WHILE I WAS VOLUNTEERING OVERSEAS, MY SISTER STOLE MY WEDDING DRESS AND MARRIED MY FIANCÉ — WHEN I CAME BACK AND LAUGHED, SHE HAD NO IDEA WHAT SHE’D MARRIED INTO

Then she pulled him forward.

“I don’t think you’ve been properly introduced to my husband in a formal setting,” she said, smiling wider. “Since you were so busy playing hero while he needed a real woman.”

I looked at Julian.

I looked at my sister.

I looked at my parents standing behind them, their faces glowing with pride like they’d just won something.

And then I laughed.

Not a sob.

Not a breakdown.

A genuine, melodic laugh that echoed off vaulted ceilings.

I laughed until my eyes prickled.

I laughed until Maya’s smugness faltered into confusion.

“What is so funny, Ala?” she snapped, using my childhood nickname like a weapon. “Are you losing your mind?”

“This is Julian,” she insisted, voice rising. “The man you lost.”

“Oh, Maya,” I gasped, wiping a tear. “I’m not laughing because I lost him.”

I leaned in, my voice dropping into something the room couldn’t ignore.

“I’m laughing because you actually took him.”

The room quieted.

Maya blinked. “Of course I did,” she hissed. “And we have everything.”

She started listing like she was reading a shopping receipt.

“The Vance inheritance. The offshore accounts Julian managed. The lifestyle you were too noble to enjoy.”

Her eyes narrowed.

“We’re rich. We’re powerful. And you’re just a dusty doctor with a grudge.”