The Bride's Revenge A Surprise You Can't Survive

Lily's sobbing started up outside my door. I pretended I was deaf.

She only cried harder, loud enough to draw the neighbors out.

And under their questioning, she had the nerve to call me her older sister—the one forcing her to abort her baby.

The neighbors, knowing nothing, started pounding on my door.

I was so furious I could barely see straight. I yanked the door open to throw her out.

She was on her knees.

“Please, I really do love Carter. Don't tear us apart, okay?”

I pulled out my phone to show the neighbors photos of me and Carter together.

But Lily beat me to it—shamelessly showing them photos from his bed.

Compared to the polite, public shots of Carter and me standing at a careful distance, her intimate photos were far more convincing.

What sealed it was the background of one picture: Carter's family portrait.

Anyone could see they'd been living together.

The neighbors turned on me with open disgust:

“Stealing your own sister's man? Have you no shame?”

“Who gives you the right to force someone to kill their baby?”

“We're watching you tonight. Try something—see what happens.”

I couldn't take it anymore. I called Carter.

He showed up fast. The second he saw Lily kneeling in front of me, his face went dark.

He pulled her up, gathered her into his arms, and started checking her over.

When he saw how red and swollen her knees were, he turned on me:

“Veronica! You've gone too far!”

“Why would you do this to Lily?”

The neighbors piled on, embellishing every detail of how I'd supposedly bullied her.

My vision blurred with rage, but I forced it down and asked him, voice cold:

“Tell everyone. Before today, whose boyfriend were you?”

Carter's gaze swept across the neighbors staring him down, but it never landed on my face.

That didn't stop him from answering:

“I'm Lily's boyfriend.”

“You have no right to force her to get rid of our baby.”

Lily's wet eyes lit with triumph—and a taunt meant for me.

“Carter, don't blame her. I know she just loves you too much. And I wasn't sincere enough, kneeling like that……”

Hearing Carter claim her with his own mouth, one of the neighbors stormed back inside and came out with a carton of eggs. They hurled them at me.

Shells cracked against my forehead, my cheeks, my clothes—the raw stench so thick I nearly gagged.

Lily quickly raised her hand to stop the crowd:

“Please, don't make things harder for my sister. She has her reasons.”

Then she tugged Carter's sleeve:

“Let's talk inside. Don't put her in a worse spot out here.”

Without a word, Carter scooped Lily up and carried her into my apartment.

The neighbors lingered for the show, but Carter sent out a few fat red envelopes on his phone and apologized to the crowd:

“Dirty laundry shouldn't be aired in public. Sorry for the trouble.”

The money shut them up, but on their way out, several of them spat at my feet.

I looked up at the hallway security camera and swallowed everything down.

Inside, I didn't spare a glance at the two of them tangled together. I went straight to the bathroom and scrubbed the filth off my face.

Then I took out my phone to call the police.

Before I could say a word, Carter snatched it out of my hand and smashed it on the floor:

“Veronica! After all this, you still don't think you've embarrassed yourself enough?”

“I told you I'd handle everything. Why did you have to go after Lily?”

I fired back:

“I went after her?”

He pulled out his own phone and shoved a screenshot in my face—a message Lily had forwarded to him.

“You threatened to expose her, to ruin her chances of getting her diploma. When did you become this vicious?”

I stared at that anonymous message and almost laughed.

No wonder he'd gotten here so fast. Lily had set the whole thing up.