Fading Starlight

Immediately after that, she flipped to the next page.

May 20, 2024.

Today is my birthday... and Autumn's too. But Mom and Dad seemed to have forgotten about me as they only bought her a cake.

Still, I wasn't even mad. It’s just cake, and I don’t even like sweets anyway.

Autumn seemed to notice me hiding in the corner. She brought me a slice and said, "Happy birthday, sis."

I acted like I didn’t care, pushing the cake away. But inside, my heart was pounding like crazy. I wanted so badly to tell her happy birthday too.

Even when I was cold, she just smiled and said it was okay. She really did seem like an angel. No wonder everyone loved her.

Later that night, I saw Franklin put something into her drink. I didn’t have time to think. Just as Autumn was about to sip it, I lunged forward, grabbed the glass, and gulped it down myself. I barely had time to breathe when Mom came rushing over and slapped me across the face.

I hit the ground hard, and all she cared about was checking if Autumn was okay.

Me? Why didn’t you ask why I did it, Mom?

In the end, she didn’t believe me. She had me dragged back to my room and locked me inside. I don’t know how long I was out of it—dizzy, unable to even stand straight.

Through the haze, I saw Franklin. He shoved me onto the bed, his face twisted with rage.

"I was this close to getting Autumn, and you ruined it!" he snarled. "If you’re so desperate, fine. I’ll just take you instead!"

I wanted to fight back. I really did. But then I thought… If I let him do it, maybe he'd have to marry me. Maybe Autumn would be safe.

So, I stopped struggling.

Later, they woke me up by throwing cold water in my face.

Franklin looked down at me in disgust. "You drugged me, didn’t you? You tricked me into thinking you were Autumn! You ruined everything. Forget it. Even if you pulled this off, my heart’s only for Autumn."

Mom and Dad wouldn’t hear a word from me. They screamed at me, "Filthy thing! Trying to keep Autumn from marrying into the Cordons with your dirty tricks! Get out. You are no longer a Westwood!"

I thought losing everything was the worst. It turned out that this hurt more.

As Autumn finished reading, someone in the crowd couldn’t hold it in anymore, "So... Franklin was the one who drugged the drink? Gingy tried to save Autumn?!"

"Was Gingy framed all along?!"

Franklin waved his hands frantically. "That's nonsense! She's just making stuff up!"

I saw Mom and Dad freeze where they stood, their lips trembling. "Autumn... Autumn was meant to marry Franklin from the start. So what?"

"And that ungrateful brat Gingy—she just stayed because she wanted money!"

Autumn let out a small, cold laugh. "For money?" she echoed.

Then she flipped to another page.

I didn’t even have time to be hurt. I got down on my knees, begging them not to send me back to where 80-year-old Grandpa was waiting. He couldn’t even afford a proper dress for Autumn. What could he possibly give me?

I didn’t want to go back.

Hearing this, Mom looked relieved, as if her assumptions were confirmed. Dad still wore a grim face. "Gingy only cared about money. All our kindness was wasted on her."

The online chat was exploding.

"Even if he’s poor, he’s still your real grandpa! Calling her an ungrateful brat fits!"

"Did she ever think that life was supposed to be hers?"

Autumn’s fingers tightened around the diary. "Why was she so desperate for money? Let's keep reading."

August 9, 2024.

I couldn’t hold on any longer. I had to ask Mom and Dad for $2,000. Mom scoffed and asked where all my allowance had gone.

I told them the truth: I had given it to Grandpa.

Mom just laughed. "Yeah, right. You didn’t even want to go back to him. Now, you’re telling me you sent him money? My sweet Autumn, on the other hand, never forgot him. She’s been helping him all along. You’re not trying to steal even that credit, are you?"

In that moment, I realized that no matter what I said, they’d never believe me.

When did it all turn so ugly? I didn’t know.

But… I didn’t have much time left anyway. If it weren’t for the cancer pain getting worse every day, I wouldn’t have dared to ask them for anything.

I prayed Grandpa would never find out about me. Autumn had said he was a wonderful person.

If he knew, he might have tried to save me. But I didn’t want that. He was already old and tired. He was better off not knowing.

Forget it. I won’t ask again.

At this point, someone finally exclaimed, "Wait, are you saying... Gingy had cancer?! And she didn’t want to burden her grandfather?"

The live chat was flooded with messages. Some people were finally speaking up for me.

Mom clutched her chest and stood up, swaying. "She... she did say she wasn’t feeling well, but..."

Mrs. Cordon finally lost her patience. "Enough! Today is Franklin and Autumn’s wedding! Why talk about some dead girl?!"

Franklin tried to grab Autumn’s hand, trying to stop her from reading more, but she pulled away, her eyes red as she stared at Mom.

"Don’t you want to know what else she went through? Why she became who she was?"

Mom tried to hold back her sobs as she sank back into her seat, trembling. "Even if I know... so what... she’s still..."

Autumn took a deep breath and said coldly, "Then, let’s keep going. Let’s see what really happened to Gingy."