Chapter 3

His reply came almost immediately.

"Okay."

I collapsed onto my bed and closed my eyes, exhausted in every possible way.

People came looking for me throughout the day.

Mason apologized and told me not to overthink things. He insisted he treated Lily like a younger sister.

Jessica sent message after message, claiming I had pre-wedding anxiety and offering to take me to a movie.

I knew exactly what they were doing.

They wanted to keep me calm.

They were terrified I would discover the truth, create a scene, and ruin Lily's wedding.

I had no time for any of them.

I began sorting my belongings for the trip two days away.

Then I emailed my resignation, and my supervisor immediately called me in a rage.

"Amelia, the client discovered that your campaign proposal was plagiarized, and now you're trying to disappear?"

"You're not leaving until you cover the company's losses."

I froze.

I had spent three months developing that proposal. Every concept and every line had come from me.

How could I have plagiarized it?

I searched for the person who supposedly owned the original work.

The name that appeared was Lily Reynolds.

Years earlier, my parents had forced the same company to hire Lily because they wanted me to "look after her."

She lacked the experience for promotion and had been passed over several times.

Now, using my proposal, she had jumped straight into an associate director position.

"Jessica, thank you so much!"

Lily hugged Jessica in the living room, glowing with excitement.

I carried the proposal downstairs and threw it onto the table in front of them.

Jessica's face went white.

"Explain."

I stared at the woman I had considered family, each breath scraping through my chest.

"Only two people outside the company have been inside my office: Mason and you.

"He never knew the security code. You did, because you claimed you had an emergency the last time you visited."

"I-I don't know what you're talking about."

Jessica forced herself to look composed and lifted her chin.

"Amelia, you can be unbelievably stubborn.

"It's one proposal. Why couldn't you be generous and let your sister use it to build her career?"

I could hardly believe what I was hearing.

"Jessica, you're my best friend-"

"She's right. Why shouldn't an older sister help her younger sister?" Owen interrupted as he entered the room.

"Consider the proposal your promotion gift to Lily.

"This discussion is over. No one will mention it again."

They moved in front of Lily.

One was my twin brother. The other had once been closer to me than family.

Both had betrayed me to protect her.

I let out a bitter laugh. Then I noticed the heavy gold bracelet around Lily's wrist.

It was supposed to be part of my wedding gift from my mother.

She had claimed she was short on funds and persuaded me to transfer twenty-eight thousand dollars toward a set of family jewelry that would be returned to me after the ceremony.

Apparently, the bracelet had belonged to Lily all along.

"It wasn't safe in your room, so we asked your sister to hold it," my parents said without a trace of shame.

"So what if you contributed twenty-eight thousand dollars? Raising you cost us far more than that.

"Lily can keep the bracelet for now. We'll discuss the money later. Why are you being so impatient?"

Their voices were loud.

Not one of them dared meet my eyes.

I studied my family and the woman I had called my closest friend, and the last of my hope disappeared.

"All right." I smiled faintly.

"The proposal, the jewelry, the money...

"If you want them, keep them.

"From this moment on, I am no longer part of the Reynolds family."

The room erupted behind me.

They demanded answers, cursed me, and accused me of being ungrateful.

A roaring filled my ears until I could no longer understand a word.

I returned to my bedroom and turned the camera toward myself.

After seeing the photograph, I finally felt at peace.

Tomorrow was the wedding.

It was also the day I would leave.

I had not expected Mason to spend the night before our wedding at my parents' house.

And I certainly had not expected to find him around the hallway corner, holding Lily as they kissed like they could not get enough of each other.