My Family, My Friends, My Fiancé, All Hers Chapter 02
My brother, Ryan Anderson, came out in a groomsman’s suit. The moment he saw me, his brows pulled together.
A whole crowd streamed out behind him. Every face was familiar.
There was my boyfriend of five years, my best friend of ten years, the friends I’d grown up with, and even the scholarship student I’d supported through college.
Everyone had someone beside them. I was the only one left standing alone.
They looked like a line of knights surrounding Chloe in the middle, their eyes full of suspicion as they stared at me.
It was as if I were the one villain in an otherwise perfect fairy tale.
I gave a self-mocking laugh.
“Yeah, I’m here. So are you going to call the cops and have me arrested again?”
My brother’s expression stiffened. Something uneasy flickered across his face.
Dad tried to explain.
“Claire, don’t blame your brother. He had no choice. Chloe’s health is fragile. If she found out you’d come home early, she would’ve had another episode.”
Mom quickly joined in.
“Exactly. You’re the older sister. Can’t you just let your little sister have this?”
You’re the older sister, so give in to her.
I’d heard those words my entire life. The truth was, I had been born only twenty-seven seconds before Chloe.
Because of those twenty-seven seconds, whenever we had to choose between two things, I was always left with whatever no one else wanted.
Dresses. Dolls. Birthday cakes… Even my fiancé.
Just because I was the older sister, no one had ever asked what I wanted or what I liked.
Chloe’s eyes reddened as she stepped forward and caught the edge of my shirt.
“Claire, I’m sorry. I never meant to keep this from you.”
“Ethan said he didn’t want me to leave for treatment with regrets… If you’re angry, I’ll take off this dress and give it back to you right now.”
She reached for her veil, but the friends beside her rushed to stop her.
“Chloe, you’re just too kind. You’re always thinking about everyone else.”
“Yeah. Unlike certain older sisters who have to make a scene and scream at a wedding.”
Ethan pulled Chloe into his arms and sighed.
“Chloe’s only taking back what was hers in the first place.”
“Don’t worry. Once Chloe gets better, I’ll marry you.”
I stared at him as if I’d never known him at all.
“What do you mean, what was hers? Ethan, what are you talking about?”
My brother gave a cold laugh, his impatience no longer hidden.
“You really thought you were the one Ethan fell for at first sight?”
“He met Chloe first. You two just happened to look exactly alike.”
“When he met you later, he mistook you for her and asked for your number. If Chloe hadn’t discovered the truth when you brought him home to meet the family, Ethan would’ve married a woman he didn’t love.”
I stood frozen, my head ringing.
In an instant, everything that had never felt right seemed to have an answer.
Four years ago, on my birthday, I brought Ethan home to meet my parents for the first time.
I had only stepped out to buy Chloe a coffee, but by the time I came back, Ethan’s attitude had completely changed.
He grew hot and cold. Sometimes he’d stare at me absently and say I looked prettier with glasses.
But I didn’t need glasses. Chloe had always been the one who wore them.
So from that day on, four of the five years I’d spent with him had been a lie.
I turned toward the people standing between me and Chloe, my voice shaking.
“What about all of you?”
“Jason, when your business went under and predatory lenders came after you at home, I emptied fifty thousand dollars from my savings and paid off your debt.”
“Megan, when your parents tried to force you into a marriage in exchange for money, I got you out and paid your way through college.”
“And you, Alex. You’re my cousin. We’ve been family since before we were born. You copied my homework when we were kids, and when we grew up, I gave you a job at my company. What exactly did I ever do to you?”
…
“I’ve given all of you everything I had. Why did you join forces to lie to me?”
The crowd fell silent for a moment. Only Megan curled her lip.
“See? I told you she’d hold every favor over our heads.”
“What was that little bit of money, anyway? Chloe introduced me to a great boyfriend. Women can read all the books they want, but don’t they still have to get married? She was always telling me to focus on school, and she still ended up finding a man as good as her brother-in-law.”
Jason, my childhood friend, nodded along.
“Claire Anderson, didn’t you help us just to show off how self-righteous you were?”
“If Chloe hadn’t comforted me when I was at my lowest, I would’ve killed myself.”
“Compared with your fake concern, Chloe’s the one who’s truly kind.”
I looked at them, filled with regret.
They had eaten the meals I’d cooked and spent my money.
Yet for Chloe, they had crushed me into the dirt without a second thought.
Everything I’d poured into them, day after day and night after night, had turned into one humiliating joke after another.
A trace of pity crossed Ethan’s eyes. He instinctively reached out to wipe away my tears.
“Claire, stop this. Once Chloe’s better, I’ll take you to Miami to make it up to you…”
I dodged his hand and straightened my back.
“Don’t wait.”
“Ethan Carter, this time, I’m the one who doesn’t want you.”
“We’re over.”
