Just The Sister Never The Bride

The day my brother brought his girlfriend home was the day I suddenly became a placeholder.

She looked at me, her smile sharp enough to cut glass, and asked, So, youre the St. Clairs' charity case? The little live-in wife they raised just for Harrison?

My eyes widened in shock.

It was true that the St. Clairs had adopted me.

But my biological father was a founding partner of the St. Clair empire, and my mother was Victoria St. Clairs best friend.

For over a decade, this family had raised me as their own flesh and blood.

So how was it that the moment my brother got a girlfriend, I was suddenly demoted to a grooming victim?

The day my brother, Harrison, brought his girlfriend home, the atmosphere started out perfectly fine.

Bella was undeniable. She had that sweet, engineered beauty and a tongue dipped in honey, charming Harrisons parentsmy parentsuntil they were beaming.

That is, until her gaze landed on me.

"And who is this?"

Mom smiled, pulling me into a side-hug.

"This is Cecilia. Our girl. She and Harrison grew up together; theyre closer than real siblings."

Bella let out a soft "Oh."

Her long lashes lowered, and when they lifted again, the warmth in her eyes had been replaced by something colder, more calculating.

She leaned into my brother, her voice pitching up into an innocent, breathy register. "Harrison, so shes the one?"

"Shes the one your family raised from childhood... to be your little wife?"

The air in the living room instantly solidified.

Harrison frowned. "Bella, dont talk nonsense."

Dads smile faded a few shades.

Mom quickly tried to smooth things over. "Bella, you have such a vivid imagination. Weve watched Cecilia grow up. She is our daughter, plain and simple. Built-in bride? Absolutely not. Theres nothing like that going on."

Bella covered her mouth, letting out a playful, tinkling laugh. But her eyes were like fishhooks, snagging on me, circling.

"Oops, Im so sorry. I must have misheard."

"Its just... so many people out there say it. They talk about how the St. Clairs have this beautiful adopted girl kept in the house, prepared just for Harrison."

She paused, her gaze sweeping over me and my brother, her tone dripping with feigned innocence.

"After hearing all those rumors, and then seeing how pretty Cecilia is today, and how close you two are... well, I couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable."

She bit her lip gently. "But its fine. Ill just process it on my own. Im sure I just misunderstood."

I felt like I had a fishbone stuck in my throat.

It sounded like an apology.

In reality, she had just hammered the "groomed wife" label a few inches deeper. She also managed to neatly underscore my status as "adopted."

My fingers curled into tight fists.

Yes, I was adopted. But my biological father was a legend in this company, a man who died saving Harrisons father during a site accident. My mother was Moms closest confidante, taken too soon by illness.

The St. Clairs didnt take me in out of pity alone. They transferred their profound love for my parents onto me. Since I was ten years old, they had treated me as nothing less than their own.

It had been over a decade. Everyone in our social circle knew the story. Who would dare twist my identity like this?

And why, the moment my brother brings a girl home, do I suddenly become the "reserve wife" in the eyes of strangers?

The rest of the meal passed in a suffocating silence.

Bella seemed to realize shed overstepped, so she doubled down on sucking up to Mom and Dad. She was practically glued to Harrison. But every time she looked at me, her eyes held scrutiny and hostility.

I tried to make myself invisible, but my chest felt heavy, like Id swallowed a ball of wet cotton.

After dinner, Dad called Harrison into the study for business. Mom was in the kitchen slicing fruit.

Bella sidled up to me, affectionately looping her arm through mine. Her grip was tight, pinching my skin.

"Cecilia, don't be mad at me, okay? Im just a straight shooter."

She blinked rapidly. "Actually, I really empathize with you. Truly."

I tried to subtly extract my arm. "Empathize with what, exactly?"

"With your difficult position."

She lowered her voice, a smug satisfaction seeping into her tone.

"Look, Harrison has me now."

"And you... well, even though youre nominally the St. Clairs' daughter, you aren't really, are you?"

"Things are going to be different around here. A girl has to look out for herself eventually."

I looked at her, suddenly finding the whole thing laughable.

"Bella, Im not sure I follow. Im in my own home. What exactly do I need to 'look out' for?"

The smile on Bellas face stiffened, then cracked back open. She patted the back of my hand, wearing a look of I know you're just posturing.

"I get it, I get it. You have your pride."

"But its okay. Since Im going to be the lady of this house one day, Ill make sure to look after you. Since youre so... obedient."

I finally yanked my arm free, standing up to look down at her coldly.

"Bella, lets get a few things straight. First, this is my house."

"Second, my mother is the lady of this house."

"And finally, I don't need your charity."

Bella dropped the act. Her face darkened, her voice dropping to a chilly hiss.

"Cecilia, don't push your luck."

"Just because Harrison calls you 'sister,' do you really think youre a St. Clair heiress? Youre a charity case. Do you really not know your place?"

"I know exactly where I stand," I replied calmly. "I am Cecilia St. Clair. I am a daughter of this family, in name and in law."

"But you, Bella... its your first time walking through the door, and youre already trying to rearrange the furniture. Where exactly does that place you?"

"You!"

Bellas cheeks flushed red. She was about to snap back when she saw Harrison emerging from the study.

Her face transformed instantly. Her eyes welled with tears, and she ran to him, looking fragile and wronged. "Harrison..."

I didn't have the energy to watch her performance. I turned to head up to my room.

"Cece."

My brother stopped me, his tone complicated.

"Bella... its her first time here today. Shes probably just nervous and speaking without thinking. Don't take it to heart."

I glanced at Bella, who was hiding behind him, shooting me a triumphant smirk when he wasn't looking.

The cotton in my chest turned into a block of ice.

"Harrison."

I looked him in the eye, my voice serious. "She called me your 'reserve wife.' She said everyone outside is talking about it."

"Do you honestly think thats just 'speaking without thinking'?"

Harrison frowned deeply.

"People outside talk trash all the time. Why are you taking it so seriously? Bella didn't mean any harm."

No harm?

I took a deep breath, suddenly realizing there was nothing left to say.

If he was willing to believe his girlfriend was a pristine white lotus, anything I said would just make me look like the villain.

"Fine. Understood."

I nodded, looked away, and walked up the stairs.

That night, I lay in bed, tossing and turning.

My phone lit up. A text from my best friend.

[Cece! Heard your bro brought the girlfriend home?]

[What's the verdict? Is she pretty? Is she nice to you?]

I smiled bitterly and typed back.

[She's pretty. As for being nice... she thinks I'm a child bride being groomed for my brother.]

My friend exploded. She called immediately.

"What the hell?! Is she sick in the head? What century is this?"

"Your parents treat you like you hung the moon. Who does she think she is? And Harrison? Did he check her?"

"Harrison thinks she didn't mean any harm. He thinks I'm overreacting," I said, my voice muffled by the pillow.

"Didn't mean harm? That malice is visible from space!"

My friend roared on the other end. "Shes doing it on purpose! Shes trying to poison the well with your parents and brother, reminding you that youre just the 'adoptee' so you don't compete with her. What a manipulative little snake!"

Listening to her curse on my behalf made me feel a little better.

"Forget it. It's not like I'll see her that often," I said, trying to comfort herand myself. "Who knows if they'll even last."

My friend was still fuming. "Don't be a doormat! Next time she talks trash, destroy her. You are Cecilia St. Clair!"

Easier said than done. I didn't want to put Mom and Dad in a tough spot. They had given me everything. I didn't want to start a war in their house over their son's girlfriend.

But I clearly underestimated Bellas talent for finding trouble.

She seemed determined to make the "groomed bride" label stick, just to highlight her own status as the "legitimate" partner.

She started coming over frequently, acting like she already owned the place.

When Mom and Dad weren't home, shed be all over Harrison, then "casually" critique my life.

"Cece, did your mom buy you this? Its cute."

"But this brand... its a bit too mature for you. Too 'old money.' It makes you look aged."

Shed barge into my walk-in closet, pointing at a dress Mom bought me. "Next time, I'll take you shopping for something more... age-appropriate. Something cheaper and younger."

Sometimes shed target my education.

"I hear you have great grades, Cece. Top of the class at Columbia? Wow. But you know, its hard for a girl to read so many books."

"Since the St. Clairs won't let you starve, you should just find an easy job. Why try so hard?"

The breaking point was a family gathering.

Some relatives were over. Someone complimented me, saying I was growing more beautiful by the day, and that standing next to Bella, we looked like sisters.

Bella smiled sweetly, wrapping a possessive arm around me.

"Right? Cece and I just click. Even though shes Harrisons adopted sister, I treat her like my own blood."

"When she graduates, well definitely find her a nice family to marry into. Well send her off in style so she doesn't feel slighted."

The dinner table went silent.

The elders exchanged awkward glances.

Adopted sister.

Find her a nice family.

Send her off.

Every word was a precision strike on my insecurities, shoving me from "daughter of the house" to "charity case that needs to be offloaded by the future mistress."

I put down my fork and looked up.

Moms face was dark. She cleared her throat softly and looked at my brother. "Harrison?"

Harrison tugged Bellas hand under the table, signaling her to stop.

Bella acted like she hadn't noticed a thing. She smiled and put a piece of chicken in my bowl.

"Eat up, Cece. You're still growing. Don't worry, your big sister is here to look out for you."

I stared at the food in my bowl. Then I looked up at her face, written all over with hypocrisy and calculation.

I took a breath, ready to speak.

"Bella."

Dad had put down his wine glass. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable weight.

"Cecilia is a daughter of the St. Clair family. Her future is hers to decide."

"This is her home. There is no talk of 'marrying her off' or sending her away. I don't want to hear that kind of language again."

Bellas smile froze, her face alternating between red and pale.

She stammered, "I... Im sorry, Mr. St. Clair. I didn't mean it like that."

"Eat your dinner," Dad said dismissively, turning away from her.

The second half of that meal was arctic.

I knew Dad was defending me. But the more he defended me, the more venomous Bellas gaze became.

I knew this wasn't over.

Sure enough, after the family dinner, Bella laid low for two days.

Then she found a new angle.

She started dropping hints to my brother that it was "inappropriate" for me to keep living at home.

"Harrison, look, Cece is grown now."

"Is it really okay for her to still live with you guys?"

"Girls need their independence."

"Plus, when we get married... having an adopted sister hanging around... I mean, how does that look to outsiders?"

Harrison didn't take the bait that time. He actually got angry.

"Cecilia might not be my blood sister, but she is my sister! This is her home. Where else would she go? Don't ever say that again."

Rumor had it they fought over it.

Bella didn't dare bring it up to Harrison again, so she doubled her aggression toward me.

She started policing my social life.

"Cece, who was that guy who dropped you off yesterday?"

"Driving a sports car? A girl needs to have some self-respect. Don't let those playboys use you."

It was one of my best friends giving me a ride after a party. I didn't bother explaining.

She even tried to advise Mom: "Mrs. St. Clair, Cece is graduating soon. Shouldn't we teach her some rules?"

"Like an earlier curfew? Just so people don't gossip that the St. Clairs don't know how to raise a daughter."

Mom was arranging flowers. She snipped the head off a perfect lily and said coolly, "No outsider gets to gossip about a St. Clair daughter."

"Cecilia has always been sensible. She knows her worth."

Bella hit another wall.

She was caught in a loop. The more she tried to prove her status as the "future mistress," the more she had to degrade me. But the more she degraded me, the more Mom and Dad defended me, and even Harrison started to think she was crossing a line.

This made her anxious, and her behavior became increasingly unhinged.

Finally, during one of her visits, she "accidentally" knocked over an opal brooch my birth mother had left me.

My anger, bottled up for months, finally uncorked.

The brooch wasn't worth a fortune, but it was the only physical connection I had to my mother.

I stared at the shattered opal on the floor, trembling.

Bella covered her mouth, feigning panic.

"Oh my god! Cece, Im so sorry! I didn't mean to! It just slipped out of my hand."

"I'll pay for it, okay? How much was it? I'll pay double!"

There was zero apology in her eyes. Only a twisted, sick satisfaction.

I looked up and locked eyes with her.

I enunciated every word. "Bella. That is enough."

"Cece, why are you looking at me so scarily? Its just a brooch. Im practically your sister-in-law, you"

Bella looked like she was about to cry, acting as if she were the victim of a great injustice.

"Sister-in-law?"

I let out a cold laugh. "Did you ask my brother? Did he propose? Even if he did, did this family agree?"

Bellas face went pale. "You!"

"From the first day you walked into this house, you have targeted me."

"You have tried every trick in the book to push me out."

"Reserve wife? Outsider? Need to be married off? Bella, is your brain filled with anything other than feudal garbage and dirty thoughts?"

I stepped closer, my voice ice-cold.

"Let me tell you something. My name is Cecilia St. Clair. I am a legitimate daughter of this house. I live here because this is my home!"

"What you just smashed was my mother's legacy. You want to pay for it? With what? Do you think you can afford the sentimental value?"

"You keep calling yourself the future mistress of this house, but you lack basic manners."

"You are nothing but a clumsy, gossiping, manipulative shrew."

I had never used such harsh language in my life. But the months of anger and grievance exploded out of me; I couldn't control it.

Bella was stunned into silence.

She pointed a finger at me, stammering, before letting out a loud wail.

She turned to run and collided right into Harrison, who had come running at the noise.

"Harrison! Sob, I didn't mean to, Cece is... shes so scary!"

She was weeping like a tragic heroine, trembling in his arms.

Harrison looked at the shards on the floor, then at me, shaking with rage. His brow furrowed into a knot.

"Cece, whats going on? Cant we talk about this calmly?"

"Calmly?"

I pointed at the broken opal, my voice shaking. "Harrison, she smashed Mom's opal! How do you expect me to be calm?"

Harrison froze. He looked at Bella. "Bella, is that true?"

Bella sobbed. "I really didn't mean to. I just picked it up to look at it, and it was slippery... I said Id pay for it."

"She did it on purpose!" I screamed. "She did it on purpose!"

"I didn't! Cece, you can't accuse me just because you hate me!" Bella cried harder.

"Both of you, stop!"

Harrison, overwhelmed by the noise, raised his voice.

"Its broken, okay? Its done. Bella didn't do it on purpose, and she said shed replace it. Were all family here, does it have to get this ugly?"

"Family?"

My heart turned to stone.

"Harrison. She destroyed the last thing I have of my mother, and youre telling me were family? In your eyes, am I still your family?"

"Cecilia! Stop being unreasonable!" Harrisons tone grew impatient.

Just then, Mom and Dad walked in.

Seeing the scene in the living room, their faces darkened instantly.

After getting the story, Mom walked over to me, pulled me into her arms, and patted my shoulder gently.

Then she looked at Bella. Her gaze was stern in a way I had never seen before.

"Bella, you know exactly what that opal meant to Cecilia."

"Whether it was intentional or not, you know in your heart. You have gone too far."

Dad looked directly at Harrison. "Take your girlfriend outside to cool off. Until she apologizes to Cecilia properly, don't bring her back."

Harrison was stunned. "Dad!"

Bella forgot to cry, looking up in disbelief.