My parents left with Caleb.

They left me alone to face the wreckage of my own wedding.

"Poor Juliana Hayes, isn't it pathetic? Abandoned at the altar, and her own mother just left with him..."

"Well, she owes the Monroe family a life, doesn't she? I heard Miss Cassie's mother drowned saving her."

"You can't really say that. Even if there's a debt, you don't torture someone like this, do you?"

I raised a hand to my cheek and realized it was wet with tears.

When I was eight, on a vacation at Lake Tahoe, I fell into the water.

It was my aunt who leaped in to save me without a second thought for her own safety. She never resurfaced.

At the funeral, Cassie wailed that she didn't have a mother anymore.

My mother's heart ached for her, so she took Cassie into our home in New York City.

The very first day she came to live with us, Cassie snatched my favorite teddy bear.

When I cried and tried to take it back, my parents pulled me aside. "Juliana, you need to let Cassie have it."

Eventually, that became the rule: whatever Cassie wanted, I had to surrender without question.

In high school, I earned a scholarship to Columbia University on my own merit. Cassie threw a colossal tantrum, crying that she wanted to go too.

That night, my parents came into my room. "Juliana, give your spot to Cassie. Your grades are good enough to get in anywhere. Cassie is different; she needs this more than you do."

I wanted to scream no, but my parents deployed the same old line.

"Juliana, Cassie's mother died for you. You need to be grateful."

And so, I was forced to relinquish the scholarship.

A thousand silent protests raged inside me, but I was powerless.

Who was I to argue when I owed someone a life?

Until I met Caleb.

He was the first person who ever asked what I truly wanted.

I told him I was afraid of thunder, and he had our apartment fitted with the best soundproof glass.

When I mentioned my suffocating past, Caleb took my hand, his expression earnest as he said, "Juliana, you are your own person. You don't owe anyone a thing."

I was terrified the first time I brought him home.

I was so worried Cassie would decide she wanted Caleb, too. And, of course, she did.

When my parents suggested, "Juliana, you should break up with Caleb. Cassie really likes him," I refused for the first time in my life.

"Caleb is a person, not a thing. I won't give him to anyone."

My mother, enraged, hurled a crystal glass at me.

The sting of pain I braced for never came.

Caleb had moved in front of me, taking the impact on his arm as the glass shattered.

As my parents stared in shock, Caleb took my hand. "Mr. and Mrs. Hayes, Juliana is my fiancée. I don't want anyone but her."

Back then, he only had eyes for me.

But I don't know when it all changed.

"Juliana, Cassie lost her mother so young; she's had a hard life. Just let her have this one."

"She's just sensitive. What harm could she possibly mean? You just have it out for her."

"Juliana, can you please stop targeting her?"

I had thought marriage would be our new beginning.

But today, he chose Cassie. Again.

I took a deep, shuddering breath, forcing the tears back.

I realized I’d been clinging to a desperate, foolish sliver of hope that this wedding would go on as planned.

But the illusion shattered once again.

Between me and Cassie, they would always choose her.

"Once you enter the Project Aegis facility, you will have no contact with the outside world for five years. Are you certain about this?"

I looked up and met my university mentor Dr. Reed’s gaze, my own resolute.

"Professor, I've made up my mind."

I would rather be doing something meaningful at a desert base in Nevada than be their disposable option.

Five years was long enough to forget them.

Just then, my phone rang, shrill in the quiet office.

The caller ID read: Caleb.

My fingertips went cold, my breath catching in my throat.

Seeing my reaction, Dr. Reed smiled gently. "No rush. Take your time. We can talk after you're ready."

I took a deep breath and slid my finger across the screen to answer.

Caleb's urgent voice filled the line.

"Juliana, where are you? I was wrong today. I never should have ignored your feelings and left you alone at the wedding."

His tone was low and soft, the one he used to coax me when I was upset.

In the past, my resolve might have crumbled.

But now, all I felt was a profound exhaustion.

I spoke softly, my voice unnervingly calm. "Did you find Cassie?"

There was a brief silence on the other end.

"We found her. She was just throwing a fit, hiding at a friend's house."

"That's good."

I replied faintly, offering nothing more.

Caleb seemed to exhale in relief, quickly adding, "Your parents were just on edge today, their words were harsh. Don't take it to heart. Come back to the house in Connecticut for Thanksgiving dinner tonight. I asked the chef to make your favorite dishes."

I agreed. "Okay."

I would treat it as one last meal. A final, proper goodbye to this entire absurd mess.

That evening, the Hayes family mansion in Connecticut was lit up like a beacon.

My parents and Caleb were gathered around the long dining table, their attention focused entirely on Cassie, who was seated at the head of the table.

"Cassie, dear, you must have been terrified. Here, eat more."

My mother cut a large slice of turkey and placed it on Cassie's plate, her eyes brimming with maternal concern.

Caleb chimed in, "She's right. Don't run off like that again. You had us all worried sick."

Cassie smiled sweetly. "Oh, I'm a big girl now. You don't have to treat me like a child."

She then deliberately picked up a slice of pecan pie and offered it to me.

"Juliana, the chef made this especially for you. You should have some."

I stared at the pie but didn't move.

My mother slammed her fork onto the table.

"Cassie is being kind enough to offer you some pie. What's with that look on your face?"

I looked up, my voice steady. "I have a severe nut allergy."

At my words, Cassie's eyes instantly filled with tears.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Juliana. I had no idea you were allergic to nuts."

Seeing Cassie's distress, my mother's face darkened with fury.

"Juliana Hayes, does a single truthful word ever leave your mouth? You're going to eat this right now. We'll see if you're really allergic!"

Her voice was sharp and piercing, the same tone she'd used at the wedding when she'd called me a monster.

Caleb frowned at me. "Juliana, Cassie meant well. Just have a bite. Don't ruin the evening for everyone."

Have a bite?

They seemed to have forgotten the last time I'd accidentally ingested a tiny piece of a nut, I nearly died from anaphylactic shock.

So, in their eyes, my life was worth less than one of Cassie's crocodile tears.

I said nothing more. I simply put down my fork, pushed back my chair, and walked towards my old room upstairs.