4: 4
4
The day I left for the project site happened to be my sister's engagement.
Mom had me stand at the hotel entrance to log the gift money.
"Your sister has to look after the groom's relatives, and Harvey's too young to keep the numbers straight."
"There's no one for this but you."
I wore my plainest white shirt and sat behind the welcome table.
The relatives came through the doors one after another.
Someone recognized me and asked with a smile, "Why's Veronica sitting by the door?"
Mom was greeting the guests and answered without a second thought.
"She doesn't like crowds. She's happier keeping busy."
As if it hadn't been them who put me there.
As if it were my own choice not to walk into the banquet hall.
At two in the afternoon, hotel staff wheeled in the engagement cake.
Mom and Dad stood with my sister in front of the flower wall.
Harvey had changed into a new suit too, squeezing in beside her.
Dad handed me his phone.
"Veronica, take a family photo for us."
I took the phone.
In the frame, Mom and Dad stood in the middle.
Leila had her arm through Mom's.
Harvey had a hand on Dad's shoulder.
The four of them leaned in close, smiling like nothing could be happier.
A relative asked, puzzled, "Isn't Veronica getting in it too?"
Mom paused, then quickly laughed.
"She's never liked having her picture taken."
I didn't explain.
I just pressed the shutter for them.
That was when my sister suddenly cried out.
"My gold bracelet is gone!"
That bracelet was one Mom had custom-made just for her.
Ninety-nine grams of gold.
For a love that lasts.
Everyone crowded around.
Leila turned her jewelry box inside out, and her eyes went red fast.
Harvey suddenly looked at me.
"Just now Veronica was the only one who went into the lounge."
I froze.
"I went in to put the gift-money ledger away."
Mom's eyes went straight to my old suitcase.
To catch the project team's car at four, I'd brought all my luggage to the hotel.
She asked, "Why do you have your suitcase?"
"After the banquet I'm staying at a friend's for a few days."
Mom didn't question it. She just reached a hand toward the case.
"Open it. Let's have a look."
I gripped the handle tight.
"You think I stole Leila's bracelet?"
Dad's face darkened.
"We're family. We just clear it up, that's all."
"If you didn't take it, what's there to be afraid of?"
Relatives stood all around.
Their eyes landed on me, then on that battered suitcase.
Some had already started murmuring.
"She always seemed so honest."
"Maybe she can't stand that her sister's marrying well."
Before I could stop him, Dad had already snatched the suitcase.
The zipper was yanked open.
Clothes, underwear, toiletries, all of it dumped onto the lounge floor.
That file envelope, the one soaked in dirty water, tumbled out too.
The medical report and onboarding papers inside scattered across the ground.
Dad went through every piece of clothing.
He found nothing.
The lounge went quiet.
Leila bit her lip and said softly, "Looks like it wasn't Veronica after all."
But Mom only let out a breath of relief.
"Good thing it wasn't."
I crouched down and picked up the papers off the floor, one by one.
"Shouldn't you be apologizing to me?"
Dad's brow knit tight.
"We only checked. You have to make an issue of it today of all days?"
"Your sister's bracelet went missing. Of course we were anxious."
Mom lowered her voice and warned me too.
"There are so many relatives out there."
"Don't make it look like we wronged you and give everyone something to laugh about."
So searching my luggage in front of everyone, that wasn't something to laugh about.
But my asking for an apology, that was airing the family's dirty laundry.
I said nothing more.
As I was gathering my things, a small slip fell out of Harvey's suit pocket.
I picked it up and looked.
It was a gold-buyback receipt from a jeweler nearby.
Dated this morning.
Harvey saw the slip, and the color drained from his face.
I handed it to Dad.
"Here's the bracelet."
Once Mom read what was on it, her first reaction wasn't to scold Harvey.
It was to turn around and shut the lounge door.
"Harvey, what were you doing taking your sister's bracelet?"
Harvey stammered.
"I wanted a new computer."
"Leila's getting married soon anyway. Her fiancé will just buy her another one."
Leila's face was hard.
But seeing how panicked Harvey looked, she finally sighed.
"Forget it."
"The computer's already bought. Don't return it."
Mom immediately pulled Harvey behind her.
"Leila's always been the reasonable one."
"Harvey's still young. He just wasn't thinking."
I looked at them.
"Then what about just now?"
"In front of everyone, why did you decide it was me?"
Dad looked at me, out of patience.
"You didn't take it, so what's the problem?"
"Harvey's your own brother. If this gets out, how's he supposed to face anyone?"
I suddenly laughed.
"So my name doesn't matter?"
No one answered.
Mom shoved the gift-money ledger back into my arms.
"Enough. Today is your sister's big day."
"After the banquet, you stay and total the gift money and count the drinks."
"Don't make any more trouble."
Applause rose in the banquet hall.
The host invited both families up for a photo.
Mom and Dad straightened their clothes at once.
Leila touched up her lipstick.
Harvey followed them out as if nothing had happened.
The four of them walked into the light.
Soon Mom posted that family photo in the family group chat.
The caption read: 【Happy engagement to our Leila. May our family be happy forever.】
The photo was still the one I'd taken.
Four people.
Not one missing.
That was exactly when the project lead's message came in.
【The car's at the hotel's back entrance. We leave in ten minutes.】
I handed the gift-money ledger to the hotel manager.
I stuffed the scattered clothes back into the suitcase.
The case was missing a wheel.
Dragged across the polished marble floor, it kept scraping out a harsh screech.
But the music in the banquet hall was too loud.
Not one person looked back.
When I reached the hotel's back entrance, Mom sent another message in the group.
【The photo you took is a little blurry. Take us another one after the banquet.】
【Also, that mess on the floor is all your stuff. Remember to clean it up before you go.】
I didn't reply.
Once I got in the car, the staff collected my phone.
Before the screen went dark, I took one last look at that photo of the four of them.
Then I pressed the power button off.
In the photo, Mom and Dad, Leila and Harvey stood together, smiling, so happy.
The home I'd worked five years to earn had finally taken a family photo without me in it.
And the one who never got a room of her own.
She wouldn't be coming back.
