Chapter 2

Anton's POV

The video abruptly ended. I looked up and stared at myself in the mirror. The suit didn't fit. The sleeves were too short, making it look terribly awkward on me. It was the style Julian liked, and it was his size.

I took the suit off. It took me a long time to finally pull it off. Suddenly, I found it all absurd. I was the groom, yet I hadn't been involved in my own wedding.

My phone screen lit up. A message suddenly appeared in the family group chat. "Congratulations, Vivian…"

I hadn't even finished reading the rest when the message was immediately deleted.

The next moment, Vivian tagged me in the group chat. "Anton, I've suddenly got a stomachache. Harper and the others are taking me to the hospital, so the wedding is on hold. You've had a long day too. What do you want to eat? We'll bring something back for you."

Before I could reply, Julian answered for me. "Anton likes the ravioli shop near the school."

Vivian replied instantly. "Okay."

But I had long since forgotten this place. Julian was the one who loved the food there. He had brought me there several times. I didn't know when it started, but somehow, everything he liked became something I liked too. Not a single trait he remembered about me was actually mine.

My family kept chatting in the group, and the message count quickly shot past 99. I had already figured it out. Besides this group, they had another group without me. If anyone sent a message there by mistake, it would quickly get buried under a bunch of new messages.

I started typing a message, wanting to ask what that congratulations was all about. But halfway through, I deleted it.

I could never get a word in when they were chatting. Whenever I occasionally sent a message or two in the group, everyone would silently ignore it. It wasn't as if I had never spoken up.

But Julian said, "Anton, you're too quiet. You only send a sentence or two, so we really don't notice."

After that, I tried my best to text more. If no one responded, I would repeat myself several times.

Vivian frowned and interrupted me. "Anton, sending it once is enough. We can read your texts perfectly well."

Of course they could. They simply chose to ignore my words and chose to treat me like a mute.

A message from a colleague remained on my phone. "Anton, the station's team of reporters being sent to Dalton is still looking for a sign language interpreter. Are you interested?"

Ever since I heard about this job, I had been planning to discuss it with Vivian. But I didn't need to anymore.

After sending off my application for the assignment, I went straight to my room and started packing. All the important things had already been moved to the new house. Only a pile of old clothes remained. They were all things Julian no longer wore. Once I finished packing, I threw every last one of them away.

Vivian and Julian didn't come home until very late that night. Mom and Julian's father, Caleb Cadwell, came back with them. Even Vivian's parents were there.

They thought I wasn't home, so they sat around the couch and started talking. I was just about to leave when I heard Vivian crying. "Julian, what should I do? Anton and I just got married, and now I'm pregnant with your child."

My mind went blank.

The next moment, Julian patted Vivian's back and pulled her into his arms. "Don't worry. We'll get our marriage license first, then explain it to him later. If we just talk to him, he'll understand."

Mom stared at Vivian's belly, looking nervous. "Vivian, don't cry. You need to take care of the baby."

Vivian's mother, Cindy Garcia, chimed in, "You've already had the wedding. All that's left is to get the marriage certificate. You might as well make this official."

Vivian's father, Josiah Wilder, shook Caleb's hand, smiling. "Now we're officially in-laws. That's great."

"We're family now. There's no need to be so formal."

I felt a chill run down my spine. I clenched my fists in anger, and suddenly, everything became clear. The message they had deleted in the group chat was actually a message congratulating my future wife on becoming pregnant with my stepbrother's child.

I knew I could never win against Julian when it came to winning over the family. But I had never imagined that everyone already knew the two of them were together, yet they chose to keep me in the dark. And like a fool, I had played along with their charade.