Chapter 1
On the night of my engagement, I pushed open the door and saw my fiancé, Leon Sawyer, in bed with my sister, Amelia Ryan, who seemed completely out of it.
Afterward, my parents tried to persuade me to give up the engagement to Amelia.
I only asked Leon one question. "Were you sober?"
He stayed quiet for a long time. "Yeah. Don't blame her."
At that moment, I was sure he transcended back, too.
I nodded.
Amelia got her wish and married Leon.
On their wedding day, I still couldn't accept this.
So, before the ceremony began, I bought a plane ticket and walked out.
*****
During the three years I spent abroad to clear my head, Amelia kept posting about her married life every day.
Sometimes it was a cup of milk waiting by her bedside in the morning, or Leon, turned slightly, cooking in the kitchen with an apron on.
Every caption oozed with proud affection.
[Leon looks so hot when he cooks. Glad I get to hug him for real, not through the screen.]
None of our parents or mutual friends liked that post.
I knew it was meant for me alone.
But I still liked it.
The latest post was a picture of folic acid, with a simple caption: [Trying to conceive.]
Everyone liked this one. My parents left comments showing how worried they were about her.
[Don't push yourself too hard. Let it happen naturally.]
[Amelia's trying to have a baby? Is it too late for me to get in line to be her kid if there's another chance?]
One comment stood out: [Wait, wasn't it Charlotte who got married three years ago? When did Amelia tie the knot?]
I knew who it was; it was our college roommate, who was still overseas when the wedding happened and couldn't make it back in time.
That comment got deleted pretty fast.
She quickly posted another one below: [Congrats, Amelia! Hope you have a baby soon. I'll send you my wedding gift right away.]
I let out a bitter laugh at myself. Everyone was acting like they'd forgotten what happened back then, going out of their way to avoid anything related to me.
I turned off my phone, took a deep breath, and looked out at the deep blue waters of Lake Willowmere from my balcony.
There was a willow tree in the middle of the lake, standing all alone like an island, never close to the shore or the mountains. They call it the Lone Tree.
Leon and I used to be crazy in love in our previous life.
The three of us were childhood friends.
Amelia and I were twins.
Even our parents would mix us up sometimes, but Leon never got it wrong. He always found me right away.
He knew our parents always doted on Amelia because she was the frail one.
But he made it obvious he liked me best.
He'd get me birthday gifts for me, wait for me after school, and if anyone ever joked about mixing us up, he'd shoot right back, "They don't look alike at all. Charlotte's way cuter."
That day, Amelia was standing outside the classroom and overheard everything.
After school, she snuck in and locked me in a bathroom stall.
Then, pretending to be me, she ran to the school gate and kissed Leon.
When I finally got out, I saw Leon standing there with a dark expression, and behind him, Amelia had her head down, her eyes puffy and red.
Back then, I really thought we'd always be together.
When we got older, of course, we ended up engaged.
But on the night of our engagement, Amelia drugged herself and sent Leon a message: [If you don't come, I'll pick up some random guy.]
When I saw that message, panic at the thought of losing Leon made me delete it on instinct.
The next morning, Amelia climbed onto the balcony, clutching her torn nightgown.
Before she jumped, she looked at me. "Charlotte, are you happy now?"
Then she jumped.
My face stung. It was my mom; her hand still raised, like she was about to slap me again.
But Leon grabbed her wrist firmly. "This isn't Charlotte's fault."
He said it was because he'd turned Amelia down so many times that she ended up taking her own life, and he put all the blame on himself.
I rushed over, begging my parents not to hit him again.
Over the next twenty years, I had a son, but he never warmed up to me.
I didn't find out why until the day Leon died.
I held Leon's hand, crying my heart out by his bedside.
My son rushed back from school and looked at me with a mocking expression. "Crocodile tears. If it weren't for you, Dad wouldn't have ended up so broken and died so early."
I jerked my head up, but my son wouldn't say another word.
It was Leon. He pulled his hand out of mine, stared out the window, and pleaded softly, "Charlotte, please, if there's another chance, don't delete Amelia's message, alright?"
He died too soon and left me with a truth I couldn't accept.
And soon, I followed him in death.