Chapter 2

On the day of the party, I sat alone in the empty banquet hall and waited until the cold appetizers wilted on the plates. Not a single guest showed up.

The waitress shifted on her feet, looking a little uncomfortable before she spoke up. "Ms. Lane, I think your guests might have the wrong room? Most of them headed next door. It's packed over there."

I bolted to the banquet hall next door and threw the doors open.

Chloe's party was in full swing. Crystal chandeliers blazed overhead, and every seat at every table was taken. Laughter and conversation filled the room.

My parents sat on either side of Chloe, one on her left, one on her right, as if the three of them were the real family.

Something inside me snapped. I shoved Chloe aside and screamed at them, "Today is my graduation party! I'm your real daughter!"

Richard's hand cracked across my face. His expression was ice cold, and he kept his voice low through clenched teeth. "You want to make a scene in front of all these people?"

My cheek burned, but the pain in my chest was worse.

I ran out crying and ended up down by the river.

That was where Victoria found me. She grabbed my arm, and her voice sounded tired.

"I know this is hard for you. But Chloe is so insecure. If we don't make a big deal out of her party, she'll overthink everything. Can't you just be the bigger person here?"

I choked on my tears. "What about me? You promised me first! Why did you have to schedule hers on the same day?"

Victoria sighed, "Chloe really wanted this date too. We can always throw you another party later. Don't get so worked up over something small."

Something small.

So that was what I was to them. My feelings, my dignity, the milestones that mattered most to me were all just something small.

After that, Chloe grew bolder. She knew she was the favorite, and she started picking fights with me whenever she got the chance, sometimes to my face, sometimes behind my back.

I held it in until I couldn't anymore. I finally broke down and pointed at Chloe, begging Richard and Victoria to see her for what she really was.

They stared at me with nothing but disappointment.

Richard shook his head. "Emily, how could you think that about Chloe? She's the sweetest, most innocent girl."

Victoria crossed her arms. "Do you have some kind of grudge against her? Her father saved your dad's life."

Richard's voice turned stern. "Making up lies about people is not how we raised you. That is not what a Lane does."

Chloe stood off to the side, sobbing into her hands. She whimpered that she was an outsider who never should have hoped for love that wasn't hers to take.

Richard and Victoria's faces darkened. They rushed to comfort Chloe and locked me in the basement as punishment.

I cried until my heart went cold. I cried until I couldn't feel anything at all. I cried until it finally hit me that Richard and Victoria loved her more than they ever loved me.

Pauline was the only one who still cared about me, and she came to take me home.

*****

That night, I curled up in Pauline's arms and asked the same question over and over again.

"Grandma, why don't they love me anymore?"

Pauline was quiet for a long time. She didn't seem to know the answer either.

The standoff between me, Richard, and Victoria lasted a whole month.

They didn't remember I existed until my birthday, but what I got wasn't an apology or a birthday wish. It was blame.

Richard said, "You've had enough time to think about what you did. Go apologize to Chloe, and we'll put this behind us. And don't you ever make up lies about her again."

Pauline pulled me behind her and shot back, "Lies? Emily is your own flesh and blood. How can you take an outsider's side over hers?"

Victoria blurted out, "Chloe is not an outsider!" Her voice was full of defensive heat.

She continued, "I've treated Chloe like my own daughter for a long time now. She reminds me so much of myself when I was little, walking on eggshells in someone else's home, always afraid of being a burden.

"Raising her and loving her feels like giving my younger self a second chance."

Her voice softened. "Chloe needs me. She needs more love."

Richard chimed in.

"Everyone in our circle knows I took in a war buddy's orphan. Treating her well makes me look loyal, and that reputation is good for business." He paused, then added, "Emily is old enough now. She needs to start acting like it."

Victoria added, "Emily has been spoiled rotten. She wants all our love to herself and can't handle even a little hardship."

Every word they said cut straight into my heart. That was the moment I finally understood that Richard and Victoria's love for their children came with conditions.

A father's love could be weighed and measured, traded for reputation and profit.

A mother's love could be redirected, used to fill the void left by her own childhood.

And my feelings, my hurt, my pain meant nothing to either of them.

That day, I wanted to tear open my chest and prove my innocence. I wanted my tears to remind them of how much they once loved me. I searched their faces for even a flicker of doubt or guilt.

But there was nothing.

They just looked at me with tired, impatient eyes.

Then they turned and walked away without looking back.

Years later, the hatred faded, but the regret never did.

If I had given up hope in that moment and cut myself free from the longing for a love that was never mine, I could have held on to Pauline.

I could have held on to my health.