Chapter 2
My soul turned around and floated upstairs. I saw Vivian sitting in the dressing room, preparing for the wedding.
The makeup artist was fixing her slightly smudged eye makeup.
She was holding Dad’s hand, her eyes misty with tears,
“Dad, is it true that Willow isn’t coming today? She’s my sister, and today is the most important day of my life. I really hope to get her blessings.”
My dad, who had always been stern to the point of indifference in front of me, patted her shoulder and comforted her soothingly,
“Don’t worry love, I’ll have Josh contact her. We won’t leave you any regrets on your bid day.”
I then followed him out of the room. He found Joshua in the hallway and said coldly, “Tell Willow, if she doesn’t come today, we’ll no longer consider her a member of this family.”
“Dad, she’s not even responding to my messages, and she ignored all of Mom’s calls,” said Joshua through his gritted teeth, “I knew it. People like her are born heartless. She promised us she would come only to trick us with false hope. She means to make Vinny sad on her bid day.”
Chapter 2
True. Today was Vivian’s big day.
She was to put on an ivory white wedding gown and marry Ethan Miller, the man she had been dating for two years.
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Two years ago, when I brought Ethan home, Vivian fell in love with him at first sight.
I still remember that moment when she saw Ethan. Her eyes lit up as if a fire started within her petite body and was eating her away. That night, she found an excuse to ask me out for a walk.
She bought me a cup of coffee and walked arm–in–arm with me, swaying back and forth, an intimate posture she had never done, and said:
“Willow, Ethan is so my type. I’d kill to be with someone like him. But you, you deserve so much better. So, can I have Ethan? I’m sure you’ll find someone that is more fit.”
I refused.
But not long after we went back to campus, Ethan broke up with
me.
I repeatedly asked him for the reason, waiting at the gate of his dorm all night trying to get a proper explanation, but avoided me for nearly a week. In the end, he probably got tired of me hanging around for his explanation and confronted me. I was overjoyed that he finally decided to talk and ran to him, but he pushed me away, hard.
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I fell to the ground. My palms were scraped by the rough surface. of the pavement and bled. I gasped in the sharp pain, but what I heard next hurt me even more.
He remained indifferent and looked at me with disgust in hist
eyes.
“Do you think you can hide your disgusting history forever? Gosh, how do you live with yourself? Even your family couldn’t stand you. They told me everything.”
I was shocked beyond words and could only watch his sneer in despise. It was later that I knew that it was set up by my own family.
One morning a week ago, my mom suddenly asked me to go grocery shopping with her. I remembered feeling happy about. Mom being willing to shop with me, for it was a rare privilege for an unwanted child like me.
What I didn’t know was that my brother, Joshua, took the time when I was away and pulled Ethan aside, feeding him all kinds of “truths” about me.
My corrupt personality. My stealing problem. My history of being a bully in high school.
My countless sex partners. My abortion.
In the end, Joshua the Just sighed:
“Willow is my sister and I really want to take her side if I can,
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but… I just can’t stand by doing nothing, and watch a nice guy like you fall into her trap.”
Sitting on the ground with my broken palms still throbbing, I looked up at Ethan and listened to him recount the “facts” of my miserable life.
As the last syllable fell, I suddenly burst into laughter.
He frowned and asked, “Do you want to say something for yourself?”
I shook my head and said with a calm smile, “They’re right about everything.”
Ethan didn’t love me that deeply, clearly not deep enough that he would believe my side of the truth. Moreover, the person who told him how bad I had been was my family.
My closest and most beloved family.
No one cared about me when I was alive.
And of course, no one would care about me after I died.