But the one person who never should have lied to me was Roberta Sullivan.

When we were kids, money was tight, and Dad and I were both so afraid she'd feel slighted that we gave her the best of everything.

To save money, I told Dad I was lactose intolerant, just so the milk delivery was only ever for her, year after year.

Every scholarship I won in college, I never kept a cent. It all went to her trips, her chance to see the world.

Even when she stole my research, even when she took Rupert Stephens, my first love, and married him.

Every time she did me wrong, I chose to forgive her.

Only because I'd made a promise to my mother on her deathbed, a promise to take care of her.

But now, I was starting to regret it.

I stared straight into Roberta's face, and I couldn't stop the question from coming out. "Why?"

Her tone was all innocence, and yet every word out of her mouth was dressed up as concern for me.

"Sis, the truth is, I'm the one who's been good to you."

"You've always been the quiet type. The institute work is dull and dreary, completely wrong for you. That's the only reason I took your spot and went instead."

"As for Rupert, at first I only wanted to help you test whether he really loved you. How was I supposed to know he'd fall so hard for me, that he'd refuse to marry anyone else?"

"And to make it up to you, didn't I introduce you to Owen, who's an even better match?"

"I just never expected that Owen would still be carrying a torch for me."

"When I think it all through, feelings like these just can't be forced in the end."

By the time she finished, somehow it had all become my fault.

I refused to let it go, and I pressed Owen too. "If you love her so much, why bother? Why go through with marrying me at all?"

His face curled with contempt, his voice careless. "If Roberta weren't already married."

"You think it would ever have been your turn to walk into the Delgado house?"

I said nothing for a long moment. I didn't argue anymore.

Once I'd calmed down, I raised my phone and spoke evenly. "A minute ago, I already dialed Rupert."

"Everything you've both just said, say it again, to his face."

"If he has no objection, then I have nothing left to say."

The color drained from Roberta's face. She bolted up off the bed and lunged to grab it.

In the struggle the phone slipped free and hit the floor, the screen going black.

She froze for a second, then, as if something had just come back to her, the corner of her mouth tipped up in triumph. "Forget it. You can't scare me."

"Back then, to keep things proper between you and Rupert, you didn't even come to our wedding."

"And he changed his number ages ago. You two don't talk at all. How could you even call him?"

With that, she melted softly into Owen's arms, like a fox that had gotten exactly what it wanted.

But she'd forgotten one thing. Ever since Rupert married her, he'd been added to the family group chat.

What I'd dialed just now was a group call.

The next second, fists slammed against the door hard enough to shake it, and Rupert's furious voice tore in from the hallway. "Roberta, get your clothes on and get out here!"

Roberta was frantic, like an ant on a hot pan.

But unless she planned to jump from the seventh floor, there was no way out.

Owen had run completely out of patience with me. He grabbed me hard and dragged me into the room.

Once he'd made sure no one outside could hear, he laid out his terms. "Everything you have now, Roberta gave to you. It's about time you learned to be grateful."

"In a minute you'll smooth it over. Tell them it was a joke."

"As long as you cover for Roberta, I'll double the engagement payout."

When I just kept my face cold and said nothing, he added, smug as ever, "Don't worry. Even if I don't love you, for Roberta's sake, since she's your cousin, I can throw you a turn now and then. Help me pass the time."

【Who knows, I might even let you have my child.】

At that, Roberta forgot all about Rupert outside the door.

Jealousy flashing across her face, she stepped up and clutched at Owen's sleeve, protesting under her breath.

【You're not allowed to sleep with her.】

The whole thing turned my stomach.

I lifted a hand and cut them off, refusing.

Because no matter what he offered this time, I wasn't going to swallow it again.

The moment the door opened, I laid it all bare in front of Rupert, every word of what had just happened.

Rupert's eyes blazed with fury, but Roberta was already a sobbing mess.

Even so, she threw herself into his arms with practiced ease and choked out:

【I only came today to light candles for Aunt, and Cousin Enya insisted on slandering me, said she'd teach me a lesson.】

【Maybe she still hates me for taking you from her back then, so she wants to tear us apart.】

Rupert didn't believe her right away. Instead he shoved her off and let out a cold laugh.

【Then what about what I just heard on the phone? Did I imagine that too?】

Before Roberta could answer, a figure moved to shield her.

【Rupert, this is my fault too. I've always covered for Enya, and I spoiled her into this.】

【She was sulking at me again today, so she faked a recording to lure you here, just to drive a wedge between you and your wife.】

Owen was a master of twisting words. Two flat sentences, and he'd smoothed the whole thing over.

I pointed at the rumpled mess on the bed, and the used protection littering the floor, and asked coldly:

【Then what about these? How do you talk your way out of these?】

Owen didn't hesitate for a second. He pulled me back into his arms and feigned affection.

【Enya, stop it. Aren't those from when you and I were just together?】

【Fine, throw your tantrum at me, but why drag Roberta into it?】

I pulled out of his arms on instinct and told Rupert not to believe their lies.

But one look at Roberta's tears, and Rupert softened.

He looked at me, his eyes wavering.

【I know Roberta's character better than anyone. She wouldn't betray me.】

【And your word alone doesn't prove anything.】

【Enya, do you have proof?】

His question stopped me cold.

I wanted to say there was a neighbor who could confirm every word.

But Owen held me locked against him and breathed a threat low enough for only the two of us to hear:

【If you want your father to live a few more years, shut your mouth.】

【Or that oxygen line of his might come loose one day. No one could say how.】

I shook with rage, and there was nothing I could do.

Dad was the only family I had left in this world. I didn't dare gamble his life on my pride.

And there's no reasoning with a man hell-bent on his own ruin.

If Rupert refused to believe me, nothing I said would change his mind.

In the end, under the weight of his accusing stare, I had no choice but to take the loss in silence.

【If you don't believe me, then I have nothing more to say.】

Seeing me back down, Roberta wept as though she'd suffered some terrible injustice, tears spilling without end.

Rupert coaxed her, and all the while shot me a venomous look.

Whatever faint guilt he'd once carried toward me vanished in that instant.

To win Roberta over completely, he didn't care who was watching. He spoke up for her outright:

【Enya, I used to feel I owed you.】

【But now I see, marrying Roberta instead was the best decision I ever made in my life.】

I opened my mouth to say something, then swallowed it back down.

Roberta pressed down the smugness in her eyes and put on a show of speaking up for me:

【Owen, don't be too hard on Cousin Enya. After all, we were the ones who wronged her first.】

【It's just that, three days from now, she won't have a single relative from her side to see her off. That would look so undignified.】

【So I thought I'd stay a few more days, at least help Cousin Enya get through the wedding. Is that all right?】

Rupert's face tightened with reluctance, and he said he could stay with her.

But Roberta's eyes reddened again, and she snapped,

【You don't believe I'm innocent, so you want to stay and keep watch over me?】

【Or is it… that you still can't let go of Cousin Enya?】

At that, Rupert panicked and nodded his agreement at once.

He even swore on his own life that he would never let himself be suspicious again.

Then he turned and left without looking back.

But as he passed me, he couldn't help dropping a low warning.

【Roberta is sentimental about the past. I'm not.】

【If you bully her again, I'll have you committed to a psychiatric ward myself.】

I gave a bitter smile and let my gaze drift somewhere else.

The moment Rupert was gone, Owen couldn't wait to brand his own marks on Roberta, just to cover the warmth Rupert had left on her skin.

I took down my mother's portrait, held it against my chest, and told them to get out.

But Owen, shameless as ever, not only refused to leave, he tossed out an order that turned my stomach.

【Go buy ten boxes of condoms. What we've got won't last tonight.】

I didn't answer. I stayed silent for a long while, then finally turned my eyes to Roberta.

【Back then, to make me give you up to Rupert, you were willing to throw yourself off a building just to marry him.】

【You can hide this for a while, but you can't hide it for a lifetime.】

【Turn back now, and I can pretend none of this ever happened.】

I said all this not as forgiveness, but because I felt sorry for her.

Rupert trusted her so completely. It meant he truly loved Roberta.

As her elder cousin, I didn't want to watch her destroy her own family.

But Roberta put on her wounded act again.

【Cousin Enya, how can you say something like that?】

【It's Owen who's always found you dull and boring. He never wanted to touch you.】

【I only sacrificed myself, satisfying him in your place, so he'd treat you a little better.】

Before the words were even out, as if she meant to perform it just for me, she tangled herself around Owen even more shamelessly.

I gave up on her completely, took up my mother's portrait, and went downstairs.

At the foot of the stairs, the neighbor, Marcus, was pacing, and there was nothing left in his eyes for me but pity.

He scratched his head, a little embarrassed, and told me the truth.

The fact was, he'd had his ear to the wall all day. He'd pieced together most of what was going on, and he couldn't stomach what they'd done to me.

He even volunteered, said he'd come forward as a witness and expose that pair to their faces.

Who would have thought that in the end, the only one willing to stand on my side was a neighbor I'd never really met.

I gave him an awkward smile and raised a hand to stop him.

【It's all right, Marcus. Let's talk about it after three days.】

Marcus stared, stunned, and tried to talk me out of it.

【Miss, they've trampled all over you, and you're still going to marry him?】

【A person only lives once. Even if you can't win, you've got to keep your pride!】

I tightened my fist and looked down at my dead mother's portrait in my arms. My voice came soft as a sigh.

【Yes. You've got to keep your pride.】

The first thing I did was call the hospital where my father was, to start the paperwork to transfer him.

Just as I'd feared, I was still one step behind Owen.

The nurse told me my father had been picked up and taken out of the hospital ten minutes earlier.

By the time I'd pulled myself back together and returned to the old house, the two of them were still in the bed.