Cerita Pendek Bittersweet Romance & Novel Independence Face Slapping

My fiancé Damian Crowley and I'd been together for six years. But the night before my wedding, he demanded that I let my twin sister, Chloe Lambert, take my place as the bride. "Chloe doesn't have much time left. This is her only dream. Think of it as granting your sister's last wish." My own parents jabbed their fingers in my face and yelled at me too. They said I owed Chloe my life. It was only a wedding, they said, and I should stop being so selfish. Three years ago, I'd slipped and fallen into the water, and Chloe had supposedly risked her life to save me. She'd been in fragile health ever since. From then on, my family blamed me for everything. I walked on eggshells around them and gave Chloe whatever she wanted to repay that debt. I told myself I owed her, so I gave in to every demand, no matter how unreasonable. Now they wanted me to give up my wedding too. I looked at Chloe hiding behind my fiancé, barely able to keep the triumph off her face. My fingers closed around the contents of my bag: a falsified medical record with an official hospital stamp and proof of what had really happened three years ago. I smiled coldly and nodded. This time, I wouldn't just give them what they wanted. I'd give them a wedding the whole city would talk about.

I was in a temporary shock from an allergic reaction. The two guys I had grown up with didn't even look my way. One of them was busy helping Vivian Byrd carry a pile of gifts, while the other was snapping pictures of her at some popular social media spot. It was a stranger passing by who called an ambulance and got me to the hospital, saving my life. The next day, Vivian called, her tone almost smug. "Trish, Zeke and Hendrick were so exhausted after shopping with me yesterday. I heard you threw a tantrum and ended up in the hospital. Should I come visit you?" I simply replied, "No need." Zeke Benson and Hendrick Peay were my childhood friends. They once treated me like I was everything to them—promising to pluck the moon and stars from the sky and to protect me forever. But ever since Vivian came into the picture, their world no longer revolved around me. I thought for a moment and then dialed my mother's number. "Mom, I'll accept the marriage arrangement."

A once-in-a-century blizzard slammed into Grace Harbor without warning, and we lost contact with the plane my fiancé, Cedric Vaughn, was flying. I radioed the crew from the control tower 99 times. Not a word came back. The airline put together a rescue team. I was about to sign up when a coworker stopped me. "An avalanche just hit the area where the plane went down, Cassandra. You can't go out there. It's too dangerous. Cedric would never want you risking your life for him!" I pushed his hand away. My voice came out hoarse. "But he's my fiancé. We're getting married in one week!" I went into the danger zone with the search-and-rescue team. During the rescue, a piece of wreckage went clean through my shoulder. Even then, giving up never once crossed my mind. I dug for 18 hours before I finally dragged the badly injured pilot out of the wreckage. It wasn't until I wiped the blood and grime off his face that I realized it wasn't Cedric. The rescue team leader kept his eyes on the ground, unable to look at me. "The truth is, Cedric secretly got another pilot to cover his flight three days ago. He went on an island getaway with Elena instead!" I didn't want to believe it. With shaking hands, I called him. It rang and rang. No one picked up. A second later, a notification popped up on my phone. Elena Marsh had posted on Instagram. In the photo, she was wearing a skimpy red bikini on a beach at sunset, kissing Cedric with his arms wrapped around her. Then I saw the caption. "Cedric says what we have is true love. "He's only marrying that 200-pound pig for her money. His heart belongs to me." I looked down at my torn, bloody hands and deleted his number. A plane that drifts off course can still turn back. But if Cedric's heart had picked a new destination, I knew what I had to do. I was done keeping the tower lights on for him.