Chapter 3

I instinctively darkened the screen.

"Nothing."

But my mother's brow furrowed, displeasure already creeping into her voice.

"Are you sulking again? Trying to leave early?"

"Today is the most important day of Wanda's life. Could you please stop ruining things?"

I paused for a second, then grabbed at the first excuse I could find.

"There are always too many people traveling back at the end of the holidays. I was just checking flights to Boston for the whole family."

That softened her. She even smiled.

"What's the rush? If Wanda wants to stay a few more days, she can just quit her job. It's exhausting work, and it's not as if we can't afford to support her."

Then, as if remembering something, she gave me a little nudge.

"Don't just stand there. Go take Wanda a glass of juice. Can't you see she's chatting with her friends?"

I followed her gaze.

In that little crowd were the friend who had once been closest to me, an upperclassman from medical school, and classmates who had pulled countless all-nighters with me in the lab.

Somewhere along the way, every one of them had drifted over to Wanda's side.

And I had become the one who didn't belong.

Under my mother's continued prodding, I picked up a glass of juice and walked over. The way I had for so many years—playing Wanda's shadow.

But before I could even get close, Wanda let out a sharp cry.

She lurched sideways straight into the arms of the man next to her, and the juice in my hand went flying.

The glass shattered across the floor. The juice splashed all down the front of me.

Her eyes welled up instantly.

"Edith… why would you throw the juice on me?"

"Are you still angry with me? Please don't be angry, okay?"

"What did I do wrong?"

Her voice trembled, as if she'd suffered some unspeakable wrong.

The faces around her changed in a heartbeat.

The friend who had once been my closest let out a cold laugh.

"You haven't changed a bit. You're only happy when you've ruined Wanda's mood, aren't you?"

Someone else simply shoved me back.

"Could you stay away from her? You've been bullying her your whole life."

The upperclassman bent down to retrieve Wanda's shoe. When he straightened up, the look he gave me was distant, cold.

"Edith, even if you're jealous of Wanda, this isn't the way to treat her."

I stood there, soaked and disheveled, my chest aching so much it had gone numb—and I didn't even have the will to defend myself.

I just said, evenly:

"Wanda, you knocked the juice over yourself. You know it."

The air went still.

For a flicker of a second, the wounded look on her face froze. Her lips parted, as if she were about to say something.

But before she could, my father had already come striding over, his expression dark.

"Edith."

The weight in his voice. Just like every other time—he took Wanda's side without asking a single question.

"Wanda has always been insecure. You're her older sister. You need to make more allowances for her."

He pulled a bank card out of his wallet and held it out to me.

"Go clear your head somewhere. You don't need to be at the engagement party tonight. We don't need any more upset."

I looked at the card, and a strange laugh almost escaped me.

So in their eyes, my very presence was the problem.

Fine. I hadn't wanted to stay anyway.

So I nodded, obedient.

"Don't worry. I won't do anything to interfere with their engagement."

Hearing that, my father visibly relaxed. As though a nuisance had finally been dealt with.

I tucked the card away, reopened the booking app, and bought a one-way ticket to Boston.

This time, I really was leaving.

---

On the final day of the holiday, I packed early.

I had just snapped the suitcase shut when there was another knock at the door.

Wanda poked her head in, beaming.

"Edith! Today's the last stop of our trip—Cape Destiny! They say that if couples and families go there to make a wish together, they'll be happy forever. Come with me and Boyce?"

I was about to refuse when Boyce, standing behind her, spoke up.

"Come along. You missed the engagement party yesterday. Wanda's been upset about it for hours. Don't make her keep feeling guilty."

His eyes, as he spoke, were fixed on something behind me.

In the next second, his expression changed.

He had seen the suitcase on the floor.

The air froze. He stared at the case, his voice dropping low and quiet. "Edith. The trip isn't over yet. Where are you going?"