Just as I was about to refuse, she squeezed in.
"Wow, so many delicious dishes, all seafood! Brother is so kind to me! I don’t have the luxury of eating his own cooking."
She picked up her chopsticks and was about to take some food, but I raised my hand to stop her.
"I didn’t invite you. Please leave."
She froze for a moment, her lips trembling slightly, her face full of grievance.
"Brother, I mean no harm. I just wanted to have dinner with you."
I looked at her, my voice soft. "Every month, you have twenty-nine days to eat with him. I only have one day."
Andrew Gardner frowned; his steps about to move forward stopped abruptly.
Emily’s tears suddenly fell.
"I… I understand."
"You’re siblings. I’m an outsider, sobbing. I’m leaving now."
She choked out, turned around, and ran out. I accidentally knocked over the potted plant by the door and fell.
My brother’s hand on the shoe cabinet suddenly tightened, and he stepped forward to help her up with a harsh tone.
"Emily, there should be a limit to your pretentiousness. Today was supposed to be my day to have dinner with Vivian. Who asked you to come?"
"Don’t think that just because Vivian can’t return to the Gardner family for the time being, you’ve truly become the eldest daughter of the Gardner family."
"If you’ve fallen, go to the hospital yourself. I won’t take you."
Emily bit her lip, tears welling in her eyes for a long time before she finally couldn’t hold back and ran away crying.
My brother stared at her back, then stiffly closed the door and sat down.
"Vivian, don’t worry about her. She’s a bad habit. Today, I’ll be with you no matter what."
I looked at the chopsticks he held upside down in his hand and lowered my eyes calmly. He checked his phone over twenty times in ten minutes. Then he answered a call and told me, apologetically, "Vivian, something urgent has happened at the company. I’ll pick you up tomorrow for a dress fitting." Before I could respond, he hurried away.
I put down my chopsticks and scratched the red bumps that kept popping up on my arms.
I opened my drawer and found I’d finished my allergy medicine. I had no choice but to put on my coat and go to the hospital.
At the hospital stairwell, as I emerged with my medicine, I saw Emily, sobbing in grief, and her brother, coaxing her softly.
I stood on the steps, peering through the bustling crowd.
I watched my brother, with his severe mysophobia, kneel on one knee, gently massaging Emily’s foot.
Emily, draped in his expensive suit jacket, nibbled at the seafood in her lunch box.
My brother glanced at her and, unfazed, wiped the grease from her mouth with his sleeve. Emily pouted and snorted, "Didn’t my brother say I’m not the eldest daughter of the Gardner family? Then why are you looking for me? Go stay with your sister."
My brother was caught off guard and was pushed to the ground.
But his expression didn’t contain any anger, only a hint of helplessness and doting indulgence.
"Little Ancestor, who am I saying this to?"
"The reason I didn’t let you stay for dinner is that I had people buy pre-made seafood. This one you have is the one I personally selected and cooked."
"I know you love seafood, so I pick the best and freshest. It’s much better than what Vivian eats."
The stinging pain from the seafood allergy seemed to suddenly intensify, making me unsteady.
Emily smiled contentedly. "Silly girl, Vivian is different from you."
"She was lost when she was little, and has been through so many hardships. No one loves her, no one cares for her. She’s suffered so much. If I give her a little sweetness, she’ll be grateful."
