She Said It Was Therapy, They Signed A Pardon Chapter 03
Disgust. Contempt. Whispers.
“How dare she show her face here?”
“After three years of drama—depression, suicide attempts to win Noah back—she’s still clinging to him?”
My body went cold. The voices faded, but my chest felt like it was being crushed.
My sister walked up to me, eyes fixed on mine.
“Sis, I know about you and Noah. But today, I really want your blessing.”
She choked up.
“Only if you wish us well will I believe you’ve truly let go of the past. That you’re really recovered.”
I opened my mouth, but my throat was closed. I couldn’t make a sound.
Noah suddenly laughed coldly.
“Forget it.”
He looked at me with undisguised disgust.
“I don’t want a blessing from someone like her. It’s dirty.”
I jerked my head up.
Noah stared at me, enunciating each word.
“Actually, I should thank you. If it hadn’t been for what happened three years ago, I never would have seen you for who you really are. I never would have met someone truly worth loving.”
He paused, as if he needed to watch me break.
“You set me free, and that gave me a chance to meet my real love.”
The crowd roared.
Under their gaze, Noah dropped to one knee.
When the ring box opened, I froze.
That ring.
Three years ago, I’d hunched over a library table, drawing it over and over in my notebook.
A vine-like band with a small round diamond in the center.
Noah had snatched my notebook and smiled. “After graduation, I’ll have this made and put it on your finger.”
Now he’d really made it.
And he was sliding it onto my sister’s finger.
She threw herself into his arms, crying, while the whole room applauded.
Then she turned and ran over to me. She held out her hand.
“Sis, look. Noah said this design is really meaningful.”
She hugged me.
“Thank you for making this happen for us.”
My body was stiff as wood.
Then she leaned close, her voice so low only I could hear.
“Oh, by the way.”
“Mom and Dad told you I was kicked out and had a hard three years, right?”
She laughed softly.
“Actually, they sent me abroad the very next month. Tuition, housing, living expenses—all covered.”
“I’ve had a wonderful three years.”
My pupils contracted.
She added slowly, “And that man? You think Mom and Dad got him out that fast on their own?”
“Noah helped.”
“He was afraid you’d keep dragging up the past. So he said to make you face it once and for all—so you’d stop bothering us.”
The last thread in my mind snapped.
I shoved her away.
She stumbled back and fell.
She clutched her stomach, face white.
“It hurts… Noah, my stomach hurts… our baby…”
Noah’s face changed. He rushed over and scooped her up. When he looked at me, his eyes were pure fury.
“Are you crazy?! Don’t you know she’s pregnant?!”
I stood there, frozen.
Mom panicked. She rushed over and slapped me across the face.
My head snapped to the side.
“Your sister already apologized! Why won’t you let it go?! Do you have to push her to death before you’re satisfied?!”
Chaos erupted.
“She’s so cruel.”
“Today was his proposal, and she had to ruin it.”
The voices pressed in from all sides.
Before Noah carried my sister out, he turned back and looked at me.
That look was ice-cold.
But I couldn’t see anything anymore. The ringing in my ears grew louder.
The faces around me twisted.
Three years ago, a birthday party. Three years later, another one.
Noah’s back, and the ring on my sister’s finger.
My body lost control. Warmth slid down my legs.
The room went silent. Everyone gasped and covered their noses in disgust.
I stood there in front of everyone, rigid, incontinent, stripped of my last shred of dignity.
Everything went black, and I collapsed.
