The Jennings mansion was dazzlingly lit, laughter spilling out through its gilded doors as guests poured in to celebrate Kylie’s long-awaited return. To everyone, it was her birthday. To me, it felt like a funeral—the slow burial of my last shred of belonging.

Arthur’s hand pressed lightly against my back as we entered together. “Smile,” he murmured near my ear, his voice calm but edged with warning. “Don’t embarrass me in front of Kylie.”

My body stiffened. I knew better than to resist.

“Kylie!” someone called, and all eyes turned toward her.

She descended the grand staircase in a flowing ivory dress, her smile warm and luminous. Every step she took drew admiration. My heart twisted when I saw her pause at the sight of my twin brothers waiting at the bottom—her brothers, not mine. They beamed at her as though they had found their missing treasure at last.

“Happy birthday, Kylie!” Guests crowded around her, showering her with praise.

Then her gaze landed on me. “Sister!” she exclaimed, her eyes glistening with what looked like affection. She walked over, holding my hands tightly, but her glance lingered on Arthur just a little too long.

“I’ve missed you so much,” she said sweetly. “Even though you didn’t call or write… I still hoped one day we could be close.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but no words came. My throat was too tight, my heart too heavy.

Kylie sighed, her expression full of gentle sorrow. “You must have felt lonely growing up in such a big house. I can’t blame you for misunderstanding me sometimes.” Her voice trembled just enough to sound sincere.

“She’s right,” one guest whispered nearby. “Even after studying abroad, Kylie’s grades are excellent. Unlike Diana, who wasted her chance at the same school.”

“Honestly, it’s no wonder. Diana’s only where she is because she grew up in wealth. She couldn’t compare to Kylie even if she tried.”

Laughter rippled through the crowd, their voices sharp as knives.

“She should be grateful Kylie doesn’t blame her,” another added. “If anything, Diana owes her for all the trouble she caused.”

Each word sank like a stone into my chest. I kept silent, biting down on my lip until I tasted blood.

“Please don’t say that.” Kylie’s voice carried over the chatter, soft but firm. She turned to the guests, her eyes glistening. “Diana is my sister. Don’t make her feel worse. She didn’t mean to hurt me.”

Her plea only made the whispers grow louder, more cutting.

“See? Kylie is so considerate. Even when Diana wrongs her, she still protects her.”

“Diana doesn’t deserve her.”

I couldn’t breathe. My vision swam as heat rushed to my cheeks.

Excusing myself, I slipped away from the party, the laughter and music muffling as I pushed open the glass doors to the garden. The night air was sharp and cold, the scent of roses heavy around me. I inhaled deeply, trying to calm the tremor in my chest.

But the sound of deliberate footsteps soon followed. Kylie’s heels clicked against the stone path as she approached.

“Running away again, sister?” Her voice was light, but her eyes glittered in the dark. “You’ve always been so good at that.”

I turned to face her, but she only smirked.

“Do you really think Arthur loves you?” she asked suddenly, her tone sharp beneath the sweetness. “He married you because of the family alliance. That’s all. If he had known I was the real daughter back then, you never would have stood at the altar.”

My body froze, blood draining from my face.

Kylie leaned closer, her whisper laced with poison. “While you sat at home waiting, Arthur was with me. Every anniversary trip, every so-called business outing… it was me he spent the nights with, not you. I know what he likes, Diana. He told me you were too dull, too plain, too submissive. You could never satisfy him.”

My chest heaved as bile rose to my throat. The ground beneath me seemed to tilt.

“Don’t look so shocked.” Her smile widened, cruel and triumphant. “Arthur and I have always been the real couple. You were just holding my place until I came back.”

I staggered backward, clutching my stomach as tears burned down my cheeks. My world was crumbling again, piece by piece, and this time, I wasn’t sure I had the strength to survive it.

The garden lights glowed faintly against the dark sky, casting long shadows across the pond. Kylie leaned closer, her perfume cloying as her words dripped with venom.

“I’ll get everything from you, Diana,” she whispered, her lips brushing my ear like a lover’s secret. “Arthur, my family, the wealth… all of it will be mine. And you? You’ll be left with nothing.”

Her smile widened when she saw the horror in my eyes.

Then, as if on cue, she gasped dramatically and stumbled backward. The sharp crack of her heel on the stone pathway echoed before she pitched toward the water.

“Kylie!” Instinctively, I reached out to steady her. But the moment my fingers brushed her arm, she twisted and shoved me forward instead.

Cold water closed around me as I plunged into the pond, the shock stealing my breath. My limbs flailed as I fought to surface, gasping, hair plastered to my face.

“Diana!” A voice cut through the night—but it wasn’t a concern for me.

Arthur was rushing forward, his arms wrapped protectively around Kylie, who now sobbed pitifully against his chest.

“Arthur… I—I didn’t mean to upset her. Maybe I said too much…” Kylie’s voice quivered, her tears glistening in the garden lights.

“What the hell were you thinking, Diana?!” Arthur’s furious roar stabbed through me as I trembled in the water. His glare burned with anger, not at Kylie, but at me.

“I didn’t push her!” I choked, shivering violently. “She—she shoved me!”

Kylie shook her head quickly, her sobs growing louder. “No, no… Diana must be upset. Don’t blame her, Arthur. She’s my sister. I don’t want her to feel humiliated.”

Her false kindness only painted me crueler in everyone’s eyes.

“I was the one who was pushed into the water,” I cried, my voice cracking. “Yet you still blame me. Why, Arthur?”

His jaw tightened. “Because I know Kylie. She’s always been kind—she would never harm anyone. It’s you who twists the truth, Diana. You’re framing your innocent sister.”

My body went cold. “Innocent?” I whispered, my heart sinking.

Arthur’s expression didn’t waver. “Apologize to her, Diana. Right now. Or stay in that water until you freeze for all I care.”

“I won’t,” I whispered, my teeth chattering.

“What did you say?” His tone sharpened, dangerous.

Arthur’s jaw tightened, his voice like ice. “Apologize to Kylie. Right now. Or stay in that water until you freeze for all I care.”

“I won’t,” I whispered, my teeth chattering.

“What did you say?” His tone sharpened, dangerous.

“I said I won’t apologize.” My throat burned with the weight of my defiance, tears streaming down my cold cheeks.

Arthur’s face darkened. Without another glance at me, he scooped Kylie into his arms. “Fine. Since you’re so stubborn, you can freeze there.”

And with that, he carried Kylie back toward the mansion, her sobs echoing sweetly into the night, leaving me abandoned in the water.

...

With shaking limbs, I dragged myself out of the pond. My dress clung to me, heavy and dripping, each step painful as I stumbled to the roadside. Trembling, I hailed a cab.

On the way home, my phone rang. It was Aunt Melanie’s daughter, her voice broken with grief.

“Diana… the burial is tomorrow. If you want to see her one last time, you should come early.”

“I will,” I whispered, my voice hoarse, before ending the call.

Tears blurred the city lights as I leaned against the cab window. Shivering, I asked the driver to stop by a boutique. My clothes were soaked through, and I couldn’t go to Aunt Melanie’s funeral like this.

But when I stepped inside, the saleslady’s eyes swept over my dripping form with disdain. “We don’t welcome people like you. Leave before you dirty the place.”

Her sharp words cut deeper than the cold. Faces turned to stare, their judgment burning into me. My throat tightened, but I forced myself to turn around and leave.

I finally found a small thrift shop on a side street. The owner didn’t ask questions, only handed me a secondhand dress at a cheap price. It wasn’t much, but at least it covered me.

Clutching the thin fabric against me, I headed home, tears welling up once again. Aunt Melanie, the only person who had ever loved me, was gone. My husband despised me. My family wished I didn’t exist. And the one who replaced me wanted to strip me of everything.

At that moment, I wondered if there was anything left of me at all.

The morning sky was heavy with gray clouds, as though even the heavens were mourning.

I stood at the edge of the small cemetery, clutching the wilted flowers I had bought from a street vendor. Aunt Melanie’s coffin was already lowered into the ground. Her daughter sobbed quietly, her shoulders trembling.

“She loved you like her own, Diana,” she whispered when she noticed me. “She always said you were the only good thing in her life.”

My throat tightened as I knelt before the grave, tears spilling freely. Aunt Melanie had been my shelter when everyone else turned their backs on me. She had brushed my hair when my mother refused to, cooked warm meals when I was left hungry, and whispered comfort when my brothers mocked me for being different.

Now she was gone.

“I don’t know how to go on without you,” I whispered, my tears wetting the freshly turned soil. “But I promise… I’ll visit whenever I can.”

It felt like burying not just Aunt Melanie, but also the last fragment of warmth in my life.

…

By the time I returned to the mansion, the sun had already dipped behind the horizon. The house was unusually quiet, but as I walked upstairs, muffled sounds drifted from the master bedroom.

I froze mid-step. My heart clenched painfully as I edged closer.

The door was ajar. Through the crack, I saw what I had feared all along—two bodies entwined on the bed.

Kylie’s soft moans filled the room as Arthur kissed her neck, his hands caressing her as if she were his most precious treasure.

“Arthur…” she whispered breathlessly. “Shouldn’t you take off your ring?”

“No,” he murmured, pressing his lips against her shoulder. “It’s hotter this way. Forbidden love. If only Diana were half as enticing as you.”

My vision blurred, my chest constricting so tightly I could barely breathe. My husband—my Arthur—was making love to Kylie in the very bed that had once been ours.

I leaned against the wall, numb. I never expected my marriage to end like this.

At first, life with Arthur had been like any ordinary marriage. We were deeply in love—or so I thought. When my family discovered I wasn’t related to them by blood, they had wanted to cast me out immediately. If not for the marriage alliance, they would have disowned me without hesitation. Instead, they decided to adopt Kylie and send her abroad to complete her studies.

I had been heartbroken then, but at least Arthur was still by my side. He was the one I turned to when my family shunned me. He had been my comfort, my refuge, the man I thought would never betray me.

But it turned out, everything had all been an illusion. He was never mine to begin with.

The sound of the bedroom door creaking open snapped me out of my thoughts.

I staggered back, just as Arthur stepped into the hall with Kylie nestled in his arms. They froze when they saw me standing there, my face pale, my eyes brimming with tears.