I pressed my thumbnail into the center of my palm until the skin paled.
I stood up. No one noticed. No one ever noticed.
I walked out of the banquet hall, out to the open deck, desperate to breathe.
The sea wind hit my face. I gripped the railing, lips trembling. Anger boiled in me. I wanted to scream. I wanted to shout that I was their daughter too. But what for? I'd only look pathetic.
Life has never been fair to me. Not once.
I sighed and looked up at the moon, trying to calm whatever was clawing inside my chest. The fury was mine and it was old and it understood everything I refused to say out loud.
But that small peace shattered when I felt Elena's presence behind me.
"What are you doing out here alone, Sis?" she asked, voice sickeningly sweet. "You should be inside, enjoying the party. Don't be out here sulking like a loser."
I stayed quiet. But my jaw tightened.
Elena moved closer, smirking. "Look at you. All pitiful and pathetic." Her voice was full of mockery.
"You're weak. Still begging for our parents' love, but they love me. Not you. Never you. Can't you see that?"
She laughed cruelly.
"My husband? He never wanted you. Damiano? Loves me. Only Dante loved you, but well, he's dead. You are alone and nothing, Serafina. No one wants you. No one loves you. What's the point of being alive?"
I was the eldest. But she never treated me like one. She took everything from me, my family, my name, even the men I loved. Damiano. Dante.
Why? Why go this far? Why say these things?
"What do you want from me, Elena?" I said coldly. "They already love you. I don't care."
She sneered. "You're my sister, but I can't stand you. I wish you didn't exist. Why can't you just die already?"
Then, out of nowhere, she shoved me.
She was strong.
I stumbled back, shocked, struggling to grab hold of something, anything.
In the panic, my hand caught hers.
She didn't expect that.
And in one terrifying second, we both went over the edge.
