Too Late to Choose Me

Erica's POV

By the time I got home, the house was packed with relatives.

Madelyn Swanson stood in the middle of the crowd with her arm linked through Joseph Crosby's. Smiling, she directed the workers as they hung an enormous wedding portrait in the living room.

Everyone immediately started gushing over it.

"Wow, that could be an ad for a wedding photographer."

"Madelyn and Joseph look perfect together. Those two were made for each other."

Madelyn's cheeks were flushed pink, and beneath the crystal chandelier, she looked radiant.

"Oh, stop. I was only filling in for Erica because she wasn't feeling well. If she hears you talking like this, she'll get the wrong idea again."

The smiles around the room disappeared.

Mom and Dad sighed.

"She's always been so petty. I don't know where she gets it from."

"She's having a rough pregnancy, so now she expects everyone to wait on her hand and foot. Then she gets jealous over nothing and picks fights with Joseph. Joseph and Madelyn are the only ones patient enough to put up with her."

So that was how they saw me.

My morning sickness had gotten so bad I couldn't even get out of bed. I'd even had to go to the hospital for injections to keep the pregnancy stable.

To Mom and Dad, I was just being dramatic.

I didn't want Madelyn taking my place in the wedding photos with Joseph. All I'd wanted was to postpone the shoot.

To Mom and Dad, that made me petty and jealous.

I looked around at the people who had once mattered most to me.

Mom and Dad were there, along with my twin sister and my fiancé, the father of my child. Not one of them stood up for me.

I almost laughed.

Someone finally noticed me and called out my name.

No one explained. No one apologized. The relatives quickly scattered, and Mom and Dad left too.

Within moments, the room was empty except for the wedding decorations. Suddenly, even looking at them hurt.

Only then did I get a good look at the enormous wedding portrait.

Madelyn wore a white gown, and Joseph stood beside her in a suit. They were by the lake at sunset, their fingers laced together.

I'd chosen the location and planned the pose myself. I'd pictured that exact photo more times than I could count.

And now Joseph and Madelyn had taken it together instead.

Madelyn walked over, looking pleased with herself as she admired the portrait.

"Well, Erica? What do you think? I did a pretty good job standing in for you, didn't I?"

In the photo, Madelyn looked almost exactly like me. The only difference was the tiny beauty mark at the corner of my eye. She didn't have one.

That tiny mark was enough to tell us apart.

Everyone knew the woman in the portrait wasn't me. Yet Joseph, of all people, kept insisting he couldn't tell the difference.

And every time he used that excuse, Madelyn took my place in another moment that should have belonged to us.

When I didn't respond, Madelyn bit her lip.

"Erica, don't you like it? If you don't, I'll throw it away right now!"

Joseph frowned at me. "Madelyn was just trying to help you. Why are you giving her attitude?"