“Sis, don’t pressure Cody. No matter where
Cody’s heart is, he’ll marry you for the good of
the family.”
I rolled my eyes.
I just walked straight into the living room and
gave Grandpa Stern the gift.
He was thrilled, which only made him like me
even more.
“Britney graduates this year, time for her to get
hitched. Tell Grandpa, which one of these
boneheads caught your eye?”
The whole room went silent.
Everyone knew Grandpa Stern adored me, even
more than his own grandkids.
He made it clear early on: I was his dream
granddaughter–in–law, and whichever of his
grandsons married me would take over the
Stern dynasty.
Everyone was staring, waiting for my answer.
Cody, though, just looked smug and
unbothered.
I ignored him, smiling sweetly. “Grandpa, can
we talk about this after graduation? It’s only a
few more days.”
He looked surprised, studied me for a moment,
then nodded thoughtfully.
Cody’s mom, Meredith, chimed in with a fake-
sweet voice.
“Britney’s a girl, of course she’s shy.
“A smart girl like Britney is obviously going to
pick the most successful guy.”
What she meant was obvious: to everyone
there, Zack, who used a wheelchair, was a total
dud, even though he was smart and talented, it
just didn’t matter to her.
Cody grinned even wider.
I looked away and saw Zack sitting on the
porch.
He happened to be looking right at me. When he realized I saw him, he gave me a small,
polite nod.
He was always like that, as if nothing in the
world could touch him.
I took a deep breath and made up my mind.
The party ended, and Cody’s mom gave him a
look that screamed, Take her home!
We walked to the garage in silence.
“Cody, babe?”
Britney’s voice, soft and whiny, came from
behind us. We both turned around.
Her hair was all loose and messy, and you could
see she’d been crying her eyes out.
“Britney, what’s wrong? Who messed with you?
Tell me, and I’ll take care of it.
وو
Cody rushed over and hugged her tight,
stroking her hair like she was a puppy.
Britney sniffled, “Just thinking about you
getting married, I… I’m just happy for you,
Cody. Never mind me, take Britney home, or
she’ll get mad.”
I laughed.
After all this time, they were still the same
drama queens.
“Don’t be sad, Britney.”
He said that, then turned to me, his eyes hard.
“After I get married, I’m bringing Britney to live
with us. If you don’t like it, then we don’t get
married. I am not going to let her marry that
loser, crying into the phone every night.”
With that, he grabbed Britney’s hand and
walked off.
I felt like I’d been punched in the gut.
Marry that loser?
Crying into the phone?
Last time, Cody was all about Britney.
But his mom wanted him to be the head of the
Stern family, and she threatened him to force.
him to marry me.
I was so obsessed with Cody back then that I
thought I could somehow make him love me.
But Cody thought I was just using my
connection with Grandpa Stern to force the
marriage.
He waited for Grandpa Stern to die so he could
divorce me and marry Britney.
Three years later, Britney decided to marry
Zack.
She kept saying she was marrying Zack to
make my marriage to Cody stronger.
