My sudden obedience caught them all off guard. After a tense silence, my father finally spoke, clearing his throat. "Now that's more like it."
"We're a family. There's nothing we can't talk about."
"Everything I said was for your own good."
"Yes, I know." I nodded dutifully, a vacant smile on my face.
Seeing that I wasn't going to make a scene, they all seemed to breathe a collective sigh of relief before returning their attention to doting on Faith.
I paused for a beat, then turned to head upstairs.
But just as my foot touched the first step, a hand grabbed my wrist.
It was Garrett. He had followed me.
He pulled me closer, his warm breath brushing against my ear as he murmured, "Are you really not angry?"
His gentle tone made my eyes sting.
A fresh wave of grief washed over me, but I just shook my head. A lump formed in my throat, strangling any words I might have said.
Garrett, however, let out a sigh of relief. "I knew you were the most understanding. You never get angry over little things."
"Actually, there's something I wanted to run by you…" He hesitated, his gaze shifting away from mine.
"We need to adjust the wedding plans. I promised your sister I’d help with her graduation project—it's a large-scale event design. So, I was thinking—"
He took a breath. "What if we switched our dream Napa Valley vineyard wedding to a large hotel wedding here in Los Angeles, one that she designs?"
"The invitations haven't gone out yet. It's just a wedding, changing the venue is no big deal," he said with a soft smile, a flicker of what he probably thought was tenderness in his eyes.
My heart turned to ice. The flicker of warmth I’d felt from his brief concern now seemed utterly pathetic.
After being abandoned so many times, what sliver of hope made me think they were capable of loving me?
When I didn't respond, Garrett scratched his head in annoyance. "Come on, Willow. Faith's graduation project is really important to her. As her family, we should support her."
"Besides, don't you like lively parties too? Think of it as a surprise for her."
"Okay," I replied, my voice flat.
Garrett blinked, startled. "What did you say?"
I let out a long, slow breath. "I said, I agree. We can cancel the wedding."
"Cancel? Who said anything about canceling? I'm talking about changing the plan. We can't just cancel the wedding," he corrected me, his brow furrowed in confusion.
I looked down, a bitter smile twisting my lips.
What was the difference? As long as Faith was in the picture, she would never let our wedding happen smoothly. She was jealous—she wanted everything I had. I’d known that since we were children.
No matter how hard I fought, I could never win.
Our family's favoritism was her greatest weapon, the one she used to keep me perfectly under her thumb.
Now, even my fiancé was on her side.
My eyes burned, and a familiar itch began to prickle across my skin.
The peanut butter milkshake was starting to work.
I gave a slight nod and turned to go upstairs. I had an EpiPen in my room, and I had to get to it before the reaction got worse.
"Are you angry because I'm using your wedding venue?" Faith's voice, dripping with faux innocence, called out from behind me.
I ignored her and kept moving.
It was her classic move. All Faith had to do was squeeze out a few tears, and the entire family would rush to her defense, no matter what I did—or didn't do.
Predictably, Mason was the first to lash out. "That's enough, Willow! Didn't you hear Faith talking to you?"
"One second you say you're not angry, the next you're giving everyone the silent treatment. Is this how you treat your own sister?"
I didn't answer him. Baseless accusations had been the soundtrack to my childhood; I was long past feeling the sting.
But just as I reached the second-floor landing, a sharp pain shot through my arm as someone grabbed it from behind.
