Thirty-Six Wedding Lanterns All For My Younger Sister Chapter 04
A week before the wedding, Mom and Dad spent their days making the rounds, personally dropping off Chloe’s wedding invitations to relatives and neighbors.
My brother sat on the living room couch calling every friend and relative he could think of.
My own wedding invitations were buried in a box in the corner, covered by a pile of junk and a thick layer of dust.
“Yes, Chloe’s getting married. It’s a huge day for our family. You have to come!”
Congratulations poured through the phone until someone suddenly asked, “What about Maya? I heard she’s getting married that same day…”
My brother hung up before the person could finish.
He simply erased me from the conversation and moved on to the next number.
Sunlight streamed through the windows, catching on the wedding decorations filling the house. Inside me, though, there was nothing but a cold, hollow ache.
I headed back to my room. As I passed Chloe’s, I glanced through the half-open door.
The bed was covered with the handmade bridal quilt Mom had gotten her and her lace wedding gown.
My room was bare. There wasn’t a single wedding decoration in sight.
I wasn’t jealous. I wasn’t even sad.
I quietly closed my door and pulled a box out from under the bed.
Over and over, I reminded myself that I wasn’t a child no one cared about.
I’d had Grandma.
But the moment I opened the small case tucked at the very bottom of the box, my heart lurched.
The pair of vintage sterling-silver bangles was gone.
I heard movement in the living room. Mom and Dad were back.
Chloe had her arm looped through Dad’s, smiling sweetly.
“Mom, Dad, you’re the best. You’re already buying keepsakes for your future grandchild.”
“There are two gold coins—one for when the baby’s born and one for the first birthday. We’ll add more later.”
Mom sounded a little annoyed.
“Gold was more expensive today, and the jeweler said prices would probably keep climbing. We should’ve sold those bangles sooner.”
My blood ran cold.
For a second, I could barely breathe.
Then I rushed into the living room and snatched the jewelry store bag out of Mom’s hand.
“Those bangles were mine. What gave you the right to sell them?”
Mom lunged for the bag, but I shoved her away.
“Your father and I are a little short on money right now. We wanted to put something aside for our future grandchild, so we sold your bangles to cover it. What’s so terrible about that?”
My throat tightened as I stared at her, my eyes burning.
“My entire life, every time there was something good, you gave it to Chloe. I never complained.”
“You gave her a luxury condo and a luxury car as wedding gifts, and I accepted that too.”
“But those bangles were the only thing Grandma left me. I had nothing left. They were all I had.”
“Chloe doesn’t even have a baby on the way, and you sold something that belonged to me without asking. Taking something that isn’t yours is stealing!”
The instant the words left my mouth, my brother kicked me hard behind the knee.
I dropped to the floor, and he ripped the bag out of my hands.
“Who do you think you’re talking to? Apologize!”
I fought back my tears.
“I didn’t do anything wrong. Why should I apologize?”
I pushed myself up and reached for the bag again.
“Give it back. It’s mine. I’m taking the gold back to the store. I want Grandma’s bangles back!”
A sharp slap cracked across my face, making my ears ring.
“How is it stealing if I take something from my own house?”
“I brought you into this world, and now you have the nerve to put your hands on me?”
The side of my face burned.
The tears I’d held back for twenty-six years finally spilled over.
“You ungrateful brat! What was the point of raising you? Even a dog knows not to bite the hand that feeds it!”
Dad grabbed me by the collar and dragged me out the front door.
“Get out!”
“You’re no daughter of this family anymore!”
The door slammed shut behind me.
Inside, Chloe called Mom, Dad, and my brother to dinner. Their voices carried through the house, warm and cheerful, as though I’d never existed at all.
I struggled to my feet. My arms and knees were scraped raw from the fall, and every movement hurt.
I wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth and the tears from my face, then pulled out my phone and called my boyfriend, Julian Mercer.
“Julian, let’s cancel the wedding here. Let’s just leave the country.”