Chapter 1: The Price of Being the Perfect Daughter
The first splash of pink paint hit my wedding dress before I could even scream.
By the time my younger sister emptied the second bucket, eight months of my life were bleeding across the marble floor—and she was smiling like she'd just won the lottery.
“Oops,” Brianna said, dropping the empty bucket beside my wedding shoes.
“I guess you're going to need a new dress.””
For three seconds, I couldn't move.
The gown stood beneath the crystal chandelier in our mansion's bridal room, displayed on a white mannequin like a masterpiece in a museum. I'd designed every inch myself: the fitted corset covered in hand-sewn crystals, the delicate embroidered flowers climbing the skirt, and the four-meter cathedral train that had taken nearly six weeks to finish.
Now, pink paint dripped from the bodice.
It soaked into the silk, crawled through the embroidered petals, and pooled around the mannequin's base.
“What have you done?”” I screamed.
Brianna leaned against my dressing table, her platinum-blonde ponytail falling over the white feather coat draped across her shoulders.
“What does it look like?””
I grabbed a clean towel and pressed it against the bodice.
The paint spread.
“No, no, no.””
My hands shook as I tried another section.
“Please, no.””
“Stop rubbing it,” Brianna said, laughing.
“You're making it uglier.””
I turned toward her.
“You poured paint on my wedding dress!””
“Congratulations. Your eyes work.””
“Brianna, my wedding is tomorrow!””
She inspected her freshly manicured nails.
“Then you'd better start shopping.””
Something inside me cracked.
For eight months, I'd worked on that gown in the little sewing room at the back of the mansion. I'd stayed awake until three in the morning stitching crystals beneath a yellow desk lamp. I'd pricked my fingers so often that tiny bloodstains had appeared on my practice fabric.
I'd skipped dinners with friends, canceled weekend trips, and spent nearly every spare dollar on silk, lace, and embellishments.
Not because I couldn't afford to buy a designer dress.
Because I wanted to walk down the aisle wearing something that belonged entirely to me.
Something I'd made with my own hands.
I'd imagined Ethan's expression when he saw me. I'd imagined him taking my hand and whispering that I was beautiful.
Instead, I stood barefoot on cold marble, watching my dream dissolve into pink sludge.
“Why would you do this?”” I whispered.
Brianna shrugged.
“Maybe I didn't like it.””
“You knew what this dress meant to me.””
“It's a dress, Amara. Not a kidney.””
I pointed at the two empty buckets.
“You poured it twice. How could that possibly be an accident?””
Her smile widened.
“Maybe I'm clumsy.””
I took a step toward her.
“Don't touch anything else.””
She straightened immediately.
“Get your hands off me.””
“I haven't touched you!””
“You're standing too close.””
I stared at her, stunned by the audacity.
She stepped around the ruined train, deliberately placing one expensive heel on a section of stained silk.
The crystals beneath her shoe crunched.
My breath caught.
“Move your foot!””
Brianna looked down as though she'd only just noticed the gown beneath her.
“Oh, look. I think I broke something.””
She lifted her heel.
A cluster of crystals remained scattered across the floor.
“Stop it!”” I cried.
“Honestly, Amara, you're acting like someone died.””
I dropped to my knees and tried to collect the crystals. My fingers trembled so badly that I could barely pick them up.
Brianna crouched beside me.
“Imagine the wedding photographs,” she whispered.
“Everyone will remember the bride in the pink disaster.””
Tears blurred my vision.
She noticed and laughed harder.
“Oh, sweetheart. Don't cry. You'll ruin your makeup, too.””
“Why are you being so cruel?””
For a moment, her smile disappeared.
Then she leaned closer.
“Because you don't deserve him.””
The room went silent.
I slowly lifted my head.
“Who?””
She gave me a look of disgust.
“Don't play stupid. Ethan.””
My stomach tightened.
“Ethan is my fiancé.””
“Exactly.””
Her voice rose, sharp and trembling.
“He's handsome, successful, charming. He has a beautiful house, a growing company, and enough money to give a woman the life everyone dreams about.””
She gestured toward herself.
“And then there's me.””
I stared at her.
“You destroyed my wedding dress because you're jealous of my engagement?””
“He should have chosen me!””
The words exploded out of her.
For once, Brianna wasn't smiling.
“He should have chosen me,” she repeated, her eyes shining with angry tears.
“I was there before you even knew what you had.””
I stepped backward.
“Have you been trying to get him to leave me?””
She laughed bitterly.
“He doesn't see me. He only sees you.””
“Because I'm his fiancée!””
“Because you always get everything!””
Her voice cracked.
“You got Dad's attention. You got the perfect man. You got the engagement ring, the wedding, the beautiful dress. Even Mom always said you were the special one.””
My throat tightened.
Our mother had died when I was nine. Brianna had been six when Dad remarried Vanessa two years later.
For fifteen years, I'd tried to make our blended family feel whole.
I'd helped Brianna with schoolwork, lent her money when she overspent, and designed her eighteenth-birthday dress without charging her a penny. When her first serious boyfriend broke her heart, I'd stayed awake with her until sunrise, holding her hand while she cried.
I'd never kept score.
Apparently, she had.
“You're my sister,” I whispered.
She rolled her eyes.
“Half-sister.””
The words landed harder than the paint.
Brianna had never remembered that distinction when she needed my help.
She remembered it now because she knew exactly where to hurt me.
I turned toward the gown.
The embroidered flowers were nearly invisible beneath the pink stains. The delicate crystalwork glimmered under the sticky film, and the silk had begun to sag beneath the weight of the paint.
My knees gave way.
I sank onto the floor and gathered part of the train into my lap.
“I worked so hard,” I whispered.
Brianna sighed impatiently.
“Oh, for heaven's sake. You can buy another one.””
“I made this one.””
“Then make another.””
“The wedding is tomorrow!””
She crouched beside me, close enough for me to smell her expensive perfume.
“How are you going to walk down the aisle looking like this?””
I looked up at her through my tears.
She smiled.
“Maybe Ethan will change his mind when he sees you.””
When she reached for the damaged skirt, I slapped her hand away.
“Don't touch it!””
Brianna jerked backward.
“Don't you dare hit me!””
“I didn't hit you!””
“Mommy!””
Her scream sliced through the room.
Before I could react, her face crumpled. She covered her mouth, and tears instantly filled her eyes.
The transformation was so fast that I almost wondered whether I'd imagined the woman who had just laughed over my ruined dress.
Footsteps sounded in the hallway.
“What on earth is happening in there?””
Vanessa appeared in the doorway, dressed in a champagne-gold gown. My father, Robert, followed her, adjusting his cuff links.
They stopped at the sight of the paint-covered dress.
Dad's face hardened.
“Amara, what happened?””
I scrambled to my feet.
“Dad, Brianna poured two buckets of pink paint over my wedding gown!””
Brianna let out a sob.
“I didn't mean to!””
I stared at her.
“You told me you did it because Ethan should have chosen you!””
Vanessa immediately wrapped an arm around her daughter.
“Brianna, darling, are you hurt?””
Brianna shook her head, trembling theatrically.
“I was trying to help Amara. I thought the dress needed something different, and then the bucket slipped.””
“Twice?”” I demanded.
Vanessa turned toward me.
“Don't shout at her.””
I looked at my father.
“Dad, I watched her do it!””
He rubbed his forehead.
“Amara, please. Not tonight.””
“Not tonight? My wedding dress is ruined!””
“I can see that.””
“Then do something!””
Dad looked at the two empty buckets.
Then he looked at Brianna.
“Is what your sister saying true?””
Brianna lowered her head.
“I told you it was an accident.””
“Brianna, look at me.””
She slowly lifted her eyes.
“Did you pour the paint?””
A long silence followed.
Then Vanessa stepped between them.
“Robert, she's upset. We all know how clumsy she can be. There's no reason to interrogate her like a criminal.””
I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
“Clumsy?”” I repeated.
“She deliberately stepped on the dress!””
Brianna suddenly began crying harder.
“I'm sorry, Amara! I said I'm sorry!””
But she wasn't looking at me.
She was watching Dad.
And when his eyes softened, she glanced at me over Vanessa's shoulder.
For one brief second, her tears disappeared.
She smiled.
It was tiny.
Almost invisible.
But I saw it.
Dad sighed.
“Amara, your sister made a mistake. She's apologized. We can have the cleaners look at it.””
“Those stains are permanent.””
“Then we'll buy another dress.””
I stared at him.
“You know I made this one.””
He looked away.
“There's no point making a scene.””
A scene.
My wedding dress was destroyed, and somehow I was the one creating a problem.
I picked up my phone from the dressing table.
“I'll call Ethan.””
Vanessa's expression changed.
“Why?””
“Because he's my fiancé, and he deserves to know what happened.””
Brianna's crying stopped immediately.
“Don't,” she whispered.
I turned toward her.
“Why not?””
She looked at Vanessa.
Then at Dad.
And finally, she said something that made my blood turn cold.
“Because Ethan already knows.””
I froze.
“What?””
Brianna pressed her lips together.
Vanessa closed her eyes.
Dad suddenly became very interested in the cuff link on his wrist.
I stared at all three of them.
“What do you mean, Ethan already knows?””
Nobody answered.
Then my phone vibrated.
A message appeared on the screen.
It was from Ethan.
Amara, we need to talk before tomorrow. There's something about Brianna you need to know.
May you like
And beneath it was a second message.
Please don't let her tell you first.
