Mom Could Remember One Daughter Each Month, but Always Chose My Sister Chapter 03

Mom Could Remember One Daughter Each Month, but Always Chose My Sister Chapter 03

The day before my wedding, the hotel where Sophie had booked her anniversary party suddenly closed.

She ran into Mom’s arms, crying.

“Logan’s boss and all his relatives have already been notified.”

“If we can’t hold it tomorrow, how am I supposed to face them after that?”

Mom kept wiping Sophie’s tears.

“Don’t be afraid. I won’t let you be humiliated.”

Sophie turned toward me.

“Nora, give me the Hillcrest Conservatory.”

“Only a dozen people are coming to your wedding. Can’t you hold it somewhere else?”

Ethan had spent six months preparing that conservatory.

It was filled with Dad’s favorite white camellias.

The wooden wedding sign at the entrance was a careful copy of Dad’s handwriting.

Nora, keep moving forward. Dad will walk you down the aisle.

Sophie was already wearing the heirloom bangle.

She had destroyed Dad’s video, too.

This time, I didn’t give in.

“No.”

Sophie’s eyes immediately turned red.

“But you only get one first anniversary.”

“My wedding only happens once, too.”

Mom cut me off coldly.

“You’re a housekeeper. Don’t start acting like you own the place.”

Half an hour later, Ethan called.

“Nora, the venue canceled our wedding.”

My heart dropped. To use Mom’s country-club membership discount, we had signed the contract in her name.

But every dollar of the $200,000 venue fee had come from Ethan and me.

When we reached the conservatory, our wedding photos had already been thrown outside.

Several shoeprints marked the glass.

The staff were taking down the flower wall.

Sophie thought the white camellias looked too subdued, so she had them all replaced with red roses.

Ethan pulled out the payment records.

“We paid for this. How can you give it to someone else?”

The manager shot Mom a helpless look.

“Ms. Bennett told us you were just the setup crew.”

Ethan forced down his anger and held out the receipts.

“This is Nora’s wedding.”

“Sophie needed a place, so I would have paid to find her another venue.”

“But you can’t take this one from Nora.”

In front of him, Mom tore the receipts in half.

“The hired help thinks he can pretend to be my son-in-law?”

“I signed the contract. I can give this venue to whoever I want.”

Everyone nearby turned to look.

Ethan’s face flushed, but he lowered his voice anyway.

“You don’t have to acknowledge me.”

“But Nora has been looking forward to this wedding for a long time. I’m asking you, please don’t take it from her.”

Mom called private security.

“Get these two scammers out of here.”

Security grabbed Ethan by the arm.

Mom used the moment to snatch the wooden sign from his arms.

During the struggle, it hit the floor and broke into several pieces.

I dropped to my knees and hurried to gather them.

Sophie stepped on the piece with the N.

She looked down at it but didn’t move right away.

Then she pressed her heel down, grinding the crack deeper, before stepping back in feigned panic.

“I’m sorry, Nora. I didn’t see it.”

I looked up at Mom.

“Dad made that for me.”

Mom’s face was expressionless.

“Stop pretending we’re family.”

“I have only one daughter, and that’s Sophie.”

Ethan gathered the broken pieces into a box and led me away.

He made more than a dozen calls in the parking lot before finally finding a bed-and-breakfast willing to host our wedding on short notice.

When we laid the pieces out in the trunk and started putting the sign back together, we realized the piece engraved with the N was missing.

I went back to the conservatory alone.

My wedding had been erased completely.

The names on the cake had been scraped away and replaced with Sophie and Logan.

The wedding photos were lying face down beside a trash can.

I found the missing wooden piece outside the lounge.

Just as I reached for it, I heard Sophie’s voice inside.

“Mom, you really didn’t recognize Nora just now?”

Mom sighed softly.

“How could I not?”

“The second she walked in, I knew she was Nora.”

My hand froze in midair.

Sophie asked:

“Then why did you call her a scammer?”

“If I admitted she was my daughter, would the hotel still give you the venue?”

Mom’s voice was terrifyingly calm.

“She’s always been the understanding one. A little hurt won’t kill her.”

“But you? You’re different.”

“If you were humiliated in front of your in-laws, it would break my heart.”

I stood frozen. She remembered.

She knew I was her daughter.

She knew Ethan wasn’t a maintenance worker.

She knew tomorrow was my wedding.

Yet to save Sophie’s reputation, she had called me a fraud in front of everyone.

The sharp corner of the wooden piece dug into my palm.

Blood slowly welled up.

This time, I didn’t wipe it away.

I didn’t want to be understanding anymore.