The Runaway Sister

As the youngest daughter of the Costellos, I had always lived in my sister’s shadow.

That was until five years ago, when she betrayed the family and ran off with a street thug.

I took her place and completed the wedding with Elio Ross. Over the years, he loved and indulged me, but we never got a marriage license.

He always said family matters kept him busy, and that, with or without it, I was his wife in his and the family’s eyes.

I believed him. Until today…

I watched as Elio walked out of the church with my sister Alyssa, who had been missing for five years, both of them wearing the family rings that symbolized their union.

At the church entrance, three black SUVs opened their doors simultaneously, and my three brothers stepped out in tailored suits.

“The ceremony’s done? We’ve already booked Antonio’s to celebrate Alyssa’s return.”

They climbed into the cars, expressing their joy, while no one noticed my pale, shattered face across the street.

Later that night, under the guise of apology, my sister let a venomous spider bite me. “A substitute is always a substitute. Now that I’m back, it’s time for you to die.”

I screamed for help. However, my husband and my three brothers only rushed to hold my sister, who had pretended she had fallen, without a glance at me, writhing from the poison.

They called in every specialist from the hospital, only to tend to my sister’s scraped knee.

That was the moment my heart truly broke.

After being dragged back from death’s door by the doctors, I made my decision. I picked up the phone and called the International Private Island Exchange.

“That isolated, uninhabited island… I’ll take it.”

After being discharged from the hospital, I returned home to hear laughter pour into my ears the moment I opened the door.

All the prominent members of the family were there, and the air was filled with the scent of expensive perfume.

Elio and my three brothers gathered around Alyssa to celebrate her birthday.

In the center of the crowd, Alyssa was smiling brightly. There was no sign of weakness on her face, nothing that suggested she had needed the combined efforts of every top specialist in the hospital to save her life, let alone any trace of cancer.

When they saw me come back, the tenderness on the four men’s faces disappeared.

The way they looked at me turned cold again, just like it had been five years ago. It was as if the extreme affection I’d received during the time Alyssa was gone had never existed.

Now that Alyssa was back, the dream shattered.

“Didn’t you say you were about to die? Aren’t you perfectly fine?” Marcus, my eldest brother, looked at me coldly, as if he were judging a stranger.

My second brother, Sam, frowned impatiently. “In Alyssa’s final days, couldn’t you at least behave a little better?”

Jonah, my third brother, even scolded me. “Talking about Alyssa releasing poisonous spiders to bite you, even competing with her for doctors at the hospital… Luna, you’re a grown woman. Can’t you get rid of your habit of lying and fighting for attention?”

Elio walked over. His gaze was gentle, but what he said was still advice directed at me.

“Alyssa doesn’t have much time left. Luna, put away your little temper. Don’t keep making things difficult for your sister.

“You must understand that, although Alyssa and I have a past, you are my wife. Isn’t that enough?”

Wife?

My heart tightened in pain as I remembered what I had accidentally witnessed a few days ago.

We had lived under the same roof for five years. I had stayed by his side through family infighting, helped him defeat rival families, and survived countless near-death situations with him. Yet he never had time to register our marriage.

Now, however, he had secretly gotten a marriage license with my sister.

Still, he kept lying to me, calmly saying that I was his wife.

My nose stung, and I smiled bitterly.

Elio’s expression shifted slightly, as if something had stirred in him. He opened his mouth, about to say something, but Alyssa interrupted before he could speak.

“Elio, brothers, come cut the cake!”

As soon as she finished speaking, the large screen in the living room lit up. A pre-recorded birthday video began to play.

A warm and touching atmosphere spread through the room.

However, very quickly, an out-of-place moan rang out.

“Mm… give it to me… so good!”

The image on the screen changed to Alyssa in bed with the street thug from back then.

In the center of the screen, several blood-red words appeared.

“Do you like this birthday gift, Sister?”

The scene erupted in chaos.

“Turn it off! Immediately!” Marcus roared.

Sam rushed forward and pulled out the power cable.

Jonah scanned the room and warned the guests. “Everyone, please cooperate and check your phones. Whoever dares to leak this will be making enemies of both the Rosses and the Costellos!”

Alyssa’s face turned pale as tears streamed down her cheeks.

“Luna, you already have Elio’s marriage and our brothers’ love. Isn’t that enough? I’m about to die. Why won’t you let me go?”

As she spoke, her body swayed as if she were about to faint.

“Alyssa!” Elio’s expression changed drastically as he rushed over and caught her.

“Where’s the doctor? Hurry!”

He held Alyssa tightly. The face that had always remained cold even in the face of life and death was now filled with panic.

Then he turned around and shot me a cold glare, freezing me in place.

My brothers gathered around immediately.

Marcus grabbed my wrist, his grip so strong that it almost crushed my bones. “How far are you planning to push Alyssa? She’s already dying. With so little time left, can’t you even wait?”

“It wasn’t me!” I shook my head desperately. “I didn’t release that video.”

Sam let out a bitter laugh. “Still arguing? Hurting family, habitual lying… You should know that in the Costellos, when someone does something wrong, they’re punished according to family rules.”

Punished according to family rules?

Those words instantly pulled me back many years.

I remembered when I was ten, Alyssa pushed me down the stairs, and my three brothers casually explained it away by saying she didn’t do it on purpose.

I remembered on my twelfth birthday, when Alyssa threw away my cake, my brothers told me it was just a small joke.

During the winter when I was eighteen, Alyssa locked me on the balcony all night, leaving me frozen stiff. However, my brothers only shrugged and said she was just in a bad mood.

Every time Alyssa hurt me, they always found a reason for her.

But just for being suspected of hurting her, I had to be punished according to family rules.