【Owen, don't be too hard on Cousin Enya. After all, we were the ones who wronged her first.】
【It's just that, three days from now, she won't have a single relative from her side to see her off. That would look so undignified.】
【So I thought I'd stay a few more days, at least help Cousin Enya get through the wedding. Is that all right?】
Rupert's face tightened with reluctance, and he said he could stay with her.
But Roberta's eyes reddened again, and she snapped,
【You don't believe I'm innocent, so you want to stay and keep watch over me?】
【Or is it… that you still can't let go of Cousin Enya?】
At that, Rupert panicked and nodded his agreement at once.
He even swore on his own life that he would never let himself be suspicious again.
Then he turned and left without looking back.
But as he passed me, he couldn't help dropping a low warning.
【Roberta is sentimental about the past. I'm not.】
【If you bully her again, I'll have you committed to a psychiatric ward myself.】
I gave a bitter smile and let my gaze drift somewhere else.
The moment Rupert was gone, Owen couldn't wait to brand his own marks on Roberta, just to cover the warmth Rupert had left on her skin.
I took down my mother's portrait, held it against my chest, and told them to get out.
But Owen, shameless as ever, not only refused to leave, he tossed out an order that turned my stomach.
【Go buy ten boxes of condoms. What we've got won't last tonight.】
I didn't answer. I stayed silent for a long while, then finally turned my eyes to Roberta.
【Back then, to make me give you up to Rupert, you were willing to throw yourself off a building just to marry him.】
【You can hide this for a while, but you can't hide it for a lifetime.】
【Turn back now, and I can pretend none of this ever happened.】
I said all this not as forgiveness, but because I felt sorry for her.
Rupert trusted her so completely. It meant he truly loved Roberta.
As her elder cousin, I didn't want to watch her destroy her own family.
But Roberta put on her wounded act again.
【Cousin Enya, how can you say something like that?】
【It's Owen who's always found you dull and boring. He never wanted to touch you.】
【I only sacrificed myself, satisfying him in your place, so he'd treat you a little better.】
Before the words were even out, as if she meant to perform it just for me, she tangled herself around Owen even more shamelessly.
I gave up on her completely, took up my mother's portrait, and went downstairs.
At the foot of the stairs, the neighbor, Marcus, was pacing, and there was nothing left in his eyes for me but pity.
He scratched his head, a little embarrassed, and told me the truth.
The fact was, he'd had his ear to the wall all day. He'd pieced together most of what was going on, and he couldn't stomach what they'd done to me.
He even volunteered, said he'd come forward as a witness and expose that pair to their faces.
Who would have thought that in the end, the only one willing to stand on my side was a neighbor I'd never really met.
I gave him an awkward smile and raised a hand to stop him.
【It's all right, Marcus. Let's talk about it after three days.】
Marcus stared, stunned, and tried to talk me out of it.
【Miss, they've trampled all over you, and you're still going to marry him?】
【A person only lives once. Even if you can't win, you've got to keep your pride!】
I tightened my fist and looked down at my dead mother's portrait in my arms. My voice came soft as a sigh.
【Yes. You've got to keep your pride.】
The first thing I did was call the hospital where my father was, to start the paperwork to transfer him.
Just as I'd feared, I was still one step behind Owen.
The nurse told me my father had been picked up and taken out of the hospital ten minutes earlier.
By the time I'd pulled myself back together and returned to the old house, the two of them were still in the bed.
