Chapter 3

On the day of the gathering, I arrived at the restaurant as planned.

But for some reason, the party had already started.

Anthony was peeling shrimp for Andrea.

My eyes welled up with tears; he was clearly allergic to shrimp. I used to love shrimp too, and always made a fuss for him to peel them for me.

Despite his allergy, he would indulge me, peeling them by hand with a fond expression.

But that was before our parents died.

Afterwards, he became so cold and irritable towards me, and shrimp disappeared from our dinner table.

I tilted my head back slightly, forcing the tears back, and looked again at the people in the private room.

The laughter and chatter abruptly ceased. Everyone seemed surprised to see me.

Only Anthony, who didn’t even look up, but the tightening of his jaw was enough to show his disgust for me.

I caught my breath.

Andrea stood up at just the right moment and came over to me affectionately, "We thought you weren’t coming."

I glanced questioningly at Chris.

I had told Chris clearly that I would be there and had confirmed the time repeatedly.

Yet, Chris turned his head away guiltily, unable to meet my gaze.

Andrea’s eyes reddened as if she were aggrieved somehow, "What’s wrong, Kylie? Are you angry?"

Before I could speak, Anthony suddenly stood up, pulling Andrea to his side. His tone was cold and full of loathing, "She's late, what right does she have to be angry?"

In that moment, I seemed to understand something.

In high school, Chris and Andrea were very close, always following Andrea’s plans. I turned to confront Andrea, but she started crying first. "It’s not easy for us to have this gathering. Calm down, please, don’t spoil it for everyone."

Before I could say a word, Andrea had already pinned the blame on me. Seeing Andrea’s tears, Anthony’s disgust intensified, "If you didn’t want to come, you could have just left. Don’t be such an eyesore here."