Three years ago, my younger sister, Renee White, and I secretly married the two brothers of the Kain family.

I married the elder brother, Adam Kain, who is the president of the Kain group, and Renee married the younger one, Bowen Kain, who is the vice president.

Our mother traveled for three days on a hard seat just to attend our wedding before she passed away.

I knelt in front of the Kain family's door for two days without eating or drinking, begging Adam to agree to play along with us.

But when it was his turn to appear, no matter how loudly I shouted, I didn't see his figure.

Even his younger brother, Bowen, didn't show up.

Our mother fainted on the spot out of anxiety. Renee held her in her arms and cried.

I trembled and called Adam, but he hung up on me three times before answering.

Hearing my anxious and nervous voice, he impatiently said.

"You always use your mother as an excuse. I have already agreed, so why would I run away? Maria has cut her hand and I have to take her to the hospital first! It's because of you that she got hurt! Can you stop bothering me at this time?"

The phone was hung up and I was blocked before I could say anything.

After hearing this, Renee immediately contacted her husband, Bowen, and begged him to come to the wedding.

But all she heard was a barrage of accusations.

"Don't you know the story of the boy who cried wolf? Why is it that every time something happens to Maria, your mom is dying? I've had enough of your acting! I have to pay the hospital bills, don't waste my time!"

At the moment the call was hung up, my mother took her last breath in Renee's arms.

The wedding turned into my mother's funeral.

Renee and I handled her affairs together.

We also sent a message to the Kain brothers about the divorce.

But they brought Maria back to our home.

——

By the time we finished dealing with my mother's affairs, it was already dark outside.

I returned home with Renee, where we finally had the chance to help each other take off the rented cheap wedding dresses.

It had been ten hours since I sent the message about divorce.

There was no response.

This was not the first time they had abandoned us for Maria.

I never thought that even if it was related to our divorce, we would be behind their haunting crush, Maria.

During the three years of marriage, whenever Adam and I were alone, all sorts of accidents would happen to Maria.

Common little problems that happened to Maria were always a catastrophe for the Kain family's two men.

Renee has turned to me for help countless times.

At first, I questioned him and made a fuss, but the facts later told me that our positions were predetermined from the moment of our secret marriage.

After we packed our belongings and mother's old clothes and were ready to leave, they finally came back.

Maria was obediently following behind them, waiting for them to fetch her slippers.

The laughter of them came to a sudden halt when they saw me and Renee.

Adam's eyes flashed an impatient annoyance, and he spoke coldly.

"Where are you going? What's wrong with you again? Haven't I already explained today's matter to you?"

He looked at me with complete indifference, ignoring my red and swollen eyes from exhaustion.

His voice became increasingly impatient.

"Come on, this wedding was just a charade, and Maria happened to get hurt. I had no choice I'll just make it up to you later!

"Besides, if it weren't for your mother coming over, she wouldn't have thought of making a dish, and she even cut her finger! I haven't held it against you, what are you making a fuss about? It's enough!"

Renee squeezed my hand tighter and harder, trembling slightly.

Bowen, who was standing next to Adam, didn't bother to explain anything.

He bent down to pick up Maria's slippers and even helped her put them on.

Maria looked at us with her luggage in hand and turned to Adam with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Adam, it's all my fault for delaying your wedding."

She then turned to me and explained.

"Bonnie, why are you bringing your luggage out? I got hurt and bled a lot today. I was so scared, so I told them, but I didn't expect them to make such a big deal out of it and take me to the hospital. You know I don't have any friends here..."

I stared at the small bandage on her finger and suddenly felt both pitiful and ridiculous.

"If you don't mind, I can tell you when I'm in trouble. Will you be my sister? I've always felt that you are very kind to me!"

As she spoke, a mischievous smile appeared on her face, and her eyes were filled with indescribable pride.

In an instant, the image of my mother gasping for breath appeared before my eyes.

I gripped my nails so hard into my palms that the pain forced me to stay awake.

"I have a younger sister named Renee, so please don't regard me as your sister."

Adam's face turned completely dark, anger swirling in his eyes.

"What attitude is that? Apologize to Maria immediately! She got hurt and still insisted on making that stupid dish. Are you grateful to her for that?"

I glanced at the thermos box in his hand and curled my lip into a cold smile.

"I'm grateful to anyone, but only sorry for myself. Let's get a divorce. I'm tired."

His angry expression froze on his face, unable to believe that the word "divorce" would come out of my mouth.

My usually reserved sister, Renee, also bravely spoke up to Bowen.

"We're also getting a divorce."

This suffocating family home was a place we couldn't stand for even a minute.

Bowen's gesture of helping Maria take off her shoes came to a sudden halt, and he stood up in shock.

The tone of his voice suddenly rose a few degrees, and he shouted angrily, "What did you say?!"

I ignored him and prepared to leave with Renee.

However, when I dragged my suitcase past Bowen, he suddenly grabbed Renee's wrist.

He pulled her hard towards himself, his eyes red with anger.

"Divorce? Just because I took Maria to the hospital and didn't participate in that fake wedding with you, you want a divorce? Are you fucking crazy?

"What's wrong with me saving someone? What did I do wrong? Besides, Maria was injured because of your mother! And now you're threatening me with divorce?

"Fine, get divorced, I'll let you go!"

The suitcase was thrown to the ground, and Bowen lifted his foot and stomped on it.

He was so angry that his neck veins stood out.

I quickly pulled Renee back behind me to protect her.

She was timid, and her small body was trembling, almost crying on the spot.

At that moment, I realized how stupid I was to agree to let Renee marry Bowen!

Bowen stepped on the suitcase over a dozen times, and it finally burst open under the weight.

Mom's belongings were scattered all over the floor.

He didn't have time to take his foot off, and his shoes stepped directly on the clothes, leaving white fabric with several footprints.

I screamed out loud and took a step forward to push him away.

"Don't touch! Get away!"

Adam's face was colder than ice, and there was suppressed anger and a warning tone in his voice.

"Bonnie, my patience is limited, don't test my limits again and again!"

I rushed forward to protect Mom's belongings.

The Kain brothers looked at each other, and Bowen immediately understood, pulling me and Renee away.

Adam handed the thermal box to Maria and stood in front of the suitcase, picking up a few clothes and glancing at them before a sneer appeared at the corner of his lips.

Then he casually threw the clothes on the ground and lit a cigarette for himself.

The lighter was clenched in his hand.

"Treating a pile of garbage as treasure? What are you pretending to be pitiful for? Did I not give you food or clothes?

"You knew the wedding was fake, so what are you crying about now? Can a fake wedding be more important than a human life?

"I said I would make it up to you, are you not satisfied yet? Do you like this pile of rags? Fine then!"

Before I could react, he lit the lighter and suddenly let go.

The flames ignited instantly on my mother's belongings.

I screamed out immediately, "No!"

Wanting to rush over, but my neck was tightly held by Bowen and I couldn't move forward.

The usually gentle Renee had gone crazy at this moment.

Her eyes were bloodshot, her mouth opened wide as she bit down fiercely on Bowen's hand.

Taking advantage of Bowen's hand loosening, she turned around and gave him a fierce slap on the face.

Instantly, everyone was frozen in place.

Maria quickly put the insulated box on the table and rushed up to hug Renee in her arms.

"Don't worry, Bowen has no malice, he just wants to solve your problems with each other!"

But Renee immediately broke free from Maria's hold and grabbed her hair with one hand.

Maria was pushed to the ground, allowing Renee to sit on top of her, beating her fiercely.

The heartbreaking screams echoed through the room.

Bowen held me tightly, preventing me from moving, and kept calling for his brother.

Adam saw this and became so angry that he rushed forward, grabbing Renee's hair and pulling her off Maria.

He pressed her head against the wall and hit it hard three times.

Blood began to flow from Renee's forehead.

I screamed in a trembling voice, but could only watch helplessly as Renee's struggle subsided.

In just a few minutes, my mother's belongings were burned to to ashes in the flames, leaving indelible marks on the ground.

An unprecedented sense of helplessness and frustration engulfed me.

I opened my mouth, but no sound came out.

Tears streamed down my face as my gaze fell to the ground covered in black ash, and my broken heart burned with the flames.

When he proposed the secret marriage three years ago, I should have known that Renee and I were just pawns to be used by them to placate the Kain family, and they had only ever loved Maria.

Unfortunately, I realized this too late.

Adam discreetly wiped his hand with a tissue, then went to console Maria.

She sobbed piteously for a while, and Bowen finally released his grip on my neck, not because he was soft-hearted, but because he was busy handing Maria a tissue.

I watched the two men from the Kain family surrounding Maria, their voices filled with concern and tenderness.

Maria gradually stopped crying in their soothing voices.

At that moment, I felt ridiculously stupid for the past three years.

I lifted my foot and walked towards Renee, who lay motionless on the ground. I just wanted to take her away from this place.

But Maria still wouldn't let us go.

Clearly, she was the one who won, but at the moment when I helped Renee up, she came to us with the thermos box, looking pitiful.

"Bonnie, I'm sorry... I am really sorry. I didn't expect it to end up like this. I know you hate me, but this is something I got for your mom, please accept it for her..."

I slowly lowered my head and looked at the culprit who had caused my mother's death.

My emotions suddenly lost control.

I grabbed the thermos box from her hands and slammed it onto her head.

In the next second, sticky soup flowed down her head, her hair stuck together, and the smell of meat mixed with shampoo was nauseating.

My eyes were bloodshot, and I shouted angrily, "Get out of here! Don't pretend to be nice in front of me!'

Adam glared at me with a warning look.

At the same time I moved, he rushed to my face.

His shoes kicked me hard in the stomach.

Then he quickly hugged Maria, using his thousand-dollar shirt to wipe the soup from her head.

I slid to the ground helplessly as my back crashed heavily against the wall.

After cleaning up most of the mess, Maria's face was already drenched in tears.

Adam tore off his dirty shirt and threw it aside.

He walked up to me, bent down, and grabbed my face, squeezing it so hard that it felt like my jawbone was about to break.

Just as he raised his hand to hit me, Maria spoke in a tearful voice.

"Adam, don't get angry. It's all my fault. I thought the ticket was fake, thinking she would arrive later. I should have made the food earlier if I knew she would come. It's all my fault, I ruined your wedding. It's normal for Bonnie to be angry..."

Bowen quickly handed her a tissue and even thoughtfully brought a towel to wipe her hair.

Hearing this, I was so angry that my eyes were bloodshot and my temples throbbed.

My mother had saved money by canceling her ticket and taking the train instead.

But in her mouth, it became a deceitful lie.

"Shut up! You have no right to talk about my mom!"

After the words fell, Adam slapped me in the face.

Blood stains overflowed from my lips, and a fishy sweetness surged in my throat.

But he angrily said, "You should shut up! If you say one more word, I'll tear your mouth apart!

"This fake wedding was all arranged by Maria for you. What right do you have to shout at her?

"Who are you? If your mother knew that you repeatedly used her illness as an excuse to propose marriage, would she be so angry to be choked?"