It was the day we were supposed to remember Mom's passing.

I waited and waited.

Dad had someone bring over fresh flowers.

However, there was no sign of Matthias.

After three unanswered calls, the fourth was finally picked up.

It was Anna's mom on the line. "Emma, is that you? Are you looking for Matthias?"

"Today is my mom's death anniversary."

"Oh dear! It's your mom's deathday? We're so forgetful. I'm so sorry.

"Our puppy just had babies today, and Matthias and Anna were so excited that they forgot all about today...

"It's too late to come over now. What should we do?"

"Mrs. Jones, who are you talking to?"

"It's Emma. She sounds upset. What should we do, Matthias?"

"Hey, Emma?" I heard Matthias's voice.

I hung up right away and blocked his number.

Mom's smiling face looked down at me from the black and white photo on her gravestone.

Her smile was full of love and kindness.

April had rolled around again.

I sat there on the ground, feeling like I was at the bottom of a freezing pit.

I hugged the photo of Mom and kissed it.

'It's alright. I'm here, and I'll never forget you, Mom,' I thought to myself.

After leaving the lawyer's office, I got back to our little house.

To my surprise, I saw Walter and two others there.

Anna was in the middle of the trio, holding a big bouquet and beaming with joy.

Matthias was the first to speak.

"Emma, look at Anna. She's done something amazing! Her design just won a major international prize."

"I just wanted to follow in your footsteps, Emma," Anna said, her voice timid and humble.

Looking over the design’s draft, Walter let out a snort. "Follow in her footsteps?

"She got her master's degree, yet she’s never won any awards like this before.

"Designing is all about having a gift, Anna. Don't sell yourself short."

Something on the draft caught my eye.

I could not resist stepping closer and grabbing it from Walter.

Each page was nearly identical to my rough draft.

Anna had stolen my ideas to win the prize!

"You copied my designs! Anna, how could you be so dishonest?!"

Anger made me shake all over, and I lifted my hand to slap her.

However, before I could, Walter grabbed my wrist tightly.

A sudden, strong push sent me tumbling to the ground in a heap.

"Emma, you've been stubborn since you were little, and I've put up with it for so long.

"Anna won the prize fair and square. You’re accusing her of stealing your design, but where's your proof? Without evidence, you're just making things up."

"Emma, I swear I didn't copy your design.

"You've never liked me, so when would I even have gotten the chance to touch your computer?"

Feeling upset, Anna just crumbled into Walter's arms.

I whipped around to face Matthias.

My computer was always in the study.

He spent a lot of time there too.

Matthias looked away, his guilt clear.

Was it not obvious what was going on?

"Emma, just look at yourself."

Walter towered over me, all high and mighty.

He flung a bracelet at me, and it clattered to the floor by my feet.

"I can't figure out why I ever liked you."

I was about to snap back at him, but then I saw the necklace Anna was wearing.

My whole body shook with anger when I recognized it.

It was the tulip diamond necklace Mom had left for me.

"Matthias, how could you give her Mom's necklace?"

I pointed at Anna, my eyes blazing.

Matthias bit his lip, looking extremely uncomfortable. "Emma..."

Anna was already crying, trying to take off the necklace.

"I'm so sorry, Emma. I didn't realize it was from your mom. I'll return it right away."

Her tears kept falling.

Matthias could not stand to see her sad. "Anna, keep it. I gave it to you."

He turned to me. "It's just some jewelry. Anna likes it, so she should have it.

"I'll get you an even nicer one, Emma."

My heart felt like it was being sliced open, and my voice shook as I said, "Mom left that to me, Matthias. You can't just decide what to do with it.

"I'd rather destroy it than let that woman's daughter have it!"

Matthias's face turned red with a mix of shame and anger for just a second. "Emma, you shouldn't be so mean to Anna.”

"She's got nothing to do with our family’s past rivalries.”

Anna was crying, her face in her hands.

Walter stepped up and wrapped his arms around her. "Emma, that's enough!" he said.

"It's just a silly old necklace. Let her have it."

He yanked off the necklace and threw it down hard. "Come on. I'll buy you a new one that’s way nicer and more expensive."

Matthias looked at me and let out a heavy sigh. "Emma, why do you always have to be like this and cause such a fuss?

"Anna's already having a tough time, yet you just can't seem to let her be.

"Can't you try to be a little nicer? You should be more ladylike.”

"Emma, you've won plenty of design competitions before. You'll have other chances to win big.

"Anna really needs this win. It'll help her make a name for herself so the Reagle family accepts her."

He reached out to help me up. "Emma..."

"Go away!" I pushed his hand off and started to laugh.

"Brother." That was the last time I would ever call Matthias that and the last time I would ever look at him for real.

"You'll get what's coming to you," I told him.

Matthias frowned but could not look me in the eye. "Emma, I'll make it up to you," he said.

Then, he ran off after Walter and Anna.

I knelt down, picked up the necklace, and held it close to my heart. I was frozen in place for what felt like forever.

I did not shed even a single tear.

It turned out that when a person felt the most devastated they had ever felt, they would not even be able to cry.

The sun dipped below the horizon.

A blood-red glow swallowed everything.

The television said it would get hotter in the next few days.

It was dry, so we had to be careful about fires.