Chapter 2

I was about to get up and leave when Ryan seized my wrist and yanked me onto the stage. "Apologize to Lily."

David stood up, self-righteous.

"If you don't apologize, don't expect any of us to show up at your wedding!"

Helen nodded along. Ryan sneered.

"When the Harrisons see that none of us are there, you'll be the one who's humiliated."

I was the one who'd been wronged, yet my family was using my own wedding to threaten me.

They knew perfectly well that Julian and I had been together for seven years and that I had looked forward to this wedding more than anyone.

I had once gone on and on in the family group chat, and my family would only reply with an ellipsis.

Turns out it didn't mean "noted." It meant they simply didn't care. That was why I hadn't even had a say in the wedding menu.

They didn't care about my wedding. They didn't care about me.

All the fight drained out of me. I looked at Lily. "I'm sorry."

Blood from the cut on my forehead dripped onto the floor.

Helen said coolly, "Lily didn't hear you."

Julian sighed. "Amber, you really shouldn't have said that. Apologize properly. Don't throw a tantrum."

I kept repeating I'm sorry.

Not until the hundredth time, when my throat was raw and I could nearly taste blood, did Lily finally smile.

She tipped the yogurt in her hand over my head and giggled. "Sister, eat."

Yogurt dripped from my collar, sticky and clammy against my skin.

Helen sighed and wiped the blood from my forehead.

"You're both my flesh and blood. We just want to be fair."

But my breath was coming in gasps. I half-collapsed to my knees.

Ryan's voice was cold. "Lily's still crying. Maybe we should make her apologize one more time."

He kicked me. "Stop faking. Get up and apologize right now."

But my vision went black. When I woke up again, I saw a hospital ceiling.

Julian was beside me. Seeing me awake, his face filled with concern.

"Amber, you're awake. Are you feeling any discomfort anywhere?"

A flicker of remorse crossed his face.

"Lily was crying so hard at the time, everyone forgot you're allergic to yogurt."

Turns out, after I passed out, my family insisted I was faking it.

It was a server nearby who cried out in alarm, "She—she's breaking out in red rashes everywhere!"

That was when Julian realized I'd stopped breathing properly.

"Why didn't you tell everyone about your yogurt allergy?"

I had told them. Many times.

When Lily was little and sick, my parents dumped me on my grandmother to raise.

She would fiercely chase them out the door with a broom whenever they played favorites with Lily.

But when I was seven, my grandmother passed away.

She held my hand and said, "From now on, no one will protect you anymore, baby. Be good."

So I was good for all these years. And still, no one in my family ever listened to me.

I looked at my fiancé quietly.

"Julian, let's call off the wedding."

Julian froze for a moment.

"Are you mad? I only went along with everything for your sake, to accommodate your sister."

Ryan also frowned. "You want to call off the wedding over this? Who do you think you're scaring?"

Julian gently wiped the tears from the corner of my eye, his voice softening.

"Alright, you're just exhausted."

"After the wedding, I'll take you abroad for the honeymoon, without Lily. Okay?"

I glanced at Julian's phone and saw a flight booking page still open on the screen.

My heart loosened a little. I was about to say something when Lily called. Her voice came through in a tearful, coquettish whine.

"Julian, where are you?"

His eyes always looked indifferent toward everyone.

I had once thought that was just his nature.

But now, facing the phone, his eyes were full of tenderness.

"Lily, be good. I'll be right back."

Julian looked at me, his expression matter-of-fact.

"I'm heading out now. Rest well."

"The wedding's postponed for two weeks. You're not in any condition to attend right now anyway."

Ryan nodded along.

"Exactly. Lily can walk through the rest of the process for you. You just focus on resting."

An endless bitterness rose in my heart.

I called my former boss. "You mentioned sending me to the Miami branch. I accept."

Since the only role I could ever play in this family was the wicked side character, I had no choice but to walk out and become the lead of my own life.