One week before our wedding, Marcus started gagging at the mere smell of food. I assumed it was pre-wedding jitters. When I vented to my younger sister, Coral, she merely stared at the pot of restorative chicken broth simmering on the stove and made a sharp, offhand remark. "You know sympathetic morning sickness is a real thing, right? He probably knocked someone else up. It’s always the upright, respectable ones who are the filthiest behind closed doors." I ladled out a bowl for her, deliberately leaving out the scallions she hated. "Stop talking nonsense. Marcus isn't that kind of man." "Why couldn't he be? The mistress could be standing right in front of you with a pregnant belly, and you'd still be smiling, serving her hot soup!" She puffed out her cheeks, looking like a petulant, clawed kitten. I offered her an indulgent smile. Coral had always been rebellious and eccentric, while Marcus was traditional and composed. They had clashed like oil and water from day one, constantly sniping at each other whenever they were in the same room. I had long grown used to playing the peacekeeper. Three days later, I took my very first afternoon off from work to set up our new condo. When I arrived, the front door was slightly ajar. Familiar banter, tangled with ragged, breathless gasps, drifted clearly down the hallway. "You're pregnant and you're still drinking iced lattes? Keep pushing me, and I won't let you leave this bed for the next nine months." Marcus’s voice was low, laced with a harsh, possessive edge. Coral gave as good as she got, laughing breathlessly with every movement of her body. "Careful, Marcus. Maybe worry about yourself. You've been throwing up your guts for me every morning—your sweet little bride-to-be is crying herself to sleep over your 'stress.'" The customized wedding posters slipped from my numb fingers, fluttering silently to the hardwood floor. I stood there, paralyzed, unable to process what I was hearing. All those years of bickering—they weren't hiding resentment. They were disguising obsession. The boy who once promised to love me until we were a hundred years old died in that very room, at that very second. ... I stood frozen in the doorway for what felt like an eternity before I found the strength to step inside. Two intertwined, flushed bodies lay completely bare beneath the sheets. "How... how many months?" My voice broke the air like shattering glass. Both of them whipped around in terror. Marcus scrambled off the mattress, nearly tripping over a discarded lace bra as he yanked his jeans on. All of his trademark dignity and poise evaporated into pathetic clumsiness. "Leah... what are you doing here right now?" The amber wall sconce cast a warm, golden glow across the room. It illuminated the framed engagement portraits hanging on the wall, and it highlighted the gentle, undeniable curve of Coral’s lower belly. Seeing her curl herself into the corner of the headboard, I bent down, picked up the crimson duvet from the floor, and gently tossed it over her bare chest. "I came to decorate our place," I murmured, my voice hollow. "But it seems... I picked the wrong time." A bitter, bloodless smile touched my lips as I lowered my head. This had been the first time in my entire career that I took time off during business hours. All for this wedding I had dreamed about for years. On the drive over, my mind had been humming like a string of sparklers—wondering where to hang the fairy lights, how to arrange the crystal champagne flutes on the bar cart, and figuring out how to build a balloon arch for Coral’s photos, even though latex made my skin break out in hives. And this was the surprise my two favorite people had prepared for me. An invisible fist gripped my lungs, crushing the air out of me. Clutching my chest, I stumbled blindly out of the bedroom, clipping the edge of the console table. A crystal vase crashed to the floor. The sound of breaking glass was deafening. "Leah! Your foot is bleeding!" Seeing the crimson smears on the floorboards, Marcus lunged forward and grabbed my wrist. I ripped my arm away instantly. "Don't touch me." "I've taken care of you for six years! If I don't look after you, who will?" Marcus clamped his hand down tighter, his eyes wide with frantic concern—as if he still loved me, as if none of this were real. This was the man who, for years, rented an apartment closer to my office just so I could sleep an extra twenty minutes each morning, who packed my lunch every day, who kept the bathroom immaculate and ensured my phone was always charging on my nightstand before bed. Everyone called him the gold standard of partners. When had the rot set in? While I was lost in the daze of shock, Marcus had already knelt down, meticulously picking the glass shards from the skin of my foot. Seeing my ankle tremble, his eyes brimmed with genuine heartbreak. "I'm sorry, Leah. There's nothing between Coral and me. It was just a stupid game. You know how childish she is—you know how much she annoys me." Looking down at this gentle, attentive man, a wave of pure terror washed over me. A pregnancy with my own sister was just a "game" to him. A vast, desolate wasteland opened up inside my chest. Before I could speak, Coral stepped into the hallway, casually draped in the silk robe I had personally picked out for her. The hem of her sleeve slid back, revealing dark, purplish bruises encircling her wrist—proof of just how unrestrained Marcus had been only minutes ago. "Is that so, Marcus? But just yesterday the doctor told us that a man only develops sympathetic pregnancy symptoms when he's hopelessly attached to the mother. Did you forget that already?" She smiled, radiant and insolent, before locking eyes with me. "Leah, you're the smart one. Help me out here. Does Marcus hate me, or is he completely obsessed with me?" Looking at the sister I had practically raised, now wearing this venomous, mocking mask, I stood up on trembling legs. I dug my fingernails into my palms until they bled, my whole body shaking with rage. Marcus’s face darkened instantly. He grabbed a reluctant Coral by the shoulder and shoved her toward the front door. "Get out of here! Stop baiting your sister!" "I'm only telling the truth!" The heavy door slammed shut, cutting off her sharp, mocking voice. The apartment fell into an agonizing silence, so quiet that our ragged breaths sounded like thunder. But that suffocating quiet was heavier than any scream. "Babe, weren't we going to decorate?" Marcus forced a relaxed, normal tone, picking up a cardboard box from the entryway and carrying it into the master bedroom. "I'll go grab the rest of the boxes from the trunk." I raised my eyes, walked slowly toward the bedroom door, and reached out. I turned the deadbolt. Then I pulled the key from the lock. "Leah! What the hell are you doing?!" "She's your sister! She's pregnant with my child! Don't you dare touch her!" The facade shattered completely. Marcus threw his entire weight against the solid wood door, roaring in sheer panic. I didn't answer. Expressionless, I walked out of our condo, turned to the unit right next door, and knocked. "Oh? Done talking already, big sis?" Coral opened the door, looking completely unbothered, holding the thermal mug of chicken broth I had packed for Marcus that very morning. I swallowed the burning acid rising in my throat, forcing the words through clenched teeth. "How could you do this to me?" "Pfft!" She doubled over with laughter, wiping a stray drop of soup from the corner of her mouth. "Leah, you've always given me everything. What's wrong with letting me have a taste of your man?" She tilted her head, her smile turning sly. "Besides, if we're being completely honest, this is kind of your fault." My brow furrowed in disbelief. "My fault?" "Of course it is." She padded over to the dining table in the fluffy slippers I had bought for her. She unlocked her phone, pulled up thousands of archived messages, and tossed the device carelessly onto the table in front of me. "You talked about him constantly since we were kids. Every restaurant you went to, every project he helped you with, every little detail of your perfect life. I didn't give a damn about any of it—except Marcus." Her eyes gleamed like a fox's. "You kept telling me how he solved all your problems, how he supported your dreams, how he was the most perfect man alive and would never stray. I didn't believe you. So, I dressed up, put on some perfume, and threw myself at him. It barely took any effort at all." She leaned in, whispering with sadistic delight: "Here's another secret for you. Remember on your birthday when you fell asleep early? The movers didn't break our living room sofa. We broke it while you were sleeping in the next room." Coral perched on the edge of the table, swinging her bare legs, looking entirely innocent. The blood drained from my face until I felt like a walking corpse. This was my sister. The girl I had held in the palm of my hand since she was born. When she had nightmares as a toddler, only my voice could soothe her to sleep. When she obsessed over vintage bands in high school, I scoured thrift shops across the state to find rare vinyl for her. When she casually mentioned in her senior year that her classmate had lovely hand-knitted mittens, I skipped evening study sessions just to teach myself how to knit a pair for her. She once told me I was the best sister in the world and that she would follow me anywhere. And the first thing she did when she grew up was steal the man I loved. Trembling with uncontrollable fury, I grabbed her by the arm, my eyes bloodshot, dragging her toward the door. "We're going to Mom and Dad. Let's see how bold you are when you have to look them in the eye!" A soft chuckle came from behind me, followed by that familiar, childish whine. "Mom and Dad? Oh, Leah... they already know." I froze mid-step, my vision swimming. "How do you think I afforded the down payment on the condo right next to yours?" She blinked sweetly. "Marcus gave Mom and Dad the fifty-thousand-dollar wedding gift fund meant for you. And they gave every single penny to me." My breath caught in my throat. "Coral... what the hell are you saying?" "I'm not making it up. If you don't believe me, go check Marcus's private social feed." A horrifying realization dawned on me. At that moment, the bedroom door next door was violently kicked open. Marcus sprinted into Coral's apartment. Seeing me gripping her arm, he shoved me back without a second thought. "I told you to direct your anger at me! Leave her alone—!" The shove sent me flying backward. My back slammed violently against the edge of the drywall, followed by a sickening, muffled crack from my ribcage. Panic flickered across Marcus's face, and he moved instinctively toward me, but Coral immediately whimpered and clutched her lower abdomen. "Marcus... my stomach hurts. Leah was so terrifying just now..." His attention snapped instantly to her. "Are you okay? Is the baby okay?" Fighting through the blinding agony in my chest, cold sweat pouring down my temples, I reached out a trembling hand toward him. "Your... phone. Give it to me." Marcus's pupils contracted sharply. "Leah, there's nothing to see—" "GIVE IT TO ME!" The scream tore from my throat like the howl of a dying animal. He hesitated for a few agonizing seconds before unlocking the screen and placing it in my shaking hand. The passcode was still my birthday. The wallpaper was still our engagement photo in Central Park. Yet the most-liked post on his private family feed was one that had been hidden exclusively from me. "To our close circle: I'm going to be a father!" Attached was a crystal-clear ultrasound image showing a six-week-old fetus. And even though Marcus hadn't explicitly tagged the mother, the comment section made it sickeningly clear who was carrying his child. "Wonderful news! We are finally going to be grandparents!" (My mother.) "Make sure Leah doesn't find out. She's always so rigid and obsessed with rules and money. You two just settle down next door and live peacefully." (My father.) These were the parents whose eighty-thousand-dollar debt I had spent two years paying off, surviving on cheap ramen so they could have a clean slate. Back then, they had cried and called me the most dutiful daughter in the world. "Congratulations! True love always finds a way! Just keep an eye out for Leah—she’s so old-fashioned and uptight. Let me know when the next OB-GYN appointment is, Coral, I'll cover for you!" (Morgan, my best friend. The one I pulled out of a sleazy frat house party years ago when predators tried to take advantage of her.) "Make sure you invite me to the baby shower! I'll book my flight home immediately! If Leah hadn't kept nagging me to focus on my studies abroad, I would have come back months ago!" (The underprivileged student I had sponsored for three years, saving her from an abusive household.) The spine that had carried everyone for years collapsed completely. I slid down the wall, letting out a raw, hollow laugh. Every single person I had poured my heart into had known. And every single one of them had conspired to keep me in the dark. They had watched me stress over floral arrangements, tailor my gown, and smile like an idiot as I prepared for my wedding. They told me I would be the most beautiful bride alive. And behind my back, they laughed at me. They saw me as a fool, a clown, a gullible idiot dancing for their amusement. I tapped on Marcus's profile, navigated to his pinned proposal video, and deleted it. Remembering how he had wept and promised to cherish me forever, I felt nothing but disgust. "We're done," I whispered, getting to my feet with dead, empty eyes. Coral reacted more violently than Marcus, lunging forward to grab my wrist just like she used to do when she followed me around as a child. "Leah, is this really necessary? Once the baby is born, can't you just help me raise it?" I looked down at her with dead eyes, calmly and firmly prying her fingers off my arm, one by one. "Don't ever call me your sister again. As of today, you are nothing to me." "CRACK." Thunder ripped through the sky outside, shaking the windows. A flash of lightning illuminated their stunned faces. They had never imagined that the compliant, self-sacrificing Leah could ever utter words of permanent abandonment. "Leah... during that car accident two years ago, you threw your own body over Coral to protect her," Marcus choked out. "How can you throw her away now?" A bitter smirk touched my lips. So that was it. My genuine love had become their license to bleed me dry. Before Marcus could finish, Coral gasped, her eyes rolling back as she collapsed toward the floor. Marcus caught her, his face twisting into pure terror. "Coral! Coral, wake up! Call 911! Somebody call an ambulance!" The sirens wailed through the storm. An hour later, I sat alone on the cold plastic chairs of the hospital corridor, soaked to the bone. Rainwater dripped from my hem, pooling on the linoleum. I couldn't feel the cold. I simply stared blankly through the glass window at Marcus. I watched him cradle Coral onto the hospital bed as if she were made of porcelain. I watched the frantic tremble in his fingers as he spoke with the attending doctor. "Don't be scared, Coral. I'm right here. I'll stay with you." Marcus pressed a tender kiss to her forehead. Just three nights ago, when I had a fever of 103, he had held me the exact same way. In the middle of the night, when I shivered against his chest, he had scrambled out of bed to fetch medication, a thermometer, and the decaf ginger tea I loved. Looking through the steam rising from that mug, seeing his anxious, devoted expression, I genuinely believed I was the luckiest woman alive. It turned out his tenderness wasn't unique to me. He could give it to anyone. I don't know how long I sat there before Marcus finally stepped out into the hallway. Seeing my soaked clothes clinging to my shivering frame, he instinctively slipped off his woolen coat and draped it over my shoulders with familiar warmth. But the words that left his lips were like iron nails driven through my ears. "Leah. Go in there and apologize to Coral." I pushed the coat off my shoulders, forcing the words past my bruised throat. "What did you just say?" "I said you knew she was pregnant, and you deliberately provoked her. Go inside and apologize to her. Right now." A suffocating wave of absurdity swept over me. I pointed through the glass window at Coral, who was propped up on her pillows, offering me a smug, triumphant smirk. "Are you out of your mind? She slept with her sister's fiancé! She ruined my life! Why the hell should I apologize to her—" "SLAP." A sudden, vicious blow snapped my head to the side. My parents were standing over me, their faces twisted with self-righteous fury. "Why? Because she is your younger sister! Why couldn't you just let her have this?" my mother spat. Morgan rushed up behind them, clicking her tongue in disgust. "Leah, stop making a scene. Just go in and apologize to Coral, and stop saying such venomous things." I lifted my head and looked at every face standing before me. Their eyes were filled with impatience and contempt, as if I were a monster disrupting their peaceful family. A desolate smile spread across my face as I turned my gaze directly to Marcus. "And what if I refuse?" Marcus looked down at me, his eyes cold and utterly devoid of warmth. "Then I'll go to your company's board and file a formal ethics complaint, stating that you harassed and tried to ruin your sister's marriage. Wherever you apply for a job, I will follow." "Your parents will testify that you are the unstable one. How will you defend yourself?" "You have no job, and after paying off their debts, you have no savings left. Without me, Leah, you won't survive." With that, he turned on his heel, joining the crowd as they pushed their way into Coral’s room. I stared at their retreating backs, that single sentence echoing relentlessly in my ears: "Without me, you won't survive." Fine. Then I wouldn't. Like a marionette whose strings had been severed, I walked toward the stairwell, climbing up, step by step, all the way to the hospital roof. While they gathered around Coral's bed, murmuring soft words of comfort, I stood at the edge of the parapet, looked out over the pouring rain, smiled, and stepped into the empty air. My falling silhouette flashed past the third-floor window. Marcus's expression froze mid-sentence. His body reacted before his mind could, lunging wildly toward the window, slamming his palms against the cold glass in helpless agony. "LEAH, NO!" Inside the room, everyone whipped around in horror, rushing to the glass.
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