The Christmas Prank That Ended Us Chapter 02
At daybreak the next morning, I boarded the first bus back into town with my pants soaked in mud. I borrowed a power bank from the driver to charge my phone.
After being away all night, my phone lit up with more than a hundred messages in the family group chat.
Serena had shared photos of the Christmas tree.
My parents had posted the Christmas gifts they exchanged.
Garrett had uploaded pictures of the holiday dinner he had cooked.
The only private message I received was from my manager.
“You don’t need to come to work for the next few days. You’ll be away for ten years this time, so go spend some time with your family. Be ready to leave the day after tomorrow.”
I stood outside my front door for a long time, holding five tickets to Universal Studios.
They were the Christmas gift I had bought for my family after working overtime for an entire month.
I had wanted all of us to go together.
Now, there was no point anymore.
I kept one ticket for myself and slipped the other four through the gap beneath the door.
The next second, the door suddenly swung open.
Serena grabbed my wrist and yanked me inside.
At the same time, Garrett dumped a basin of ice-cold water over my head.
I was instantly soaked from head to toe.
I lost my footing and crashed hard onto the floor.
Serena clapped excitedly, “I bet five dollars she cries first!”
Garrett chuckled, “I’ll bet five dollars she throws a tantrum first.”
My parents laughed so hard they could barely straighten their backs.
“Come on, let’s see how Jasmine reacts. Whoever loses the bet owes everyone else three forehead flicks.”
At last, all four of them turned their attention to me.
But I neither cried nor made a scene.
Ignoring the scraped, bleeding wounds on my hands, I slowly pushed myself to my feet.
I raised my hand and stopped it just in front of Serena’s forehead.
“You all lost. I’m going to flick your foreheads three times.”
Serena immediately squeezed her eyes shut and let out a terrified scream.
Garrett shoved me away without hesitation, “Jasmine! What are you doing?!”
My parents immediately wrapped Serena in their arms as though protecting a frightened child.
“Do you really have to take everything so seriously? We’re just joking around as a family. You’re always the one making such a big deal out of everything.”
The truth was, I had never intended to flick Serena’s forehead.
I only wanted to know whether they would still find it funny if Serena had been the one getting hurt.
Now I had my answer.
The four Universal Studios tickets lay at my feet. Soaked through with water and trampled underfoot, they had already been reduced to soggy scraps.
Following my gaze, Serena assumed I was upset because of the tickets.
She rolled her eyes and snapped, “They’re just a few stupid tickets. Mom and Dad already took me there ages ago. Stop acting like this. You seriously can’t take a joke.”
My body froze.
My hand remained suspended in midair.
I had always wanted to make my parents as happy as Serena did. So when they casually mentioned last month that they wanted to visit Universal Studios together as a family, I remembered every word.
It turned out they had already gone.
It turned out I had never been part of their family in the first place.
My parents frowned, “You scared Serena. Apologize to her.”
Garrett stepped forward as well, his voice gentle.
“Jasmine, our engagement party is the day after tomorrow. Don’t make things so unpleasant with your family. It won’t be good for your reputation.”
He sounded as though he were thinking of me. Yet every word defended Serena.
Looking at the four people standing across from me, I only found the whole scene ridiculous.
I had originally come home intending to tell Garrett that I wanted to cancel our engagement.
But now, I had changed my mind.
I would use that engagement party to pull off the greatest prank I had ever prepared for my family.
Clutching the corner of my wet clothes, I lowered my head and apologized to Serena.
“I’m sorry. I was wrong.”
She curled her lips into a satisfied smile, “That’s more like it.”
Then she turned toward my parents and Garrett, secretly grinning.
“The engagement party the day after tomorrow is going to be the masterpiece of my prank career.”
“Just wait until she sees it.”