Chapter 2

The next day, I went to the Hart house as Ryan had asked.

The moment I walked in, I saw that Claire was already sitting in the seat I had occupied for the past seven years.

Ryan's mother didn't arrange a seat for me. She only had the servant bring a chair and place it at the very end of the table.

"It's Claire's first formal visit to the house." She looked at me. "You know the rules here. Teach her first."

Ryan placed a booklet in front of me.

Inside were the relationships among the Hart relatives, the holiday etiquette, and every gift I had prepared for them over the years.

Who liked which wine, who was allergic to what; what to give at Christmas, whose child's birthday couldn't be forgotten.

Ryan pointed at the booklet. "Hand all of this over to Claire. From now on she'll be the Hart daughter-in-law in your place."

Claire reached out and took the booklet, but deliberately asked me, "Emma, what kind of gift does Auntie like? What does Uncle usually drink? And these relatives, how should I address them from now on?"

Ryan sat beside her, as if savoring the sight of me being forced to teach someone else to take over my place.

The servant brought tea, and the first cup was handed to Claire.

Ryan's mother smiled and said, "Claire, from now on you're the lady of this house. Don't be a stranger with us."

Claire held the tea and turned to Ryan with flushed cheeks. "Then can I call you Mom and Dad like Emma does from now on?"

Ryan didn't look at me. He just smiled and said, "Of course you can."

Ryan's mother immediately had Claire change how she addressed them.

Everyone was waiting for me to stop it.

Ryan even pushed the teacup toward me. "You know the routine best. Teach her how to toast her elders."

I picked up the teacup and handed it to Claire.

"You don't need to ask me anymore."

The smile on Ryan's face faded.

"Don't treat silence as a new strategy. The more you pretend not to care, the more it shows you're waiting for me to come comfort you first."

After the family dinner began, everyone in the Hart family gathered around Claire to talk.

I am severely allergic to peanuts.

But after seven years of marriage, peanut desserts still appeared on the Hart family's table.

Claire mentioned once that she didn't eat cilantro, and Ryan personally checked every dish, even having the servant take the soup back and remake it because of the chopped cilantro in it.

Before the family photo, Ryan's mother suddenly looked at my wrist.

"Take the bracelet off and lend it to Claire for a few minutes. The photo will look more complete."

That emerald bracelet was the family heirloom the Harts passed down to their daughters-in-law.

I had worn it for seven full years.

Claire said it wasn't appropriate, but her hand didn't really pull back.

Before I could speak, Ryan had already taken my hand and slid the bracelet off me, bit by bit.

The band scraped past my knuckles, and the skin quickly turned red.

But he only lowered his head to check whether the gemstone had been chipped, then put the bracelet on Claire's wrist himself.

When the photo was taken, Claire stood beside Ryan.

I was placed at the very edge, almost out of the frame.

After the photo was sent to the family group chat, Ryan's mother captioned it:

"This year we're finally all here."

Someone asked who Claire was.

Ryan's mother didn't explain. She only replied with a red heart.

I quietly left the family group chat that had been with me for seven years.

Ryan quickly sent me a message.

"Do you have to make this so ugly?"

"Even when you come back and beg me yourself, I won't comfort you like I used to."

After leaving the Hart house, I went to the pharmacy to buy medicine.

At the checkout, I discovered that Ryan had already cut off my access to the family account.

He then sent another message.

"Didn't you want to be independent?"

"Starting today, figure out your own living expenses."

"Stop testing me with the joint account."

I pressed the phone dark. I didn't explain anything to him, and I didn't ask him to restore the account.

I thought that was the last of his pressure.

Only later did I learn that he was preparing to put the betting pool of the past three years on display for everyone.