Chapter 5
Mrs. Hawthorne Sr. immediately snapped at me: “Brooklyn, are you deaf? Sienna doesn’t eat scallions–pick them
out for her! Have some common sense!”
Sienna’s mother piled on with her snarky comments: “Exactly! Sienna’s delicate. Not like some people who give birth to sickly children!”
Damien looked at me with this complicated expression. I didn’t budge.
“I’ll do it,” he said. He picked up his chopsticks and carefully removed every single scallion. “Sienna, you’re allergic to scallions, ginger, and garlic–you need to be more careful. That time you had to go to the hospital for your allergic reaction really scared us.”
Sienna gave him the sweetest smile and deliberately brushed against him: “Thank you, Damien. I’ll remember. With you looking out for me, I’m not scared.”
I remembered that I’m severely allergic to mangoes–bad enough to go into shock. But at every family dinner, there was always mango pudding. Damien would always smile and say, “Brooklyn, this is your favorite–have more.” He thought I loved it, but never once asked what I was allergic to.
After dinner, Damien stepped out to take a call. Sienna suddenly said: “Brooklyn, I want to see some childhood photos of Damien–they’re on the top shelf in the study. Could you get them for me? You should wear heels–that cabinet’s really high and the ladder’s not stable.”
I didn’t move. She knew damn well I was still weak.
Just as Sienna was about to throw a fit, Damien came back with a brand–new photo album. “Sienna, forget about those old ones–look at this instead.” He handed her the album.
Sienna opened it and gasped: “Oh my God! Damien, are these childhood photos of us together? How is this possible?”
The album was full of “photos” of Damien and Sienna together–obviously photoshopped from individual pictures to make it look like they’d grown up together.
“I had this specially made for you,” Damien said with a smile. “I know you’ve always felt bad that we didn’t grow up together, so I had someone composite these photos. Do you like it?”
Sienna was practically in tears: “Damien, you’re so good to me! I love it!” She threw herself into his arms, clinging to
him.
Damien hugged her back: “Silly girl, you’re my sister–if I don’t treat you well, who will I treat well?”
Mrs. Hawthorne Sr. was beaming: “Look at these two–what a wonderful bond they have!”
Sienna’s mother chimed in: “Oh yes, Damien treats Sienna like a princess!”
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Fight Miscarriages later I Discovered His Sick Plan
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Chapter 5
Noah joined in: “Daddy and Mommy are perfect together! You’re soulmates!”
The whole family gathered around that fake photo album, laughing and celebrating. I stood there like a complete
outsider.
My child had just died. And they were celebrating their “happiness.”
I felt like I was suffocating.
Mrs. Hawthorne Sr. suddenly turned to me with that sharp tone: “Brooklyn, what the hell are you standing around for? Can’t you see Sienna’s thirsty? Go get her some water! What kind of wife are you? Don’t you have any
manners?”
Sienna’s mother jumped right in: “Exactly! No sense at all! No wonder she can’t have healthy babies–it’s karma! She
deserves it!”
Mrs. Hawthorne Sr. went even further: “Look how wonderful Sienna is! Sure, she had it rough as a kid, but everything’s perfect now! She’s in college, about to graduate! Unlike some people who went to some no–name diploma mill! Complete waste of an education!”
She got more worked up as she went on, pointing at me: “Look at you–walking around like death warmed over! No wonder Lucas was born sick and weak! It’s all because you’re useless! You have no virtue! No kindness! You don’t deserve to be part of this family! You’re nothing but bad luck! You destroy husbands and kill children!”
“Sienna’s totally different! She’s smart, capable, kind, devoted! Noah’s brilliant too–he’ll go far in life! Look how healthy Noah is after his surgery! He even made the news as a child prodigy! That’s Sienna’s good genes! And then there’s that sickly thing you had! What a curse! Better off dead–at least it’s not wasting resources anymore!”
They kept hurling insults at me while my husband sat there laughing with his precious cousin over their fake photo album, completely ignoring everything.
I sat there motionless, letting the abuse wash over me. My heart had gone completely numb.
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