They Cut Down My Tree for Her Box, I Cut Myself Out of Their Family Chapter 04

They Cut Down My Tree for Her Box, I Cut Myself Out of Their Family Chapter 04

Three days before the wedding, the house churned with activity.

Dad was busy calling the last of the relatives and friends, telling everyone “our Nora’s getting married.”

Mom sorted through Nora’s dowry over and over, terrified she’d miss some tiny thing and disappoint her little princess.

Zane was at Nora’s beck and call—picking up her friends, running errands, never complaining.

Everyone was swamped. No one asked how my preparations were going. No one asked if I needed anything.

I glanced at the entryway table. My wedding invitation sat there, in plain view.

A whole week, and no one had opened it. No one noticed my wedding date was different from hers.

They didn’t care about my ceremony. They didn’t care whether the rest of my life would be happy.

To them, I was just the extra daughter getting married on the side—a backdrop to make Nora shine brighter.

I calmly changed my shoes and left the house.

Three days to go. Cole had told me he didn’t care about anything except me.

But I still wanted to give him something from the heart—a watch, as a thank-you for the ring.

When I went to pay, the sales clerk handed my card back. “Ma’am, this card was declined.”

I froze. Then understanding hit me, a wave of suffocating dread.

I went straight home. I shoved aside the wedding favors Mom was packing.

“Mom, did you spend the ninety-six thousand dollars in my account?”

Several pairs of eyes swung toward me.

Mom calmly kept packing, her tone as casual as if she’d borrowed a cup of sugar. “Yes. I bought Nora some gold jewelry, so she has a safety net. We were short on cash, so I used yours.”

The complete indifference on her face made my throat burn raw. “That was every cent I saved in two years of working.”

“Why are we splitting hairs between family?” Mom frowned. “Besides, we agreed you’d give your sister something.”

I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I raised my voice. “Are you trying to drive me to my grave? Am I supposed to show up at my own wedding with nothing? She has a house, a car—how much safety net does she need?”

My voice cracked. “Mom, you can’t do this. It’s not fair.”

Mom froze. Zane shoved me hard. “Willa, what the hell is wrong with you? Ninety-six thousand bucks, and you’re throwing a fit? Nora only gets married once. Of course every little detail has to be perfect for her.”

Mom recovered. “You earn good money. You can spare it. You won’t miss it. Go to your room. Stop making a scene.”

I didn’t respond. I walked straight to Nora’s jewelry box and reached for it.

Dad grabbed my wrist. “What do you think you’re doing?”

I struggled against his grip, two decades of bottled-up hurt finally exploding. “I’m returning it—that’s my money!”

Nora’s voice came out small and careful. “Willa, don’t be mad. Take it all. I don’t want any of it.”

Zane grabbed me from behind, pinning my arms down. “Willa, enough! Are you trying to tear this family apart?”

“I just want back what’s mine!”

A sharp crack.

My head snapped to the side. My cheek exploded with heat. Tears fell before I even registered the pain.

Mom had slapped me.

She was breathing hard, her eyes full of disappointment and disgust. “This is what I get for raising you? You turn on your own family over one tiny thing? How can you be this selfish?”

I held my burning cheek, staring at the ring of accusing eyes around me.

They’d cut down my camphor tree. They’d drained my savings. All for Nora. And when I tried to take back what was mine, I was selfish and ungrateful.

Dad stepped forward, his face grim. “Enough. The money stops here. No one brings it up again.”

A casual pronouncement. Final. Absolute.

My hand stopped just short of the jewelry box. Not because I didn’t want it. Because I knew I would never be allowed to take it.

I stopped looking at them. I took nothing. I walked out of that house.

I went to the hotel I’d booked. I didn’t go home for the next two days.

No one looked for me. No one asked where I’d gone. No one asked about my wedding.

They still buzzed around Nora, as if I had never existed.

On my wedding day, the sun was perfect.

The wedding cars pulled up on time. Cole, in his sharp suit, walked toward me with steady, certain steps.

“Willa, I’m here for you.”

I climbed onto his back. From this day forward, that house was nothing to me.