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The Sister They Forgot, The Fiancée They Lost
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When the final stop of our trip around the world came to an end, money was tight, so my brother suggested we draw straws to decide how each of us would get home. On the first draw, my best friend got...
章節（4）
第1章
When the last stop of our trip around the world was over, money was tight, so my brother suggested we draw lots to decide how each of us would get home.
On the first draw, my best friend drew the train, but my brother, Ethan Sinclair, accidentally knocked over the cup of lots and insisted on a redo.
On the second draw, she drew the ship, and then my childhood sweetheart, Julian Prescott, somehow lost one of the sticks, so we started over again.
It wasn't until the third try that she finally got exactly what she wanted: a first-class plane ticket. And me? I drew walking.
I looked at the result and calmly started packing.
After a year of traveling with them, I had long since gotten used to the fact that my luck was terrible.
But right before I went to say goodbye, I heard my best friend, Molly Lane, speaking in a guilty voice:
"Ethan, is it really okay for us to cheat like this? What if something happens to Jenna on the way?"
My brother's answer was flat, as if this were nothing out of the ordinary:
"Don't worry. After all these years, she's definitely used to it by now."
Julian chimed in beside him:
"You're not like her. Your health isn't good, and you can't handle a rough, bumpy trip."
"A little extra walking will just be exercise for her."
The moment their words fell, my tears fell too, without a sound.
I suddenly remembered how, before we set out on this trip, my brother had pointed toward the setting sun and told me:
"I'm going to give the best little sister in the world one grand graduation trip."
Julian had even held my hand, looked at me with gentle eyes, and confessed:
"When the trip is over, I want to marry you."
Yet in just one short year of travel, those promises had scattered all over the world.
Since I had never been the only one on this trip around the world, my future didn't need you in it either.
1.
I pushed open the door, looked at them calmly, and told them to give me back my passport.
My brother pushed my outstretched hand aside and handed me a music festival ticket instead.
"Molly wants to experience a music festival abroad, so we're staying one more day. Don't be late."
Julian carefully draped a jacket over Molly's shoulders.
"By the time we got to your ticket, there weren't any seats together left, so you'll have to sit by yourself."
I clutched the ticket, a bitter ache in my chest.
"Isn't money supposed to be tight? How can we afford tickets?"
Julian gave my forehead an affectionate flick.
"That's exactly why. After we bought the tickets, we ran short on money."
"I don't like music festivals. Sell my ticket, and I can pick a cheaper way to get home."
"Jenna, do you have to make everyone miserable? We came here to travel. What's the point if we don't even see the things we want to see?"
My brother wore a "here we go again" look, and he slammed the door on his way out, impatient and angry.
Molly hurried to smooth things over.
"Jenna, come with me, pleeease. When we get back, I'll have your brother give you your passport."
I raised my eyes and stared at her, remembering that Provence, the place I had wanted to go most, had ended up being a trip for the three of them.
Back then, I couldn't find my passport anywhere. They said plane tickets were expensive, so they went ahead first.
They used the itinerary I had carefully put together to visit every place I'd wanted to see.
Alone in a hotel in a foreign country, I anxiously searched every inch of the place.
On the last day of the planned Provence leg, my brother suddenly told me my passport was in his bag.
I rushed over. It was a local tour guide who brought me my passport, and by then they were already packing up at the hotel.
The moment I landed, I was dragged off to another city.
After that, my brother held onto my passport, saying he was afraid I'd leave it lying around again.
I looked at Molly quietly.
"If I go to the festival, you'll have my brother give my passport back?"
Molly smiled and nodded.
"Then I'll go."
My brother suddenly came back, took my phone, and transferred the rest of my money away.
"Jenna, you'll be walking home later anyway. The walk to the festival is good practice to get you used to it."
"Yeah, and you can use the time to think over how you just refused. Traveling with someone like you is a real buzzkill."
I held back the pain in my chest and managed a smile.
Molly suddenly sighed with regret.
"Jenna, tomorrow we're planning to go to that place famous for its insanely spicy food. You probably won't make it in time to eat there. Such a shame."
I couldn't handle even a little spice, and they all knew it.
"It's fine. I can't eat spicy food anyway."
Ethan clicked his tongue.
"Jenna Sinclair, coming on this trip with you was the worst decision I've ever made. You make it sound like we picked a restaurant you can't eat at on purpose."
"Jenna, that really hurts. How could we not remember you can't eat spicy food?"
Julian looked utterly heartbroken.
A year ago, they would order non-spicy dishes specially for me, then add their own dipping sauces.
Now they only ordered the spicy dishes Molly liked and told me that if I couldn't eat, I should go back to the hotel and not ruin their fun.
Molly, as if trying to smooth things over, asked the two of them to help her pick out an outfit that would look good in photos tomorrow.
I blinked my stinging, sore eyes and looked down at a new message.
One line swam before my blurry eyes:
[Please think again about coming to France to be my PhD student. You have real talent.]
Before, I had wanted to stay in the country with my brother and my boyfriend. Now there was no need for that anymore.
第2章
"Jenna, don't forget to head out early. We're going to grab something to eat first."
With that, Molly happily linked arms with both of them and left.
I went into the room and searched everywhere, but my passport wasn't there.
"Oh, right! To keep my promise, I had Ethan carry it on him. You can have it the second the festival's over."
Right after that, Molly posted a bunch of group photos in the group chat.
In one, my brother was carefully cradling the back of Molly's head as she leaned back, while Julian had his arm wrapped intimately around her waist.
Below them was Julian's reply:
"Traveling with you is just more fun. You give so much emotional support, and you actually capture the moments."
I shoved my phone away and started walking toward the festival, one step at a time.
Only when I got there did I realize it was a rock festival.
I had a bad heart, and loud noise could easily make it hard for me to breathe.
The show hadn't even started, and the pounding was already making my chest tighten.
I fought through the discomfort, gripping the hem of my shirt, telling myself I just had to get through this one.
Once I had my passport, there would be no future with them.
At intermission, to liven up the crowd, the camera cut randomly to people in the audience.
It landed on Julian and Molly. Julian turned his head and leaned his upper body toward her.
He blocked her completely, so no one could see what they were doing.
He straightened up quickly, and both of them were glowing with smiles.
The wind lifted a streamer off the ground and carried it toward Molly. A hand shot out from the other side and caught it.
The hand was large, almost hiding Molly entirely, and a scar on the wrist showed faintly.
Ethan got that burn when I was three, grabbing me before I could touch a kettle.
Back then, he told me not to cry, that he would always protect me.
Suddenly, I couldn't stay there any longer.
I crouched by the entrance and waited for them to come out. The moment they did, I held out my hand.
"My passport. Give it to me."
"Jenna, what kind of attitude is that?"
I said nothing and just kept my hand out stubbornly, afraid that if I did anything else, the tears would come first.
Molly tugged at my brother's sleeve.
"Ethan, don't be mad. It's crowded here. Let's just leave."
So my brother and Julian shielded Molly and walked away.
I pushed into the crowd, trying to catch up with them.
Just as I was about to reach them, a bicycle sped past and knocked me down.
I braced myself on the ground, my knee burning with pain.
They took two steps toward me, then quickly turned back.
A foreigner was hitting on Molly, and she was waving her hands, frightened.
The two of them stood guard on either side of her. One comforted her gently while the other chased the man away.
I still couldn't ignore the pain in my knee. Alone, I slowly pulled myself up and walked over.
I stood right beside them and watched them refuse to spare me even a little attention.
"Jenna, wait here. I'll go to the pharmacy and get you something."
"I'm so tired, and it's a little cold. Can we go back to the hotel first?"
Julian pulled back the hand he'd reached toward me and called a cab back to the hotel.
My brother took off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders.
After Molly got into the car, I grabbed both of them.
"Why didn't I get to sit with you two at the festival?"
"Jenna, Molly came all this way with us by herself, and she's not well. Of course we have to take care of her."
Julian's brows knitted tightly, as if I had asked something incredibly unreasonable.
"Then just now..."
"That was just a camera angle. When you're out having fun, you have to be a good sport, don't you?"
"The trip isn't even over yet, and you're in that much of a hurry to get your passport and leave?"
"Jenna, don't you think you're asking for too much?"
The moment those words came out, I looked up at them.
They used to give me so many things, always afraid they couldn't give me the best.
"I'm staying abroad to do my PhD. I'm not coming home."
"Ethan, give me back my passport."
第3章
Julian dragged me into the car and took me back to the hotel.
"Jenna, I told you I'd marry you once the trip was over. Are you trying to rush me now?"
"I just want to go on and do my PhD."
"Your family and friends are all back home. Why would you move abroad? Stop throwing a little tantrum."
"Is it that you don't like it here? Then we'll go somewhere else."
"We were supposed to be on a plane today. We only stayed because Molly wanted to see the music festival."
The sound of Molly breaking a glass shattered the tense silence.
Julian hurried to pull her away, and my brother crouched down to pick up the broken glass.
Tears spilled down Molly's face at once. She was so upset her hands wouldn't stop shaking.
"Jenna, didn't we agree we'd live our lives together? How could you leave me behind?"
"Did I make you mad? I'll change, okay?"
My brother stepped in front of Molly right away and comforted her in a low voice.
"Jenna, you know Molly's health isn't good. How could you do this?"
"We'll talk about this later. Molly's a little shaken, so we're taking her out to clear her head first."
"We'll deal with the passport when we get back."
The words I'd been about to say caught in my throat as I watched them walk away.
The wound from when I'd been knocked down, which Julian had then gripped hard in his anger, began to throb, the pain spreading through my whole body.
I quickly asked the hotel for a first aid kit, patched myself up, and went out to keep my appointment.
"Is your hand all right? It's still bleeding. Let me take you to get it looked at."
I froze. Someone I wasn't even that close to had been the first to show concern for me.
They had never asked at all.
I shook my head and said something else instead.
"I'll report to the program in three days."
"Don't you need to go home and say goodbye to your family? There's no rush."
I nodded, thinking I could use the time to go to Provence.
"Jenna, what are you doing here? Did you come for this bakery's cake too?"
Molly's voice came from behind me.
I stared at the three of them standing in front of the cakes. Beside me, Molly was agonizing over which flavor to pick, because she wanted to try them all.
I spoke quietly. "Is there one for me?"
My brother looked up at me, the emotion in his eyes hard to read.
He had promised to spend every birthday with me.
This year he'd even planned for us to celebrate at the lavender festival in Provence, my favorite place in the world.
But on my birthday, the three of them stood beneath lavender that stretched as far as the eye could see and agreed to come back next time.
I was by the side of a road nearly two thousand miles away, searching for a passport I was never going to find.
"Get two. Then you can give Jenna the one you don't like as much."
With that, Julian turned to look at me.
"Aren't you going to introduce us, Jenna?"
After I'd introduced everyone, Julian looked a little unhappy.
Professor Oliver pointed at my injury, his tone stern.
"Aren't you going to take your girlfriend to get that treated?"
Julian's gaze finally shifted from the professor to me.
"I will."
"Miss Sinclair will be in my..."
Molly suddenly sneezed.
My brother immediately told Julian to run to the pharmacy for cold medicine while he took Molly back first.
So they never heard the professor promise to look after me and not let me be mistreated so far from home.
When I got back to the hotel, a staff member came to find me.
"Miss Sinclair, they've already checked out. Please collect your things as soon as possible."
Molly's message arrived late.
"Jenna, our flight's this afternoon, so we won't wait for you. See you back home!"
With money the professor had lent me, I bought a ticket on the next available flight.
I'd go home, then, and say goodbye to Mom and Dad.
第4章
I had barely carried my things through the front door when Mom and Dad asked why my brother hadn't come back with me.
I thought of the message I'd just seen.
Molly had posted a group photo in the group chat, the three of them standing in front of a car.
"Jenna, we switched to a road trip! We're gonna check out some other places while we wait for you~"
So the tight budget had only ever applied to me.
I shook my head and told them the others still wanted to travel some more.
"I came back to say goodbye. I'm going to France for my PhD."
My parents had always supported whatever I did, and they didn't say much.
I went to my room and packed up my things to ship overseas.
Mom got a video call from my brother.
I walked past right beside her.
"Mom, who's that next to you?"
"Oh, come on, you can't even tell? It's your..."
"Mom, I've gotta go. Molly wants me to take pictures of her. Bye."
Mom held up the phone, frowning.
"Doesn't he hate taking pictures for people?"
I listened quietly. He had never once taken a picture of me.
Yet over the past year, just to photograph Molly, he had put together an entire guidebook, and his skills now rivaled a professional photographer's.
I stayed a few days until everything had shipped. When it was time to go, I hugged Mom.
"I'll come back to see you guys whenever I can."
By the time I landed in Provence, it was almost dark.
I followed my itinerary to the hotel I'd picked out.
Someone tagged me in the group chat again.
"Jenna, we made Provence our last stop so you could see it, since you love it so much."
"We'll take lots of photos and videos, and we can play them at our wedding."
"Don't worry, your brother will buy you souvenirs."
I left the group chat and stopped reading it.
While I was checking in at the front desk, Molly and the other two walked in from outside.
"Jenna, what are you doing here?"
I put away my key card and looked at them coolly.
"Jenna, you didn't follow the rules of the game."
"Neither did you."
"We only switched to a road trip to keep you company."
"Yeah, all those views and all that food we sent you the whole way, that was for you!"
I said nothing more, turned, and stepped into the elevator.
Behind me, Julian called out for me to meet them in the lobby the next morning.
I had just put my things down when my phone rang.
"Why'd you leave the group chat? Molly posted tomorrow's itinerary. Take a look."
"Julian, I'm going to follow my own travel plan."
"Haven't we already done all that? Switch it up."
"But I haven't."
The next day, I came down and found the three of them waiting in the lobby.
Julian stepped up first, telling me to stop throwing a tantrum and come with them.
I didn't want to, but he and my brother dragged me along.
When I came back from the restroom partway through the day, the three of them were talking.
"Julian, are we really doing this?"
"She broke the rules first. We've already given her plenty of slack."
"Besides, isn't it nice for us to stay a little longer?"
"If I could, I'd never let this trip end."
"I've got her phone. I left her money for a ferry ticket. We'll just have the waiter give it back to her later."
I stayed where I was until they'd gone, then used my passport to book a flight to France.
Along with the booking confirmation came a call from Julian.
"Jenna, just stick with the original plan. We'll be waiting for you at home."
"Don't be a sore loser. You drew that straw yourself. Who else is there to blame?"
"No one. Just go."
"Let's break up."
In the new group chat they'd pulled me into, Julian said I was throwing a tantrum again.
"Jenna, once you get home in a week, we'll go get our marriage license the very next day."
"Your brother and Julian will give you a grand wedding."
I ignored them and texted Mom to let her know I was safe.
I threw the straw that said "walk" into the trash.
This grand graduation trip was over for good.
No one would make me do all the heavy lifting anymore, on the excuse that I was the healthy one.
No more trips full of food and clothes I didn't even like.
From now on, there would be mountains and rivers between us, and we would never meet again.