Chapter 3

With my mom gone, Joffrey was all I had left.

So I listened. Stayed in bed like an obedient little doll for two days.

And in those two days, I became a ghost—watching their perfect little world through social media.

Nancy was especially loud about it, posting a photo of the three of them with the caption:

[Since the law won't let three people get married, I'll just be your little sister forever. From today on, my name is Nancy Habsburg!]

Her surgery had been a success. In the photo, her new face was hauntingly familiar—a feminized version of Joffrey.

She sat between Joffrey and Mateo, a bouquet of roses in her hands. At a glance, she really did look like their sister.

Joffrey and Mateo posted soon after.

[Congratulations to my beautiful princess on a successful recovery!]

Same photo. Same pose. But each brother had cropped the other one out—leaving just themselves and Nancy.

To top it off, they both changed their profile pictures to a heart with a tiny dot under the right side, matching the beauty mark beneath Nancy's eye.

My hands shook as I scrolled through the comments, drowning in a flood of well-wishes for them.

Tears dripped onto my phone before I even realized I was crying.

Back in high school, Mateo and Joffrey had practically fought over me.

Every morning, my desk had a carefully packed breakfast waiting. My backpack? Always stuffed with snacks and flowers. After school, one of them was always by my side. For a while, I was that girl—the one every girl envied.

You're so lucky! Being pursued by twins—one a straight-A student, the other the campus bad boy—and they're both ridiculously handsome. You're like the heroine of a romance novel!"

"Some cultures allow men to have multiple wives, so why can't a woman marry two men? Lori's beautiful enough to pull it off!"

I used to laugh it off. "Stop teasing."

Despite their identical faces, my heart had always belonged to Joffrey.

When he gave me an album of our 99 best moments together, I thought we were forever.

But then Nancy came back. And everything changed.

Bit by bit, Joffrey and Mateo's affection for me faded.

They moved Nancy into our home, making her the real mistress of the house.

The walls that should've held our wedding photos? Now plastered with pictures of their perfect little trio. The decor? Scrapped—every inch drowned in Nancy's favorite lavender.

And now, watching them tangled up on the bed, I finally snapped.

I turned to run, but my legs buckled, and I hit the floor hard.

The commotion sent them scrambling, clothes hastily thrown on.

"Lori? When did you get back?!"

Joffrey rushed over, scooping me up. He carried me to a side bedroom, tucking me in, lying beside me.

His eyes flickered—guilt? Or just panic that I'd ruin their sick little plan?

This was the man I had loved, the one I had planned to surprise with our baby on our wedding day.

My eyes burned red. My voice cracked. "I want my mom..."

Joffrey wiped away my tears, his voice carrying an edge of restraint.

"I postponed our wedding. You need to rest. Seeing you like this... it hurts me too. It's my fault. If my surgical skills were better, maybe Mom would still be here."

I stared at his neck.

The necklace made from my rib was gone.