Chapter 4

Mom and Dad beamed, praising me for finally growing up.

That night, while packing, Cole came to my room. He looked relieved too.

"I've been hesitating this whole time. Whether I should go through with this engagement."

"Your temper's bad. You're timid. You even hold grudges over Maya's childish pranks."

"But seeing you still prepare a gift for Maya, I've decided to keep moving forward with this relationship."

My hands stopped. I couldn't believe it.

"So, this whole time, you've been pranking me with Maya as some kind of test?"

He didn't deny it.

"A woman who can't tolerate her own sister, I'd be afraid to marry."

With that, Cole left, satisfied.

The morning of the engagement party, Maya reminded me over and over.

"Big sis. The white car. I woke up early and hand-washed it. It's sparkling. I went to all this trouble for you. If you dare not take it, you and I are done."

Mom and Dad agreed.

"Maya drove it to the car wash first thing this morning. Don't let her down."

I smiled and nodded.

I had no intention of going to the venue at all.

After the family and Cole left in the other black car.

I grabbed my luggage.

Before heading out, I stopped by the parking garage to look at the white car Maya had assigned me.

Three of the four tires had slash marks.

If I had driven that to the engagement party, it would have been a disaster.

A shiver ran through me.

I didn't look back. I got into a cab heading away from that house.

At the same time, Mom and Dad were hosting guests at the engagement party.

To indulge Maya's latest twisted taste, they had posted an open invitation on TikTok and Instagram. They'd @'d every single person they could think of who knew Rain.

Everyone was about to enjoy Maya's carefully crafted prank video.

Cole checked his watch. Three minutes until showtime.

He leaned close to Maya, voice low.

"You're sure about the car? What if Rain doesn't make it here?"

Maya was brimming with confidence.

"Relax. Even if she got in a car crash, she'd crawl here on her hands and knees, bleeding."

Then she flashed a cryptic smile.

"You know why I've been able to prank her for over twenty years and get away with it?"

Cole turned.

"Why?"

"Because I grew up at Mom and Dad's side. She wasn't brought back from foster care until she was five."

"She's desperate for love. She's spent her whole life sucking up to Mom, Dad, you, and me."

"So trust me. No matter what we do to her, she'll crawl back like a kicked dog."

Maya was absolutely certain.

After all, that was how Rain had been for all these years.

Until ten minutes into the engagement party. Every seat filled. Rain still hadn't shown.

Mom and Dad checked with property management.

The sabotaged white car had never left the parking garage.

Maya pulled up the home security camera. No one was there.

Cole called over and over. No answer.

Frantically searching, he ran into a former coworker of Rain's, holding an invitation and looking confused.

"That's weird. Didn't Rain get transferred to Milan? Why would she suddenly be having an engagement party..."

Cole didn't even have time to process it.

The next second, the engagement party screen lit up.

The moment the video played, Mom, Dad, and Maya's faces went bone white. They collapsed to the floor.