Grandma Faked Dementia So My Sister Could Steal My Fiancé. Chapter 09

Grandma Faked Dementia So My Sister Could Steal My Fiancé. Chapter 09

I thought that was more or less the end of it.

Then, two weeks before I was supposed to leave, Grandma really was hospitalized.

This time, she wasn’t pretending.

Acute cholecystitis.

When Diane called, her voice was hoarse.

“Claire, your grandma had surgery. She keeps asking for you.”

I held the phone and stayed silent for a few seconds.

“Text me the hospital address.”

Megan asked if I wanted her to come with me.

I said no.

The hospital hallway reeked of disinfectant.

Diane sat outside Grandma’s room and looked at me with an expression I couldn’t quite read.

For once, there was none of her usual self-righteousness.

Robert was standing at the billing desk.

His hair had gone noticeably grayer.

Lily was there too.

She wore an oversized sweatshirt, barefaced and completely drained.

When she saw me, she shot to her feet.

“Claire.”

I didn’t answer.

I walked straight into the room.

Grandma lay in bed, noticeably thinner.

The second she saw me, tears filled her eyes.

“Claire.”

This time, she didn’t pretend not to recognize me.

She didn’t pretend to be confused.

I stood beside the bed.

“The doctor said the surgery went well.”

She reached for my hand.

I didn’t pull away, but I didn’t take hers either.

Her hand hung in the air, then slowly dropped back onto the blanket.

“I was wrong.”

She cried quietly.

“I thought you were strong. I thought even if you got the short end of the stick once, you’d get over it. Lily’s always been delicate. She never handled disappointment well.”

I looked at her white hair.

Part of me hurt.

But underneath the hurt was something colder.

“So you helped her steal my fiance?”

Her lips trembled.

“I didn’t think of it like that. Ethan had a good job and a good future. I thought if Lily ended up with him, she’d have someone to take care of her. You’re so capable. You could find someone better.”

I laughed.

But my eyes burned.

“Grandma, I’m a person.”

“I’m not the dumping ground for whatever Lily doesn’t want anymore.”

She broke down crying.

Diane stood in the doorway wiping her eyes too.

I took the home health aide contract out of my bag.

“I hired an aide. I’ll cover a third of the cost, plus my share of the medical bills from here on out.”

Grandma panicked. “You’re not staying here with me?”

I shook my head.

She stared at me.

As if she finally understood that crying, clinging, and begging would no longer work.

I said, “Just because I’m capable doesn’t mean I’m supposed to be sacrificed.”

She closed her eyes, tears tracing the wrinkles in her face.

I turned and walked out of the room.

Lily was waiting in the hallway.

Her eyes were raw and red.

“Claire, can we talk for a minute?”

I checked the time.

“Go ahead.”

She lowered her head. “Ethan and I broke up.”

“Okay.”

“He wasn’t who I thought he was.”

I couldn’t help it. I laughed.

Her face went white.

“What’s so funny?”

“Turns out stolen things don’t always feel so good once they’re yours.”

She bit her lip as tears spilled down her cheeks.

“It just always felt unfair. Everyone in this family said you were smart, capable, dependable. I was

never as good as you.”

“So you stole my fiance?”

“I thought if he chose me, then for once I’d beaten you at something.”

I looked at her.

Twenty-four years old.

Not a child.

Old enough to understand exactly what it meant to hurt someone.

“Lily, I’m not forgiving you.”

Her head snapped up.

I continued, “But I’m done competing with you too.”

“If you want to win, go win something for yourself. Stop turning my life into the prize.”

She crouched down, sobbing.

I didn’t help her up.

As I reached the elevator, Ethan came running down the hallway from the other direction.

Lily must have told him I was there.

He was out of breath.

“Claire.”

I pressed the elevator button.

He stopped in front of me, his eyes bloodshot.

“I heard you’re going to London.”

“Yeah.”

“When?”

“Next week.”

His throat worked.

“Can I take you to the airport?”

“No.”

The elevator doors opened.

He suddenly said, “I finally understood why being with Lily felt so easy. It was because you were

carrying all the weight.”

I stopped.

His voice shook. “Claire, I really regret it.”

I turned back to him.

“You regret that there’s no one left to carry the weight for you.”

“You don’t regret that you were the one who dumped it all on me in the first place.”

He stared at me.

The elevator doors slowly closed.

This time, he didn’t follow.