"Every single day, holed up in that room. Can't even come down for a meal without someone fetching her!"

"Nora, you go get her."

Jennifer didn't bother hiding her irritation. She'd figured it out long ago—no matter what happened, Mom and Dad's hearts would always tip in her favor.

The privilege of being loved was knowing you could get away with anything.

Nora went upstairs and knocked on the door.

"Miss Minnie, are you up?"

No answer. Nora assumed I was still asleep and hurried back down.

"Sir, ma'am, Miss Minnie doesn't seem to be up yet."

Mom's face darkened with anger.

"She thinks hiding in her room means she won't have to go through with the marriage? How naive. Forget her. Let's eat."

"Here, Jennifer, have some more."

Mom's expression shifted instantly, her voice dripping with honey.

"Don't you go copying her. If you starved yourself, it would break my heart."

Dad piled food onto Jennifer's plate too, heaping it with meat until the bowl could barely hold any more.

In the two years I'd lived here, the number of times they'd served me food at the table didn't even fill one hand.

How was this fair? I was the one with the illness. Jennifer was perfectly healthy and had parents who adored her on top of it. What had I done wrong to deserve this?

Grief and fury surged through me. I wanted to knock Jennifer's bowl off the table, but my hand passed straight through it.

Watching the happy smile on Jennifer's face, my entire soul trembled.

Then the doorbell rang.

In the middle of lunch—who could that be?

Nora went to answer.

Several bodyguards flanked a man in a wheelchair, pushing him forward.

When Mom and Dad saw who it was, they both shot to their feet.

So this was the man I was supposed to marry. Aside from his legs, it was hard to find a single flaw. Tall, with sharply defined features—he could have passed for a movie star.

"Mr. Sanchez! You should've called ahead so I could've picked you up. What brings you all this way?"

"Have you eaten lunch yet?"

Dad waved for Nora to go prepare more dishes in the kitchen.

But Ronnie Sanchez stopped her. "No need. I'm here on business."

Jennifer's gaze hadn't left him once, a flicker of worry threading through her delight.

"Mr. Sanchez, right this way."

They moved to the living room. Dad busied himself making tea.

Ronnie got straight to the point.

"The marriage arrangement—has Miss Henson made her decision? If she's agreeable, we can register the marriage next Tuesday."

"Marrying you would be her good fortune. We'll follow whatever arrangements work for your side."

Dad didn't hesitate for a second. When profit was on the line, family meant nothing—let alone a daughter he'd abandoned as a baby.

Mom spoke up, curious.

"Mr. Sanchez, why the sudden rush to register?"

I could feel it. Her question had nothing to do with concern for me.

Dad shot Mom a sharp look.

"What kind of question is that? Mr. Sanchez has his reasons."

Mom let out an awkward laugh.

"I was just asking. I didn't mean anything by it."

Ronnie took a sip of tea and explained.

"My grandfather would like to see Miss Henson and me married soon."

There was something about him—a deep, tightly suppressed sadness. I tried to read his eyes for answers, but his expression gave nothing away.

"Is Miss Henson home? I'd like to meet her."

Before anyone could respond, Jennifer cut in.

"She's still sleeping."

All eyes drifted toward the second floor, toward my bedroom door.

Mom tugged at Jennifer's sleeve.

"Go wake her up."

Jennifer sighed and started up the stairs, muttering under her breath as she went.

"With that face of hers, fresh out of bed? Let's hope she doesn't scare Mr. Sanchez half to death."

"Ugh, now I have to go get her myself."

Jennifer knocked on my bedroom door.

"Hey, get out here! Mr. Sanchez is here to see you!"

"Mom and Dad are both waiting!"

When she got no response, Jennifer's temper flared instantly.

"What, are you mute? I'm talking to you!"

"You really think hiding in your room means you don't have to get married? Mr. Sanchez just said you're registering the marriage the day after tomorrow."

"Minnie! Can you even hear me? Open the door!"

"I'm giving you three seconds. If you don't, I'll make sure this lock never works again!"

This wasn't the first time Jennifer had broken into my room. Before, whenever we fought, Mom and Dad put on a show of being fair, but they always sided with her. Because I noticed things, because I was sensitive to every small shift, I caught every bit of it. My bedroom was the one private space I had, the only shelter where I could shut out everything I didn't want to feel.

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"Minnie! You just wait. I'm going to get someone to pick this lock right now!"

Jennifer stormed back downstairs in a fury.

"Mr. Sanchez, I'm so sorry. My sister hasn't gotten out of bed yet!"

Dad's expression darkened.

"What happened? Didn't I tell you to bring her down?"

Jennifer explained, her voice dripping with wounded innocence.

"I tried, Dad! She's locked herself in her room and won't open the door!"

She ground her teeth and, right there in front of Ronnie, started tearing me apart.

"Well, she grew up in an orphanage, so what do you expect? We have a guest in the house and she can't even come down to say hello. No manners whatsoever!"

"Mr. Sanchez, my sister has quite the temper. Are you sure you want to marry her?"

Once Jennifer's emotions took over, nothing was off-limits.

"If it weren't for Mr. Sanchez's leg problems, someone like her would never even get a chance like this! She's handed a golden opportunity and still throws a fit. So dramatic!"

Dad reached over and clamped his hand over Jennifer's mouth, then turned to Ronnie with an apologetic smile.

"Mr. Sanchez, please don't listen to my daughter's nonsense. The marriage arrangement was always meant for Minnie from the very beginning."

Ronnie tightened his grip on the teacup in his hand and looked at Dad.

"To be honest, I don't particularly care who the bride is. I'm only doing this to fulfill my grandfather's wish."

Mom and Dad both let out a breath of relief. Their biggest fear was that Jennifer would say the wrong thing and send all that money walking right out the door.

"However, what was just said? I don't want to hear anything like that again. Minnie is my woman. None of you get to talk about her. If she wants to stay in her room, let her stay."

So this was what a real tycoon looked like?

Ah, what a shame. I was already dead.

It really was a pity, when I thought about it. If I hadn't gotten so worked up, maybe I'd still be alive.

Jennifer's face turned a sickly shade of green.

"She's just some hick who grew up in an orphanage, and Mr. Sanchez is actually defending her!"

Ronnie's gaze shifted to Jennifer. His eyes were glacial.

"Ms. Henson, if I'm not speaking up for her, should I be speaking up for you?"

Mom pulled Jennifer down to sit beside her.

"Mr. Sanchez, please forgive us. My daughter doesn't know any better. I'll make sure to discipline her properly."

"You'd better."

"Since Minnie is still sleeping, I'll come back next Tuesday. We'll go straight to register the marriage then. Let her know."

"I have other matters to attend to. I'll be going."

His bodyguard wheeled Ronnie toward the door. Dad trailed behind them.

"Mr. Sanchez, take care! You're welcome anytime!"

The moment Ronnie was gone, every face in the room changed.

"Dad, he actually stood up for her! How is that fair? I'm supposed to be his fiancee!"

Dad raised his hand, brought it inches from Jennifer's face, then let it drop.

"You..."

He was so angry he downed two cups of tea in a row.

"You were the one who refused to marry him, and now you're jealous? Too late! If you ruin this marriage alliance, every one of those credit cards gets cut off. You can starve for all I care!"

"Dad! Can't we just switch back? I'm willing to marry Mr. Sanchez!"

Jennifer never expected Ronnie to be that magnetic. On top of that, the way he'd spoken up for me had pushed her over the edge.

"You think a marriage alliance is some kind of game? That you can just swap in and out whenever you feel like it?"

Dad let out a long sigh.

"It's not happening."

"But Mr. Sanchez said himself that he doesn't care who the bride is! So just let me go register the marriage instead!"

Jennifer had completely lost it.

Dad couldn't be bothered to entertain her anymore.

She turned to Mom. Mom ignored her too.

So she came back to me, looking for somewhere to dump her rage.

Jennifer kicked my bedroom door.

"You better never come out!"

"What did you do to Mr. Sanchez? Why would he speak up for you?!"

"Open the door, Minnie! I want to switch back! You don't even want to marry him, so let me do it!"

No matter how loud she screamed, there was no response.

Jennifer really thought marriage was like playing house, something she could trade around on a whim.

She didn't stop until her voice gave out. Then she finally went back downstairs.

"Mom, can you do something? She's completely ignoring me!"

"Stop bothering her. The last thing we need is some disaster before the registration."

"Mom, we really can't switch back?"

Jennifer's face was twisted with resentment.

"She just lucked into this!"

"The wedding is set. You were the one who refused. Now you want to switch? You think the Sanchez family is that easy to fool?"

"Fine."

There was still a week until next Tuesday.

When that day came, I wanted to see how everyone planned to handle it.

Mom walked into the kitchen and said a few words to Nora. I couldn't hear what she was saying.

I drifted closer to them.

"Minnie likes chicken nuggets. Save some for her. When she gets hungry, she'll come down and eat."

So Mom had asked Nora to set aside food for me.

Mom still loved me after all.

My eyes stung with tears.

But the moment I remembered how she always favored Jennifer, the warmth that had just flickered to life was snuffed right back out.

"Of course, ma'am. I'll bring a plate up to her later. You go rest now. I've got everything handled here."

"All right. I'll leave you to it."

Mom headed off for her afternoon nap, yawning as she drifted lazily back to her room.

Dad followed her.

That left only Jennifer. Curiosity got the better of her, and she tracked down Nora.

"What did my mom just say to you?"

"Ma'am asked me to save a meal for Minnie."

"Save her a meal? She doesn't deserve it!"

Jennifer was seething.

"Don't you dare save her anything. Not a single bite. I'd rather feed it to the stray dogs outside than leave her a crumb!"

Nora looked deeply uncomfortable.

"Miss Jennifer, those were your mother's instructions."

"So what? I'm Mom's favorite. Minnie is nothing."

"Just do what I say. If anything goes wrong, I'll take the blame. Missing one meal isn't going to kill her."

Nora kept her head down and said nothing.

Jennifer started yawning too.

"Take care of it yourself. I'm going to my room to rest."

I watched from a distance as Jennifer disappeared upstairs.

Only then did Nora spring into action. She didn't listen to Jennifer at all.

"They're sisters, for heaven's sake. How can you deny someone a meal?"

"Same mother, same blood. How did Minnie end up so gentle while the other one turned out like that?"

Nora packed up a plate of food, carried it upstairs, and knocked softly on my door.