Chapter 2
Daniel's expression hardened.
"Enough!" Amanda snapped and grabbed my arm, yanking me away from him. Her grip was tight, and her nails dug into my skin. It hurt so bad I wanted to cry.
"Your father and I made this decision," Amanda said coldly. "Daniel's just going along with it. Nothing's going to happen between them, and once Sophie recovers, everything will go back to normal. What's so hard to accept about that?"
Amanda glared at me with contempt.
"Don't think I don't know what happened. You're the one who yelled at Sophie that day, and that's why she ran off upset and got kidnapped.
"Even if Sophie wants to marry Daniel now, you need to cancel the engagement because you owe her this!"
I stood there, completely stunned.
Daniel saw things spiraling and gently coaxed Amanda back into the hospital room. The hallway was left to just the two of us.
His voice turned soft. "Emily, you're the one I'm going to marry. But Sophie's your sister, and living together just makes it easier to take care of her. I'm making up for what you did, so stop making a scene, okay?"
Making up for what I did?
I looked up at him, my gaze cold. "Daniel, you know exactly why I yelled at Sophie that day, don't you?"
I was the last person to find out my little sister had feelings for my fiancé.
Back when Daniel and I first started dating, Sophie tagged along on every single date, whether we were grabbing dinner or catching a movie.
At first, I thought she was just being playful and clingy, so I let it slide.
Later, I found out Sophie was texting Daniel every day, sharing bits about her day and even sending him selfies.
Daniel barely responded, but I still thought it wasn't right, so I told her to set some boundaries.
Sophie gave me this innocent look and said, "He's your fiancé. We're family, and family should be close, right?"
That one line shut me down.
Then one day, I saw Sophie throw herself into Daniel's arms and, through tears, confess her feelings.
She sobbed, "Daniel, I'm so into you! What does she have that I don't? Why won't you even look at me?"
Rage boiled over, and I called her shameless.
Sophie sobbed with resentment, screaming that I was no longer her sister before she ran out.
Not long after, we heard she'd been kidnapped.
For three whole days, our entire family lived in fear, and even I started regretting the harsh things I'd said to her.
Thankfully, she came back safe. The doctors confirmed she hadn't been assaulted. She had sustained some cuts and bruises.
But the trauma left her with PTSD.
Yet somehow, everything led to this.
*****
Daniel looked pale and dropped his head, refusing to meet my eyes.
He said quietly, "Sophie has feelings for me, but it's not her fault. She's young. Young people make mistakes."
"Young?" I let out a cold laugh.
Sophie was only a year younger than me.
I didn't say anything else and grabbed my bag to leave.
Daniel took a couple of steps after me, but then stopped.
He called out, "Emily, when Sophie's better, can we go back to normal?"
I didn't answer and walked straight out of the hospital.
When I got back to my apartment, I started contacting real estate agents to look at new places.
After scheduling appointments, I opened Instagram and saw that Sophie had just posted.
The caption read: [It's so nice to be loved by everyone.]
In the photo, Wesley and Amanda were laughing about something, adoring smiles on both their faces.
Daniel sat by the bed, carefully peeling an apple. His hair was tied into cute little braids. Sophie's doing.
The man who was usually so cold and serious had let her play with his hair like that.