HER SILVERLINING

“I promise you, once I resolve all of this, I’ll return to help you manage the transportation point for the goods,” I said on the phone, then hung up.

Staring at the room I had lived in for nine years, I couldn't help but smile bitterly. Nine years of waiting, compromising, and giving. In the end, it was just a false dream.

Lost in memories, I accidentally knocked over a photo frame that had been placed on the shelf. It was a photo of Emma’s biological mother and my husband, David.

Today was the Smith family's usual banquet. Emma, at nine years old, pushed me hard in front of many core members.

I was off guard. Though Emma was very young, she was quite strong. I stumbled and knocked over a bottle of red wine on the table. The red liquid slid from my shoulder into my chest, a chill run through my heart.

She looked at me, embarrassed and disheveled, with a smug smile on her face.

“Why do you break things in this house?”

She didn’t allow the maid to help me up, holding the photo frame up to me:

“It’s your malice that killed my mother. Everything you’re going through is your own doing.”

I was wearing high heels, and the fall had twisted my ankle. I couldn’t get up by myself.

Signora Smith saw my embarrassment and hurried over.

She scolded the maid beside her:

“How can you listen to a child? Ashley is the Donna of this family.”

But she only scolded the innocent maid. With a charitable smile, her tone was as distant as David’s:

“Ashley, you know Emma is just used to the fact that David only loves her mother.”

Seeing me frozen and speechless, Signora Smith lost patience:

“Alright, go change your clothes. As the Donna of this family, this appearance is a disgrace to the Smith family.”

I took a deep breath, enduring the pain in my ankle as I went upstairs. The woman in the photo frame was not only Emma’s mother but also my twin sister. She died after giving birth to Emma.

But nine years ago, I should have become David Smith's wife.

Though we were the result of a family arranged marriage, we had known and loved each other long before. — Now it seems I was the only one who thought so.

Before the wedding, a sudden change occurred.

He married my sister Lily, and shortly after, she got pregnant, living the life that should have been mine. But after Lily died during childbirth, I was labeled as the "monster."

Because of jealousy, I wanted to replace my sister. Unfortunately, David loved Lily deeply.

Even with the same appearance, he could immediately tell I was not Lily.

But as the only remaining daughter of my family, I went from being the fiancée to being Lily's replacement bride, marrying David, and taking care of her daughter.

There wasn’t even a wedding ceremony, just a simple family meal.

After the meal, my father repeatedly reminded me:

“Do not affect the family business, our transaction point relies entirely on the Smith family.”

Over these nine years, I treated Emma as my own daughter, always loving David. But now I finally understood my foolishness.

David never loved me.

The indifference from him and Emma over the years made me clearly realize that I was just an empty Donna.

Doing Donna’s work but still lower than a servant.

If it were four years ago, when David lost his temper today, I would have patiently soothed him, begging for his forgiveness — simply because I loved David.

But now, I’ve had enough.

What’s laughable is that Emma has no idea that the photo in the frame was stolen from me by her mother.

At the time, Signora Smith hired a photographer to take a photo of David and me. But Lily lied, saying Father wanted to discuss family matters with me, and I missed it.

Signora Smith blamed me for being unreliable and had Lily take the photo with David.

Little by little, everything of mine was stolen by Lily.

“The core members have arrived, the banquet is about to begin, where are you, Ashley?” David’s voice came from outside the bedroom, pulling me back to reality.

I collected myself and was just leaving the bathroom when he barged in.