The Game They Played, The Life I Lost Chapter 03

The Game They Played, The Life I Lost Chapter 03

My wound slammed into the table leg. The white bandage soaked red.

I bit back the pain and stayed quiet.

Serena clutched Ethan’s collar, sobbing.

“From the moment you were born, you took half of everything from me. Half of Mom and Dad’s love. Half of Ethan’s attention.”

“I just wanted to play a little game. Why do you have to ruin even that?”

“And I was planning your engagement party for three days from now. As a surprise.”

“Tara, I’m really upset.”

I didn’t bother defending myself.

It wouldn’t matter.

Sure enough, my parents piled on.

“Serena spent all morning inviting relatives, ordering flowers, picking out the cake. You’re so ungrateful!”

Ethan shot me a look of pure disappointment.

“Our families were supposed to discuss the wedding next year.”

“Serena was the one who pushed for the engagement party. She said she didn’t want you to miss out.”

“And this is how you repay her?”

My sister had never even let our parents celebrate my birthday.

She decided that on my birthday, too many people paid attention to me, and she felt left out.

So every year, I hid in the attic and lit a single candle by myself.

And now, an engagement party? The biggest day of my life?

She’d never be that kind.

They helped Serena to her room. My phone buzzed.

Boss: [Tara, when can you leave?]

I watched their four backs retreating down the hall, getting smaller and smaller.

Tara: [Three days.]

I’d lost my appetite. I went back to my room hungry.

After calming Serena down, Ethan pushed open my door.

“Tara, you shouldn’t have done that. It was too much.”

He stood there with that stern look, and I almost laughed.

“Too much?”

“Ethan, whose boyfriend are you? I’m the one who’s hurt. Not her.”

He blinked.

“Serena’s your sister. Can’t you just let it go?”

“She only plays this game because she’s insecure. Be the bigger person.”

I’d heard these excuses so many times my ears were calloused.

Because she was my sister, I’d been giving in for twenty years.

If I gave any more, I’d be buried.

He noticed the blood seeping through my bandage. His voice softened.

“Come on. Let’s get that cleaned up.”

He reached for my hand.

“Ethan, do you actually want to marry me?”

When I’d heard he was planning to talk to both families about the wedding, I couldn’t pretend I wasn’t happy.

Five years together. I’d imagined it a thousand times.

But a fiancé who’d set a bear trap on my path just to please another woman?

I couldn’t trust that.

Ethan’s brow furrowed immediately. “Of course. Who marries someone they don’t love?”

“I promise, that camping trip was the last time I played the Invisible Game with Serena. Never again.”

He looked so sincere. Just like every other time he’d promised to protect me.

But promises never changed anything. They kept playing with me.

That freezing night in the woods was burned into my memory.

Serena appeared in the doorway, pouting.

“Ethan, you’ve been talking to Tara forever.”

“There’s a new movie out. Can we go?”

His hand let go of mine. His footsteps moved away.

“Clean that up yourself. I’ll pick out your ring tomorrow.”

I suddenly remembered a summer night when I was nineteen. Ethan stood under the streetlight and told me he liked me.

He said I’d always be first in his heart.

Five years later, I wasn’t first anymore.

Maybe I never was.

The house fell quiet again.

I went to the office alone and finished all my paperwork.

I got home before dark.

The moment I opened the door, I froze.

“Mom, Dad, Ethan—the engagement party is in two days. You have to help me.”

“First, we ditch Tara. Then we go to the beach. Phones on silent. No one responds.”

“Ethan, you can’t show up either. We want her hopes up, then completely crushed.”

“With all those relatives there, she’ll be humiliated. She might even end up as a local headline!”

Serena’s voice was electric with excitement.

Mom and Dad agreed without a second thought.

“Of course we’ll help. The Coopers already know.”

“Only Tara’s in the dark.”

Every word sent ice through my veins.