His Engagement Partner is Not Me

Seeing Richard and Winnie being so affectionate with each other left me speechless. Just as I was about to return to my room to pack my things, Richard called me.

I froze, startled. It had been a long time since he spoke to me first.

“Lily Carter, Winnie wants you to attend our wedding as the bridesmaid,” he said, his voice steady.

Of course, it was for Winnie. I forced a bitter smile. “Alright, Uncle.”

It was the first time I ever addressed him as “Uncle.” He looked uncomfortable as if something about the title didn’t sit right with him. He opened his mouth, but Winnie cut him off with a playful laugh before he could say anything.

“Not a bridesmaid, silly! A flower girl!” she chirped.

“After all, our Lily is still just a child!”

A flower girl in her twenties—how ridiculous and humiliating.

Once, Richard would never have let anyone mock me like that. But now, he only gave me a cold, unyielding look that left no room for argument. Numbly, I nodded in agreement. My gaze drifted to the bracelet on his wrist—a woven charm I had made for him years ago, symbolizing eternal unity.

I had once foolishly believed that I held a place in his heart. Why else would he leave million-dollar deals behind just to care for me when I was sick? Why else would he get jealous whenever I talked to other boys, pinching my cheek possessively? Why else would he whisper to me repeatedly, “Lily, stay by my side forever, okay? I’ll give you the best of everything in this world.”

I thought those words meant something. I thought I meant something.

—

But the moment Richard caught me staring at the bracelet, he furrowed his brow and, without hesitation, tore it off his wrist. He tossed it into the trash can as if it was worthless.

Panic surged through me. The pregnancy report was in that trash can. What if he saw it? Without thinking, I called out to him like always did.

“Richard!”

His expression turned cold as ice.

“Lily Carter, remember your place,” he warned.

“Alright, alright, don’t fuss over a kid,” Winnie said, pulling his arm and planting a kiss on his cheek.

The frost in his eyes melted in an instant. Only a piece of tenderness remained in his gaze towards Winnie. It was the tenderness I had once briefly possessed and then completely lost overnight.

At that moment, I realized some feelings are better left buried deep inside. If you bring them to light, you lose everything.

After soothing Richard, Winnie turned to me with a bright smile.

“Come shopping with us, little one,” she said sweetly.

“Richard told me you have good eyes—after all, you used to pick out all his clothes and shoes. Why don’t you help us choose some things for the wedding?”

I was nothing more than a powerless orphan living under someone else’s roof. I didn’t have the luxury of refusing the new mistress of the Parker Family. So, I nodded in quiet resignation.

Winnie insisted that Richard drive us himself—she didn’t like having a chauffeur around. And, as always, Richard indulged her every whim without complaint.

He skillfully opened the front passenger door when we got to the car. But this time, it wasn’t for me. Winnie slid in gracefully, giggling.

The lucky charm I had embroidered for Richard and hung on the rearview mirror was replaced by a new set of matching couple’s trinkets. Not satisfied, Winnie demanded a personalized sticker to mark the seat as hers.

“You’re so childish,” Richard chuckled, his tone soft and amused.

Hearing him say those words—the same ones he used to say to me so many times—stirred up a storm of emotions. I turned my face toward the window, pretending to watch the scenery flash by.

A deafening crash tore through the air in the middle of my thoughts.

We had been in an accident.