The Stolen Mate and the Moon Goddess’s Trial Chapter 02

The Stolen Mate and the Moon Goddess’s Trial Chapter 02 The Unwanted Birthday Gift
I stood frozen for a long while, my throat thick with bitter sorrow I could not put into words.
Asher’s scent still lingered thick in the air like an invisible shackle, weighing heavy on my chest.
He chose to sit right beside me at the table, but I found him disgusting. The gap between us could never be filled.
Two days later, it was my birthday.
Asher handed me a gift box, his tone soft. “Lila, it’s almost winter. I’ve picked this scarf just for you.”
I took the box and opened it right there, in front of the whole family.
“How is it? Do you like it? I remembered you said green was your favorite.”
Asher smiled at me, looking every inch the devoted husband. The sight made my skin crawl.
“A green scarf?” I held it up in front of him. “Why didn’t you just get me a T-shirt that says, My husband cheated on me? At least that would’ve been honest.”
My mother shot to her feet at once.
“Lila! You ungrateful little brat! Asher said he picked green because it’s your favorite color.”
I tugged my lips into a hollow self-mocking grin.
I’d only ever said I liked green because Asher wore it so often.
Now he was giving me a green scarf, after everything he’d done.
I couldn’t tell whether he was being deliberately cruel—or whether he simply didn’t care enough to realize the irony.
“Forget it. Lila must think it’s cheap and beneath her.
“Can I have it instead? Every winter I nearly freeze through out there,” said Quinn.
As soon as Quinn finished speaking, her eyes welled up in an instant.
Before I could speak, Mom snatched the scarf right out of my hands and tossed it into the trash can beside her.
She said, “It’s tainted from her touch. Let me buy you brand new ones you like.”
Asher, however, stepped silently over to the bin and bent to fish the scarf out.
He said, “I think it suits you perfectly, Lila.”
With that, he folded it neatly and set it back inside its gift box in front of me.
Then he turned to Quinn naturally, retrieving another package from the bedroom, and said, “I’ve got a present for you too, Quinn.
“Welcome home.
“Try it on and see if it fits.”
He pulled out a navy formal gown tailored to Quinn’s exact measurements.
I went rigid, my eyes open wide in shock.
This was the gown we had ordered together half a month ago for our anniversary.
Back then I told him I preferred black.
However, he insisted navy flattered me more.
I never argued with him. Instead, I only hugged him and accepted his suggestion happily.
Now I realized I had been nothing more than Quinn’s fitting dummy.
Quinn exclaimed, “Wow, it’s stunning! This is my very first formal gown!
“Well, Lila, will you be mad at me again?”
She clutched the fabric, fingers trembling, her gaze sliding to me with feigned guilt.
My parents’ hearts melted at her pitiful act.
Dad howled, “I won’t allow that!
“Quinn, now that you’re home, you’ll never lack anything Lila has.
“We will make it up to you tenfold. I can’t believe Lila is such a selfish being who would let her own sister die just to satisfy her petty greed!
“That’s really our family’s tragedy.”