Rebecca looked down at my stomach.
“Didn’t you hear me? You’re a nuisance. There’s no place here for a big-bellied monster like you. Go home.”
Pregnant monster.
The words struck somewhere deeper than my pride.
They hit the child inside me.
Before I could speak, her mother stepped forward.
“Rebecca is right. It’s a nuisance having an ugly person like you at Rebecca’s wedding. Isn’t it already pitiful enough for Rebecca to be related to you?”
My vision went pale at the edges.
Rebecca continued, each word colder than the last.
“Go home. You’re in the way. You’re an eyesore, you ugly pregnant woman.”
The anger I had been holding back surged up so violently that my hands shook. But before I could answer, Robert stepped forward.
“What the hell are you saying to my wife?”
His voice rang through the lobby.
Several guests turned. The receptionist froze. Rebecca’s mother flinched, but Rebecca only rolled her eyes.
Robert’s face was white with fury.
“My wife came here while heavily pregnant to celebrate her brother. She dressed carefully, traveled here, and stood at this desk expecting to be welcomed as family. And you humiliate her in public? What kind of person does that?”
Rebecca sneered.
“Don’t act dramatic. If she had any sense, she would have stayed home.”
Robert took another step, but I grabbed his sleeve.
“Robert.”
He looked down at me.
“It’s okay,” I whispered.
It was not okay. Nothing was okay. But I did not want my child to feel my body shaking any longer. I did not want Robert to explode in a wedding lobby. I did not want Thomas’s day to become a spectacle because of me.
“Let’s go home,” I said.
“Are you sure?”
“I don’t want to be here anymore.”
For a moment, Robert looked like he wanted to tear the entire venue apart. Then his gaze dropped to my stomach, and his expression changed. He nodded.
“Okay. We’re leaving.”
As we turned away, Rebecca gave a mocking little wave.
“Bye-bye.”
Her mother laughed behind us.
I did not look back.
In the taxi, Robert held my hand so tightly it almost hurt. I tried not to cry. I failed before we reached the second traffic light.
“I’m sorry,” he said, voice rough. “I should have said more.”
“No. If you had, it might have become worse.”
“It was already worse.”
I pressed my free hand to my stomach.
“Thomas didn’t know.”
Robert looked out the window, jaw tight.
“No. He wouldn’t do that to you.”
I believed that too.
A few hours later, our doorbell rang violently.
Robert opened it.
Thomas stood outside in his wedding suit. His tie was loose, his hair disheveled, his face drained of color.
“Elizabeth. Robert.”
The moment he saw me, he bowed so deeply I panicked.
“Thomas, stop. What are you doing?”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m so sorry.”
Robert let him in. Thomas stepped into the living room and bowed again.
“I didn’t know. I swear I didn’t know.”
“It’s not your fault,” I said quickly. “What happened to the wedding?”
His hands clenched.
“I asked the guests to leave halfway. I couldn’t continue after what happened to my beloved sister.”
My breath caught.
“You stopped the ceremony?”
“Yes.”
Thomas sat down heavily, as if the weight of the day had finally crushed him.
“The receptionist told me there had been trouble with my sister. When I asked Rebecca, she tried to say you became emotional and left because pregnant women are sensitive. But one of the venue staff heard part of what she said. Then another guest told me Robert shouted. I demanded the truth. Rebecca got irritated and said, ‘Fine, I told her to leave. She was ruining the atmosphere.’”
Robert’s expression darkened again.
Thomas lowered his head.
“I’m sorry. I left too much of the wedding preparation to her. Whenever I tried to get involved, she said the bride was the main character and that I should trust her. I thought I was being considerate. I was just being careless.”
“Why?” I whispered. “Why did she go that far?”
Thomas looked at me with exhausted eyes.
“She was jealous of you.”
“Jealous?”
The word made no sense.
“You and I get along well as siblings,” he said. “Robert is handsome. You’re pregnant after years of waiting. She said everyone at the wedding would talk to you, ask how many months you were, tell you how happy you looked. She couldn’t stand the thought of attention being drawn to you.”
I was speechless.
All that because guests might congratulate a pregnant woman?
Thomas continued quietly.
“She also admitted she kept shopping at Robert’s department store because she enjoyed being assisted by him. She said it irritated her that you had a husband like that.”
Robert made a low sound of disgust.
Thomas bowed again.
“I’m sorry. I hurt you because of my stupidity.”
I wanted to be angry at him. A small part of me was. But looking at my brother, seeing his ruined suit and shaking hands, I knew he was another victim of Rebecca’s selfishness.
“Thomas,” I said, “you didn’t insult me. You didn’t remove me from the guest list. You didn’t call my baby a monster.”
“But I brought her into our family.”
“And now you know who she is. What matters is what you do next.”
He looked up.
The answer was already in his eyes.
The next day, my mother asked us to come to the family home.
When Robert and I arrived, the living room felt like a courtroom.
My mother sat at the head of the table, lips pressed tightly. Thomas stood near the wall, arms crossed. Rebecca sat beside her mother, looking irritated rather than remorseful. Her father stood in front of them, his face dark red with anger and fear.
The moment we entered, he turned to Rebecca.
“Rebecca. Apologize.”
She clicked her tongue.
“Why do I have to apologize? I was the star of the ceremony. Will you stop this nonsense?”