After waking from surgery, I reached for the phone beside me and made a call.
It was answered quickly, and I choked out, “Brother, can you come pick me up in four days?”
“As long as you want, I can come tomorrow, no, I can come get you right now and take you home!”
"No, wait a little longer. I still have some things to check. I suspect the car accident that happened to me and my parents wasn't that simple. Give me another four days."
Hearing my brother’s familiar voice, tears welled up, but I managed a smile through them.
Just then, Jeremiah pushed the door open and walked in. Seeing the smile on my face, he froze for a moment.
Noticing someone had come in, I quickly said, “Something came up. I’ll hang up now.”
Trailing behind Jeremiah was his little shadow, Margaret. I silently watched as they approached.
Seeing the bandages wrapped around me, a flicker of hesitation crossed Jeremiah’s face. He reached toward me with a pained look, but I dodged his hand.
Margaret seized the moment and said, “Sister must’ve met someone else. That’s why she doesn’t want Brother Jeremiah near her, right?”
Jeremiah’s tender expression vanished, replaced by pure disgust. “Lainey, you were already indecent five years ago. I can’t believe you still haven’t changed after all that time inside.”
“I don’t even know what Mom was thinking, forcing me to marry a whore like you. It’s utterly disgusting.”
With that, he turned sharply and left.
But Margaret didn’t move.
She looked at me with a smug smile and said, “The wedding in three days will be all about Brother Jeremiah and me. As for you, just go rot in some dark corner.”
When I didn’t respond, a flicker of displeasure crossed her face. Suddenly, she pulled out the diamond pendant.
Only then did a spark of life return to my lifeless eyes.
“Lainey, you care about this pendant so much? Fine, if you want it that badly, I’ll give it back to you.”
With merciless cruelty, Margaret smashed the pendant against the floor.
The diamond shattered.
And with it, the last shred of feeling I had left for Jeremiah turned to ashes.
Like a broken dog, I tumbled off the bed, ignoring the needle still lodged in my hand, desperate to gather the scattered fragments of the diamond.
But the shards tore into my skin, blood spilling onto the floor and seeping into the broken pendant.
Margaret, satisfied with her cruelty, walked away with a triumphant smile.
The next day, Jeremiah called.
“Lainey, go turn yourself into the police tomorrow. Tell them you hit someone in a car accident.”
His voice dripped with shameless righteousness.
When I stayed silent, he sighed and added, “Margaret drank a little too much when she was accompanying a client before. You also know that driving after drinking is more likely to cause an accident. Now someone has started to investigate this matter again, so you should voluntarily turn yourself in tomorrow..”
“And the wedding?” I asked calmly.
“The wedding goes on as planned. Your legs are useless anyway. Margaret will attend the banquet for you, but the name on the marriage certificate will still be yours.”
“I’m not going.” I refused flatly.
Jeremiah’s momentary shock at my refusal quickly gave way to an angry laugh. “I know how much you want to be part of your own wedding, but since you’re the one who ‘Knock someone down,’ you have to bear the blame, right?”
“Margaret going to the wedding in your place, you going to jail in hers, what’s the problem? If anything, Margaret’s the one getting the short end of the stick. You know how much a woman’s reputation means.”
I stared, stunned by the sheer shamelessness of it all.
Before I could respond, Jeremiah hung up.
My gaze fell on the small box beside me, the shattered pieces of the diamond pendant Margaret had destroyed.
I closed my eyes, tears welling up in my eyes.
I packaged the missing information from the days when my parents had the car accident and sent it to the relevant personnel.
