No Longer Their Pawn, Now His Bride

“For five years, I lived as a ghost in my own body, a replacement for the dead twin sister I never knew. My family held my dream of becoming a designer hostage, forcing me into a contract after they'd already sabotaged my future as a concert pianist. On the night the contract was set to end, my younger brother found my secret portfolio. In a blind rage, he tore my life's work to shreds and shoved me to the ground. I landed hard, my left hand slamming against a table with a sickening crack. It was my drawing hand. It was broken. When my parents arrived, they didn't see my pain. My father blamed me for provoking my brother. My mother accused me of trying to kill her. Then, my father's hand struck my face. "You monster!" he roared. "You are nothing but a vicious, manipulative creature!" The boy I had raised for five years screamed at me to get out, his eyes filled with a chilling hatred I finally understood they had fed him. I looked at my bleeding hand, at the wreckage of my dreams, and at the strangers who called themselves my family. I finally stopped trying to earn their love. I turned and walked out the door, leaving them behind forever.”