“Yeah, yeah, only you get to mess with Vanessa!”
They walked past the entryway, only then noticing me standing there. They exchanged glances and quickly fell silent.
Daniel scooped Vanessa into his arms, speaking with a leering grin.
“Well, well. Our princess is in a mini skirt today? What’s the occasion?”
Vanessa playfully smacked his chest.
“Please. I only dressed girly ’cause I didn’t want your wife feeling out of place with all you stinky guys. Otherwise, I’d never wear this crap.”
And she was wearing the very outfit Daniel and I had looked at together in the mall just two days earlier.
As if recalling something funny, she turned to the guys, laughing hard.
“Hey, you guys gotta hear this. Daniel and his wife were shopping the other day, and she tried on this dress. Guess what? Her baby bump ripped it wide open! And the clerk thought the dark spots on her thighs were stains and tried to make them pay. Isn’t that hilarious?”
The guys roared with laughter, while I stood there, humiliated, my belly aching.
Daniel smiled along, never once defending me.
In that moment, something inside me cracked.
Later, once we were out on the yacht, nausea churned in my stomach.
I’d always gotten seasick, and with pregnancy on top of it, I was vomiting until I nearly collapsed.
Daniel handed me some water, but annoyance clouded his eyes.
“Should’ve left you home. You’re so dramatic—how am I supposed to fish if I’m stuck taking care of you?”
Suddenly, Vanessa cried out:
“Fish on! Danny, help me!”
Daniel jumped up immediately, spilling the water all over my clothes.
I watched as he stood behind her, guiding her hands, their bodies swaying together with the rocking yacht.
After several minutes, Vanessa triumphantly held up a massive fish.
“This one’s a beast—at least forty pounds!”
The guys exchanged sly grins.
“Not the fish that’s hard, if you ask me.”
They all burst into raucous laughter.
My stomach twisted again—I slapped Daniel across the face.
“If you have no shame, I still do! Turn this boat around now—I want to go back!”
A sharp cramp shot through me, and I felt warm liquid trickle down my legs.
But the “brothers” dismissed my fury.
“Seriously, sis-in-law? We paid $80,000 to charter this boat, and you want to head back already? What a joke.”
Daniel looked embarrassed, whispering:
“Don’t make a scene in front of my friends. Should’ve known better than to bring you.”
Suddenly, Vanessa shrieked, drawing everyone’s attention.
She held up her finger, a smear of blood on the tip.
“Damn fish fin cut me. What if it’s poisonous?”
Tears welled as she looked at Daniel.
“Danny, if something happens to me… in my next life, I won’t be your brother. I’ll be your wife.”
Without hesitation, Daniel took her finger into his mouth.
“Don’t say stupid things! I won’t let anything happen to you!”
His face pale, he stormed to the helm, grabbing the captain’s collar.
“Vanessa’s been cut! Turn this yacht around—now!”
I leaned against the deck rail, blood already staining beneath me.
But I was too numb to feel the pain anymore.
A strange calm washed over me.
No need to wait for another life—this one was enough. I’d let them have each other.
When the yacht docked, Daniel carried Vanessa to the hospital in his arms, never sparing me a glance.
