08
Sabrina dragged me upstairs with an iron grip. Once we reached the top, she released me abruptly and began wiping her hands with tissues as though I were some form of filth.
She glared at me coldly. “Jasmine, Nessa is a good girl. Unlike you, she doesn’t harbor such
schemes. She’s pure. Even though she and Kyle were in love, she left the country to make way for
you because you liked him. Don’t bring up your mess with Kyle in front of Nessa. It’ll be too much for her to handle. She has a heart condition and depression. As her elder sister, you should step
aside for her.”
I looked at Sabrina’s actions with indifference, a dull ache creeping into my heart. Perhaps this body still held a sliver of hope for maternal love. But once again, Sabrina dashed that hope
to pieces. She only cared about Vanessa.
In my mind, I whispered bitterly, “I longed for your love, but you always pushed me away.”
Sabrina frowned at me, sensing something off. Her gaze fell on the red mark on my neck, and she asked suspiciously, “What is that?”
I touched my neck, instantly realizing it was a reaction to my worsening allergy. It wasn’t
surprising, given how hard it had become to breathe. But I needed to hold out until Kyle and Vanessa’s wedding.
Before I could respond, Sabrina took a step back with disdain. “Could you be any more shameless? How do you expect me or Nessa to hold our heads high while you act like this?”
I found her assumptions laughable. Sabrina thought the mark was a love bite. How ironic. The
woman who’d cheated on my father while he was sick was now accusing me of shamelessness.
She hadn’t even waited a few months after the divorce before giving birth to Vanessa.
At that moment, Kyle appeared at the top of the stairs, his expression dark as he
approached us. Sabrina had no choice but to leave.
Once she was gone, Kyle grabbed my wrist roughly, his face filled with hostility. “Jasmine, I
haven’t even dealt with you finding another man yet. Are you that desperate?”
I smirked. “And who are you to say that? My boyfriend? Or my brother–in–law?”
Kyle sneered, “You’re not even qualified to be my girlfriend. If you hadn’t schemed all those
years ago, we never would’ve slept together.”
years ago, we never would’ve slept together.”
His words twisted in my chest like a dagger. Six years ago, Vanessa disappeared without warning. Kyle had gotten drunk during a business event and was drugged by someone with ulterior motives. When I arrived, he had locked himself in a room. The rest happened almost inevitably. When I woke the next day, his eyes were bloodshot. I told him to forget about it, that it didn’t matter, but he insisted on taking responsibility.
That was how we ended up together.
As I reflected on our six years together, I realized most of my memories were of Kyle’s cold, indifferent face.
Still, I wanted closure.
I said in a low voice, “Kyle, do you know I’m allergic to pollen?”
But before I could finish, Kyle interrupted, his eyes sharp as knives, “Jasmine, you’re perfectly fine. What kind of allergy? Stop lying and try making sense if you want anyone to believe you.”
