My Surprise Wedding To The Billionaire

MAY.

“She can’t stay here anymore, Anna!”

I hold my breath, scared that they might hear me from where I lean against the thin wall. I really shouldn’t be eavesdropping, but I can’t help it. They’re arguing about me like they do every single day.

“And you expect me to throw my sister out? Where else would she go? I am all she has!” Anna yells, frustration evident in her strained voice.

Tears prick my eyes. She’s right. She is all I have. Our parents died when we were fresh out of high school. A car accident. It left wounds. The kind that never heal. Anna and I barely made it through the first months after their deaths. Many times, I wished I had died in the car with them. I know Anna did too.

But we’d never spoken the words out loud, choosing instead to be each other’s strengths. Be that tether that pulls the other through the raging storm.

College had been difficult, but Anna had always been there, making it easier to get through every day. She was a constant in my life, and I’m not sure how to live without her.

I have to find a way, though. My way, because Sean isn’t having it. He’s changed over the past few months. It was alright when he was courting Anna, agreeing to let me live with them until I could figure out my path and get my shit together. Now, though, he can barely stand being in the same room with me, and he does little to hide his displeasure.

“She isn’t a child anymore! I’m sick of this, Anna. We cannot keep feeding and pampering her. She’s a grown-ass woman. I want her out of here before the week runs out—“

“Sean!” Anna cries. “I can’t do that to May.”

I push off the wall quietly, the sound of my sister crying pushing me further into my room and closet. I pull out my clothes, wiping tears off my cheeks angrily. Yeah, Sean, I am a grown-ass woman.

I can find my own way.

I wait tables at a semi-upscale diner, the kind that actually takes reservations. The tips are decent, and I contribute what I can for my share of the household expenses, so it's not like I'm a total leech. But that still doesn't stop Sean's comments. The big problem is that there seems to be nowhere nearby that's not sketchy and that I can afford.

I suppose I could get another waitress job in a cheaper city.

Or perhaps I’ll sleep under a bridge like a troll.

Doesn’t matter. I’ll figure it out when I leave.

I am halfway through sorting my things when I hear a knock on the door. “May?”

My heart slams into my chest and I shove my things back into the closet before she can see it and break down again. The door creaks just as I slam the closet door shut and I lean against it to keep it closed. “Hey.”

She smiles, but I see the sadness and fatigue in her blue doe eyes. “You’re dressed. Heading somewhere?”

“Ah…yeah…Just headed to the grocery store. I’ll be right back,” I lie, pulling my coat off its hangar. I wrap my hair into a bun and shrug into the coat as I head out the door.

“May,” Anna calls out as my fingers grasp the doorknob.

I turn slightly, forcing a smile on my face. “Yeah?”

Her eyes are lined with silver and red-rimmed. “You know that I love you, right?”

My smile widens. “Yeah. Love you too, sis.”