Chapter 2

The whole room froze, every face turning to me in disbelief.

Kerry was the first to recognize me. His voice shook, thick with astonishment. "Thelma, how are you here?"

Cordelia stumbled, nearly losing her footing, a flicker of guilt in her eyes. "Thelma. It really is you."

Tristan and Mom had gone white with shock too, but the first words out of their mouths weren't an apology, weren't an explanation. It was that they could no longer keep it from me.

"What do we do now? We can't hide it from her anymore."

"Damn it, who could've guessed she'd be out selling flowers in a clown costume?"

Cordelia's shame curdled into fury, and she jabbed a finger at me. "Thelma, didn't you say you had a stomachache? I never thought you'd use a fake stomach illness to trick me yesterday. Good thing I didn't fall for it."

"You showed up looking like this today just to humiliate us, didn't you? You wanted me to feel guilty, isn't that it?"

Kerry's gaze landed on me, full of disgust. "So that's it. You came in front of us on purpose today, just to embarrass us like this."

"Three years, and I never imagined you'd turn this scheming."

Mom planted her hands on her hips and screamed at me. "Thelma, you did this on purpose, didn't you? You knew perfectly well today was their wedding anniversary, and you had to come and ruin it."

"How did I give birth to a daughter like you? What a curse."

The wound in my chest tore open again, bleeding.

Tears mixed with the greasepaint on my face, leaving me more wretched than ever.

"This is all you have to say to me? Not one word of explanation?"

Tristan let out a cold snort. "Explanation? What explanation do you want? Don't tell me you think any of this is our fault."

My eyes went wide with shock. They'd used Kerry's faked death to deceive me.

They'd saddled me with a mountain of debt. Three years, I sold the house, sold the car, worked several jobs a day, lived like something that was neither human nor ghost, and they didn't feel a shred of guilt.

Cordelia handed me a tissue. "Thelma, don't blame us. They're truly in love. You can't expect them to stay trapped in misery and never be together."

"Having Kerry fake his death so he could be with Joyce was already the way that hurt you least."

"If you weren't the most important person to us, why would we have gone through all this trouble to keep it from you?"

Loading me with debt, leaving me wishing I were dead, and it was all for my own good. What a laughable excuse. I couldn't help the scorn that broke out of me.

"You people are shameless. Betrayal is betrayal, cheating is cheating. Stop using true love as a shield. It makes me sick."

"Kerry, if you loved Joyce, you could have divorced me and been with her out in the open. Why fake your death? Why leave me all that debt, leave me living worse than dead?"

Kerry's brow furrowed. "What debt? I—"

Before he could finish, Joyce cut in. Eyes red, she stepped forward and gripped my hand. "Sis, don't blame Kerry. It's all my fault. If you have to blame someone, blame me. Ahh—"

She hadn't even finished when she recoiled as if startled and toppled backward, caught by Kerry. He glared at me viciously. "Joyce did nothing wrong. I'm the one who loves her. If you want to blame someone, blame me. Why would you push her? She's pregnant."

"You've gone too far. If anything happens to her, I will never forgive you."

Right on cue, Joyce clutched her belly, her face twisted in pain. "My stomach hurts so much. Kerry, help me."

Kerry's eyes filled with panic. "I'm taking you to the hospital right now."

As she passed by me, Joyce lowered her voice. "Sis, do you like this gift I gave you?"