Chapter 3

3.

After a long crying spell, my emotions finally settled into a flatline.

I confessed my decision to get a divorce to my mother.

My mom didn't question me; she simply said she would back whatever choice I made.

By the time I checked into a hotel, it was nearly midnight. Bennett called my phone.

I didn't answer.

He sent a message instead:

【Are you done pouting yet? I saved your favorite stuffed peppers. ??】

【If a certain someone doesn't come home soon, I'm going to eat them all!】

I typed back a single sentence:

【Meet me at city hall at nine tomorrow morning. Bring your documents.】

Bennett didn't reply after that, probably assuming I was just lashing out in anger.

Cadence, on the other hand, suddenly sent me a link.

I clicked on it and realized it was her secret social media burner account.

It was entirely dedicated to her obsession with Bennett, chronicled from the very beginning.

【Today was my 16th birthday. I confessed to my brother. He didn't accept, saying I was just his most precious little sister.】

【My brother tore up a love letter someone handed me. Doesn't that mean he was jealous? He does care about me!】

【He went off to college. Life without him is so boring. I'm going to the exact same college, humph!】

【How could he abandon me to get a girlfriend? Am I not the one he loves the most?】

【Girlfriend my ass. All I have to do is play weak and pitiful, and he'll ditch her in a heartbeat. He loves me most. I will steal him back!】

...

【That pathetic bitch really thought she was getting her mom's pastries. I smashed them all on the floor, let's see her eat that! ??】

【That tramp wanted a romantic anniversary dinner with my brother. I faked a fainting spell just to leave her sitting alone in that restaurant. The thought of her face makes me laugh so hard! ??】

So that was the truth. It had been like this all along.

The sheer shock overpowered whatever lingering sorrow I had left. All that remained was profound fatigue and emptiness.

I suddenly found myself utterly ridiculous.

Bennett had always known what Cadence felt, yet he tacitly indulged every bit of it.

So what was I to them? Just a prop in their twisted sibling roleplay?