Chapter 3 Our Parents' Stance

For a moment, I wondered if my ears had stopped working. Did I mishear what she said? I did expect her to abandon all else in pursuit of a life of luxury, but I didn't expect her to be this selfish. In order to make things easier for herself, she wanted to sacrifice me. What little affection I had for her as my sister died out the moment she said those words. After flinging her hands off mine, I scoffed. "Rose, do you seriously think that's possible?" Rose became more frantic. Her cheeks turned even redder as she exclaimed, "I'll be Daisy, and you'll be Rose! You can marry Samuel in my place. That way, you'll get a husband for free, and I can pursue the life I want! Our families won't get into a conflict just because I don't want to marry Samuel either. Isn't this the perfect solution?" What on earth was she talking about? "Rose, have you lost your mind?" I asked. "Why are you so rigid and hard-headed, Daisy?" Rose cried out, her pitch heightening over our disagreement. "You're not in a relationship anyway. Other than being boring and unromantic, Samuel is a pretty decent guy! You're also the quiet type, so you'd be perfect for him. I'm sure you two will make a great match. Just help me out!" I stared at Rose. For the first time ever, she felt like a total stranger to me. Back in my previous life, I assumed that her eventual descent into obsession and madness was a result of her developing depression after putting herself under too much pressure. I thought it was precisely because of a depressive episode that she'd accidentally pushed me off a building. But now, it dawned on me that I was wrong about that. From the moment she made that ludicrous suggestion, I realized this was just simply who she was all along. The darkness in her heart had merely never had an opportunity to reveal itself. Now that the opportunity had come along, she was showing her true colors at last. I didn't want to argue with Rose. I knew that regardless of what I said, I was still going to be wrong in her eyes. Even if I agreed to her request now, if things didn't work out between her and Wilson, she would come crying back to me, accusing me of stealing her place. And if I didn't agree to her request, she could call me stubborn and too set in my ways. Either way, why should I bear the consequences of her actions? She should pay the price for her choices. I turned around, opened the door, and said, "I'm tired. You should go." Wagging her finger at me, she huffed and said, "Seriously? I see how it is, Daisy!" I slammed the door shut, but even after getting back in bed, I no longer felt the urge to sleep. After checking my social media, I noticed that Rose made a post at midnight. She wrote, "I will never settle for less." Samuel had made a comment below. "Don't worry, my dear. I'll give you a grand wedding. Trust me." Rose didn't respond to his comment. Meanwhile, Samuel had shared a mockup of the wedding venue and captioned it with, "Looking forward to it!" Since we all went to the same college, we had a lot of mutual friends. Many people liked his post and left comments congratulating him on his upcoming wedding. I sighed. After tonight, two families would be thrown into chaos and sorrow. As I expected, Mom came knocking on my door the next morning, waking me up. When I opened my door, I could see that she was on the verge of tears. "Daisy, have you seen Rose?" "What's the matter, Mom?" I hastily asked. Mom passed me a note. When I took it, I saw the message Rose had left. "Mom, Dad, I don't love Samuel. I don't want to get married. I've got new goals and a new life planned out. Let Daisy marry him in my stead. That way, everything works out perfectly. Don't bother looking for me. I'll come back sometime in the future." By the time I finished reading the note, I was shaking with fury. I did expect Rose to tell our parents that she wanted to call off the wedding. I assumed they would try to talk her out of it and, failing that, they would meet with Samuel's parents to discuss the wedding. However, never did it occur to me that Rose would be such an irresponsible person! She'd simply packed her things and left, leaving us behind to deal with the mess for her. Words couldn't describe the way I felt. "Call her!" I said. Sobbing, Mom shook her head. "I tried calling her, but it said her number couldn't be reached. I checked her room. Her suitcase is gone. "H-How could she do this! What should we do now, Daisy? The invitations have been sent out. We've prepared all the wedding favors. Samuel and his family have prepared the entire wedding ceremony. How could something like this happen right at a time like this?" Dad was too upset to even speak. Most importantly, I couldn't believe just how contemptible Rose was. She even tried to convince my parents to let me marry Samuel instead! I'd been reborn, and our parents weren't aware of the grudge between Rose and me from my previous life. Still, since we were both their daughters, I wanted to see what their stance was. I asked, "What's this about me marrying Samuel in her stead?" Upon hearing that, Mom paused. She wiped her tears and looked at me. My heart jumped. Would she actually want me to replace Rose as the bride?