Chapter 3 Even the Flowers Were Hers

At 3 p.m., there was a knock on my bedroom door.

It was Mom, with Riley standing behind her.

Mom shoved a rag and a mop into my hands. "Riley's boyfriend will be here in a couple of days. Clean the house properly. Don't let Riley embarrass herself."

I looked up at them. Both of them were dressed beautifully, their faces made up as though they were heading somewhere important.

My grip tightened around the mop.

I raised a hand and pointed at Riley. "What about her? What is she supposed to do?"

Mom frowned, clearly growing impatient. "I'm taking Riley to pick out a couple of outfits. The spotlight will be on her, so she needs to look her best. Stop comparing yourself to your sister. She's different from you."

With that, Mom took Riley's hand and walked away, leaving me no room to object.

However, she seemed to have forgotten that I was the one actually getting married. Compared to Riley, I had more reason to dress up.

But Mom did not seem to care.

…

By the time I finished cleaning, it was already 5 p.m.

Scott came home from work and immediately stepped onto the floor I had just mopped.

He was carrying two bouquets of roses. One had 99 roses, while the other had only nine. He hid the larger bouquet from view.

His footprints trailed across the living room before abruptly stopping at Riley's bedroom door. He turned around and came back to me, holding the bouquet of nine roses. "Here. These are for you. I'm going to surprise Riley, so you have to keep this a secret."

I took the bouquet in my arms. Gradually, my nose began to itch and swell, and my heart tightened little by little.

When Riley was born, Scott and I were in the same position. In that corner of the hospital, we were both forgotten by the entire world.

At the time, Scott reached for my hand.

He saw how lost and helpless I was, and he protected the little bit of hurt I carried in my heart. I had thought that at least I still had Scott in this family. But as Riley grew older and started calling out to Scott, even that last bit of comfort was taken from me.

Scott had said, "She's my sister too. It wouldn't be fair to her."

Yet eventually, I was the only one who was treated unfairly.

From then on, his heart had clearly favored her.

When he saw my eyes turning red, he looked both amused and exasperated. "It's just a flower. Do you really have to get this emotional? Don't tell me your boyfriend managed to win you over with little gestures like this."

I set the flowers down and wiped away the tears gathering in my eyes before explaining, "He's actually never gotten me flowers because he knows I'm allergic to pollen."

Scott's smug look froze instantly.

After a long moment, he apologized, though no trace of guilt crossed his face. "Sorry. I didn't know. I just wanted to make Riley happy. The florist said if I bought 99 roses, they'd throw in nine extra. I didn't know you were allergic."

So, even the roses that made me sick had merely been Riley's leftovers.

I opened my mouth, wanting to tell him that he did know. He had given me flowers at my graduation ceremony, too, and he saw firsthand how miserable my allergies made me that day.

But in the end, all I said was, "It's okay."

It really did not matter now. After all, once I got married, we would only be relatives.

Not family.