Chapter 1

The day before I was supposed to have the biggest, most beautiful wedding with my fiancé, Ellison Perez, my adopted sister, Becky, had a really bad day. She got super upset and started yelling about wanting to jump off the roof.

So, for the 18th time, Ellison put off our wedding to take care of her.

This time, we had to wait a whole month.

I was standing in the living room, just staring at the mess Becky had made. There were broken vases everywhere, and the photos and paintings that used to hang on the walls were all over the floor, stepped on and ruined.

I picked up one of the photos. It was from when I won a painting contest as a little kid. Mom and Dad had been so proud, they even put it in a frame for me.

Next to it was another photo that had been ripped right down the middle. It was from when Ellison and I went on a trip together.

In it, I was laughing while standing on my toes to give him a kiss on the cheek. He looked kind of embarrassed, which was rare for him.

However, that photo had been torn in two, and no matter how hard I tried, I could not put the pieces back together.

Ellison came out and saw me on the floor with the photos. He looked surprised for a second when he saw them, but then he looked away.

"Lily, let the cleaning crew handle this. Becky's asking for your mushroom soup. Why don't you go make her some?" he said.

I did not listen to him. I just kept picking up the broken pieces, not even noticing that I had cut my fingers on the glass.

Ellison got worried, came over, and pulled me up. "Come on, don't be upset. Becky really wants your soup right now."

"But what about the photos..."

"We can always take more photos. We've got all the time in the world," he said.

Time… When he said that, it felt like my heart got pinched. I had heard that so many times before.

A whole year had passed since Ellison asked me to marry him, and I had said yes with a heart full of joy. However, things did not go as planned. He kept putting off our wedding for Becky.

The first time, Becky hurt her ankle, and Ellison looked after her for a week, so we had to wait. The second time, Becky's cat got lost, and Ellison spent two weeks searching for it, so we had to wait again.

The third time, Becky felt really down and said she wanted to hurt herself, so Ellison stayed by her side for almost a whole month, leaving us to wait some more.

He always told me there was no need to hurry, that we had lots of time ahead of us. However, it was already the 18th time.

He did not realize that I could not wait any longer.

I felt a wave of sadness, and I tried to ask him.

"What if I can't wait any longer? I can't wait for another month, Ellison. I really—"

Becky's loud voice cut me off from the other room. "Ellison, is the soup ready? I'm so hungry!"

Ellison let out a big sigh. "Lily, this isn't the time for you to be upset. Becky is only like this because of you. You have to look after her."

I wanted to say something back, but when I looked into his eyes, I just could not. Those eyes that used to look at me with so much love were only filled with worry for Becky right now.

I guess it did not matter much since I felt like I did not have much time left. So, I decided to let them have their happiness.

I let go of the photo I was holding and managed a smile.

"Fine, I'll do it."