I hadn’t even spoken when Gwynne grabbed my arm, her look carrying a quiet insult even as she kept a soft smile and said, “Heather, since you’re already here, come in and sit for a while. Ezekiel and the others didn’t intentionally skip the wedding; listen to their explanation.”
I shook as I raised my head, staring at Gwynne with a drained face.
“Not intentional? After thirty years of marriage, all I wanted was one wedding. My husband chose to help you celebrate your birthday instead. What explanation is left?”
My voice sounded painful. A brief amused spark showed in Gwynne’s eyes, and her nails pressed deep into my arm as she murmured, “See the dislike on their faces when they see you, don’t you realize that no one here welcomes you? You should have left long ago!”
I suddenly pushed her aside, anger burning in my eyes.
But Gwynne followed the strength of my push and fell down. Seeing this, Ezekiel quickly moved forward to hold her, yelling at me angrily.
“Heather! What do you even want? It’s only a wedding. Before, you were the one who said it didn’t matter if we didn’t have one, and now you’re causing trouble about having another. Look at yourself, you’re already old and worn out. I didn’t skip it on purpose!”
“If you want to let out your anger, let it out at me. Don’t touch Gwynne!”
My older brother, Kian Windsleigh, ran over, roughly pushing me aside, and said angrily, “It’s exactly because we knew you would surely make a big scene that we didn’t tell you. And yet you still followed us all the way here.”
My second brother, Milo Windsleigh’s face was filled with hatred.
“Heather, ever since you were found and brought back, you’ve been going after Gwynne, even making her leave the family. And now you showed up at her birthday party to cause problems. Ezekiel, can you watch her? Don’t let her come out and behave like this!”
Everyone there started yelling at me.
Not one person felt sorry for lying to me or for leaving me alone at the wedding place.
All they had for me was disgust and blame for pushing Gwynne.
I was shoved to the ground, stunned, with helplessness washing over me.
These were the family members I had spent thirty years with, yet not one of them stood by me.
I suddenly remembered something and lifted my head to look at my son.
“Jaxon, Mom only wanted a wedding. And just now, she whispered mean things in my ear…”
Before I could finish, my son cut me off with an unpleasant look.
“That’s enough! Aunt Gwynne would never do something like that. Mom, you’re already older. Is that wedding really worth all this?”
“Why did you have to make a scene on such an important day? I really regret being your son, you’ve made me feel ashamed for so long!”
When I heard this, my chest throbbed with pain.
I stared at my son, unable to believe it, my lips shaking a lot.
But he still felt that wasn’t enough; he held my arm and tried to yank me toward the door.
As he pulled me out, he said in complete disgust, “Go home now. I don’t want to look at you anymore!”
I fought with all my strength, trying to stand on my own.
I wanted to tell them I could leave, and I could even end the marriage.
What I hoped for wasn’t just a made-up wedding; I wanted the dignity I had missed for thirty years!
But my son was far stronger than I. No matter how I struggled, he still pulled me toward the door like a dead dog.
Right then, the cancer test paper in my pocket fell to the ground.
The black letters on the white sheet, reading “Cancer Confirmed,” immediately drew everyone’s eyes.
