wait for me and won’t change your mind, right?” His tone carried a hint of puppy-like pleading. I suddenly remembered promising as a child that I would be his bride when we grew up. I made an affirmative sound. Suddenly feeling the urge to cry. “Ethan, let’s pinky promise.”
After hanging up the phone, my mom pushed open my bedroom door. “Where’s that sapphire necklace your father left you before he died?” I remained silent. Mom frowned in displeasure, “What’s with that attitude? Your sister just thought it was pretty and wanted to borrow it for a few days. Hurry up and get it out, don’t be so stingy!” Chloe hung onto Mom’s arm, saying dejectedly: “It’s okay, Mom. Olivia has never seen me as a real sister. If she doesn’t want to, I won’t force her.” “She wouldn’t dare not recognize you! This necklace belonged to my husband, who was also your father. I’ll make the decision today and give it to you.” Mom hugged Chloe and glared at me sternly, “If you don’t hand it over, don’t blame me for having people search your room.” I stared at her blankly, my smile more painful than crying. The once gentle and loving mother in my memories. Had ultimately become this harsh-faced figure in front of me. But I was about to leave this place forever anyway. I no longer had the heart to engage in meaningless arguments with her. I silently took the sapphire necklace out of its box and handed it to her. Mom smiled with satisfaction, “That’s more like it. Chloe is your sister, so you as the older sister should let her have the nice things.” After Mom left, Chloe put on the necklace right in front of me. “Sis, don’t blame Mom for favoring me. To be honest, this necklace looks better on me anyway.” “Just like how Ryan is more suitable as my boyfriend.” “Things that belong to me, others will never be able to get.” Seeing Chloe’s smug expression. I didn’t say a word. People like her, the more you engage, the more they push it. I picked up my bag and walked past her down the stairs, treating her like thin air. “Ah! Sis, why did you push me…” Chloe suddenly darted in front of me, pretending I had pushed her as she stumbled backwards towards the stairs. Although I disliked her, I instinctively reached out to grab her. After all, falling down over 20 steps was no joke. “Olivia Young, you vicious woman!” Ryan violently slapped away my hand that was holding Chloe’s arm. My hand smacked hard against the railing with a loud “thud”. I broke out in a cold sweat from the pain. “Ryan, thank goodness you came in time, or else I…” Chloe hid in Ryan’s arms, her face tearful and frightened. “It’s okay, don’t be scared. I’m here.” Ryan stroked Chloe’s head, gently comforting her: “I won’t let anyone bully you.” I looked at my own hand, which was bruised, swollen and possibly fractured from the impact. Then I looked at Chloe, who had only been startled but was now being tightly held and fussed over by Ryan. Suddenly it all felt so ironic. The boy who once doted on me endlessly and promised to be good to me for life. The man who was supposed to marry me in just three months. How could he have suddenly changed his heart?
After comforting Chloe, Ryan glared at me darkly, “I know you’ve been unhappy about me marrying her and having a child behind your back. You can take it out on me if you want, since I didn’t tell you in advance.” “But you can’t hurt Chloe. Her health is poor, she’s pitiful enough already.” “She just asked me to give her a chance to be a mother, is that wrong? Why should she bear the brunt of your anger?” He angrily pointed at me, “You must apologize to Chloe today!” I struggled to control my trembling body. Hissing: “Then what did I do wrong?” “What exactly did I do wrong?” Ryan stared at my reddened eyes, taken aback for a moment. “Forget it, Ryan. Even though I almost fell to my death…” “I don’t blame Olivia, and I don’t need her to apologize to me.” “You and Olivia are still getting married in the future. I don’t want you to argue because of me.” Chloe cried sorrowfully. Ryan sighed, saying tenderly: “Chloe, your understanding sometimes really breaks my heart.” He looked at me coldly, “In the end, you’re just jealous of Chloe and can’t stand to see her doing better than you.” “I’ll let it go today since Chloe spoke up for you. But if you dare hurt her again in the future, I won’t let you off so easily.” He picked up Chloe and said disappointedly before leaving: “You’re not even half as good as your sister.” Only I was left in the silent living room. I stared blankly at the falling leaves outside the window. Finally unable to hold back, I crouched down and buried my face in my hands, sobbing. This is the last time… The last time I’ll cry over Ryan Cooper. That afternoon, Ryan posted on social media. It was a set of nine photos. The photos showed nine different corners of a home. The caption read: “Every room, every piece of furniture, every decoration here was carefully chosen and arranged by me, hoping to give my baby a warm and comfortable home.” Many people offered their congratulations in the comments. “Congratulations to Mr. Cooper on having a son so soon!” “So Mr. Cooper and Olivia are having a shotgun wedding! Congrats!” “To have such a good husband like Ryan, Olivia is so lucky! I’m so envious!” “Even if I had to turn down a billion-dollar deal, I absolutely wouldn’t miss your wedding three months from now.” Just as the comment section was bustling with congratulations, Chloe suddenly chimed in, “Everyone please don’t misunderstand, this isn’t Ryan’s marital home, it’s my house.” The comments suddenly turned awkward. I was the first to break the silence, posting: “Three’s a crowd. I’m out. Wishing you two happiness.” After that, I couldn’t be bothered to see what else they would say. I directly deleted Ryan and Chloe from my friends list. Within minutes, Ryan called me. “Olivia Young, have you had enough of this nonsense?” I calmly replied: “I’m not being nonsensical.” Ryan fumed: “What you said in my comments section was clearly trying to smear dirt on Chloe.” “Do you have to label Chloe as the other woman to be satisfied?” “If you keep slandering her, let’s just call off the wedding!” I listened to his cold and heartless accusations, my heart like dead water, calm and undisturbed. “Ryan Cooper, what makes you think I would still want something second-hand?”
I hung up the phone. Perhaps the words “second-hand” stung him. He called me countless times after that. When the calls wouldn’t go through, he sent all kinds of messages. I ignored them all. In ten days I would be marrying Ethan. These people would all become part of my past. I had hoped to spend the remaining days peacefully coexisting with them, but I never expected Chloe to knock over my father’s urn. The ashes scattered on the ground. Not only was she not remorseful, she even let her pet cat urinate on them. Then she looked at me happily. “Sis, look, the ashes can even be used as cat litter for my kitty!” In that moment, the grief and anger pent up in my heart exploded. I suddenly grabbed the baseball bat behind the door and swung it viciously at Chloe. She took one hit and ran away screaming, her face pale. “Olivia Young! You’ve really gone too far! How dare you hit your sister!” My mom’s appearance made Chloe feel like she had found a savior. She hid behind Mom, looking terrified. Choking back sobs, she said: “Mom, I’m scared. Olivia tried to kill me!” Mom shielded Chloe like a mother hen protecting her chick, sternly rebuking me: “I’ve let it slide when you bullied your sister before, treating it as harmless squabbling. But this time you’ve gone too far.” She was my mother, yet she always stood in opposition to me, defending an adopted daughter with no blood relation to her. Nothing could be more heartbreaking than this. I stared at Mom with tear-filled eyes, “She knocked over Dad’s urn!” “That was Dad! That was my Dad! Why? Why!” Why, even though I had already been so tolerant, did they have to destroy the memento Dad left for me? Why didn’t my mom love me? Chloe quickly knelt down to explain. “Mom, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, waaah… I’m so sorry Mom. If Olivia won’t forgive me, I might as well die!” Chloe cried heartbrokenly. “Chloe Wilson, don’t you dare-” “Slap!” Before I could finish speaking, Mom slapped me across the face. “Enough!” “It’s just ashes! The person is already dead, are ashes more important than the living?” “If you bully Chloe again, you can get out of this house.” This slap shattered any last shred of attachment I had for her. This was for the best. I could leave without any lingering feelings.
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