Chapter 1 Chapter 1

After Matthew hung up on me, I called him again. Seventeen times, he refused to answer. Left with no other choice, I sent him a message about the divorce. It did not take long before he called back. Before I could get a word in, he launched into a furious tirade. "Do you even have a heart, Cat? Megs fell into the river! She’s still so young, she was scared, and now you’re talking about divorce and lying about being pregnant? “And you’ve got Sarah pulling the same stunt on Patrick. Do you think we’re idiots? "I’ve said it before—Megs is our sister. She’s young and needs us to take care of her. We’ve been looking after her since she was little, and just because we’re married now doesn’t mean that changes. "You both need to understand your place. You’re older than her. You should be good to Megs. Don’t you get that?" Listening to his endless complaints, I felt a surge of bitter irony. Megan was less than two months younger than Sarah and I. She was taller and heavier than both of us. "I don’t get it!" I shot back. "I want a divorce! And I mean it!" The moment I uttered the word ‘divorce’, he froze, his breathing heavy before rage filled his voice once again. "Do you think marriage is some kind of joke? You think you can just get married and divorced on a whim? If you're not going to bother visiting the hospital to help with Megs, that’s fine but don’t sit there being petty. I married you, didn’t I? What more do you want—why are you always stirring up trouble?" Ha ha ha what a joke. He married me. Yes, I had pursued him for years, and in the end, it was Sarah who brought us together. If I had known marriage would lead to this, I would have preferred to admire Matthew from afar for the rest of my life—at least then I would have had a dream to hold onto. I opened my mouth to speak, but then I heard Megan’s whiny voice on the other end, demanding that he bring her some water. Without waiting for me to respond, Matthew hung up the phone. I suspect he even blocked my contact. As I sat on the bed, I stared out the window, memories of the rock climbing accident flooding back. Sarah and I had planned the trip together with no thought of Megan joining us. But when she found out, she insisted on coming along. Matthew and Patrick, always overly indulgent of her, agreed, saying it would be more lively with her there. Megan loved thrill-seeking activities like rock climbing, white-water rafting, and other extreme sports. As Matthew is a rock-climbing instructor and Patrick a swimming champion, neither objected when she suggested we go for some adventure climbing. At first, Matthew watched over Megan and me, while Patrick kept an eye on Sarah. But then, suddenly, all five of our ropes snapped simultaneously, and we plummeted into the raging river below. At that moment, neither Matthew nor Patrick came to our aid. Instead, they rushed toward Megan and worked together to lift her out of the water. Megan emerged with no visible injuries, while Sarah and I bore the marks of our ordeal. Sarah had lost her baby while I was spared mine. We mourned the loss of her child, quietly and bitterly, much like the inevitable end of our fragile marriage.

Chapter 2 Chapter 2

Beside me, Sarah answered Patrick’s call. “Can you and Cat stop being so unreasonable? Do you want to get a divorce over something so trivial? You knew about Megs long before the wedding! “What’s wrong with Matthew and I caring for our sister? Don’t threaten us with a fake pregnancy and a miscarriage. I barely touched you after we married. Given your health, there’s no way you could be pregnant. And let’s be real, I don’t believe you would willingly walk away from being the wife of a Brosnan. That’s a privilege a girl like you only dreams of.” Tears streamed down Sarah’s face as she cradled her stomach. But then she forced a smile. “You may not believe me now, Patrick but I’ll make you change your mind.”“What a load of crap!” he snapped and then hung up. In the hospital room, Sarah and I exchanged glances. We wanted to cry but stifled our tears and forced a bitter smile. For the next two days, neither Matthew nor Patrick attempted to reach out. Sarah and I focused on recovering in the hospital and hired a divorce lawyer to draft the divorce agreement. When we were ready, we mailed it to Matthew and Patrick. Sarah had added something a little extra. “Since Patrick doesn’t believe that I was pregnant,” she said, “I’ll show him our baby!” … After mailing the divorce agreement, Sarah and I returned to the hospital room. Bored, I started scrolling through videos on my phone. Then a video titled “Heroes to the Rescue” popped up on my feed. In the footage, after Matthew and Patrick fell into the river, they disregarded their injuries as they swam toward Megan. Battling the raging river, they lifted her out of the water and slowly brought her to the shore. The video clearly showed Sarah and me being tossed around by the churning waters, our heads, bodies, and bellies repeatedly slamming against the rocks. Eventually, the rescue team arrived and pulled us from the water. I began scrolling through the comments. Most viewers seemed oblivious to our struggle for survival, focusing instead on the Brosnan brothers’ heroic rescue of Megan. A swarm of fangirls flooded the comments: [Ahhhh, I’m so jealous! I wish I were the girl in the video, being saved by two muscular hunks!] [Honestly, even if I just choked on a bit of water, I’d be willing to get hurt for those handsome guys!] [I always thought a love triangle with three people would feel crowded, but now it seems just right!] Megan even chimed in with her own comment: [Oh you guys have got it all mixed up! I’m just their little sister, but my brothers treat me so well, don’t they? As a foster sister, I don’t know how I’ll ever repay them.] That really set off the people in the comments. [You’re not related by blood? Just offer yourself! Go for it!] [Exactly! Just think, on the left, one set of abs, and on the right, another. How intoxicating!] Megan had replied with [You’re all such jokesters! How can a sister marry her brother?] In the heat of the moment, I responded to Megan’s comment: [What’s wrong with that? Since there’s no blood relation, go ahead and marry him. We’ll gladly step aside for you!] Megan did not comment after that. I thought she may have told Matthew about what I had done, and soon enough, his call came through. “What did you mean by that? You made Megs cry! She was being considerate about the whole thing and wanted to apologize to you.” I remained unmoved. “Then let her. She should apologize.” Matthew erupted with anger. “Megs’ gentleness isn’t an excuse for you to bully her! She has both me and Patrick to protect her. Given how urgent the situation was, wasn’t it my responsibility to save her since she can’t swim? Megs was abandoned by her biological parents and suffered a lot in the orphanage. Shouldn’t we treat her well? “You should apologize to Megs in the comments. Some people are starting to side with you, saying she’s a mistress.”“Isn’t that what her behavior suggests?” I retorted coldly. “Let me make this clear, Matthew. There’s no way I’m apologizing to Megan for this! Not a chance!” That would be Impossible! I had not done anything wrong so why should I apologize? I ended the call. I knew it would not be long before he saw the divorce agreement.

Chapter 3 Chapter 3

That night, Matthew and Patrick arrived at the hospital with Megan in tow. Their faces were grim, while she wore her usual weak, teary-eyed expression, as though she was on the verge of crying. It was the kind of look that would easily evoke pity, though, to me, it was nauseating. “Cat, Sarah, please, don’t divorce my brothers,” Megan pleaded, her voice trembling. “It’s all my fault. From now on, I’ll keep a proper distance from both of them. Can we try that? “Before you came into our lives, they’ve always protected me. But that changed after they got married. I only want us to get along with each other. They’re my brothers. Nothing more than that.” She almost got on her knees but Matthew and Patrick stopped her. “Get up, Megs. This isn’t your fault. You’re our sister. What’s wrong with us saving you?” Matthew said firmly. “Exactly,” Patrick chimed in. “Why apologize? They’re the ones being petty.”“But…” Megan whimpered, tears welling up in her eyes, “If my presence is causing your marriages to fall apart, I should...” She looked as though she might break into sobs at any moment while her brothers looked on grimly. At that moment, I finally understood that Sarah and I could never compete with Megan. That fragile, helpless expression was something I could never master. Men have a natural instinct to protect girls like her. All she had to do was stand there and look pitiful, and they’d rush to shield her without hesitation. I could not do that. I would not. I chose to ignore Megan and fixed my gaze on Matthew. “Did you sign the divorce papers yet? If you have, let’s head to the courthouse right now. I don’t want to waste another second with you.” Matthew threw the signed agreement in my face. "It's signed. Let's go." Patrick mirrored his brother as he spoke to Sarah. "I signed it. We're done. Let's go now." She glanced at him calmly. "Did you get my gift?"“What gift? What’s the point of gifts after a divorce? Ridiculous." Sarah looked like she had been slapped. Her gaze softened and her voice trembled as she spoke, "When you get home, look for it. You’ll realize you just lost the most important thing in your life." The four of us got ready to head for the courthouse, but just as I stepped out of the hospital room, Megan suddenly grabbed my arm. "Cat, please don’t divorce Matthew! It’s my fault, I was wrong. Please, don’t leave him… I want you two to be happy." She desperately clung to me. Out of instinct, I pushed her hand away, causing her to stumble and fall to the ground. Matthew rushed forward out of nowhere and shoved me back. I stumbled, hit the edge of a nearby table, and felt sharp pain pierce through my abdomen. I felt warmth spread down my legs, and in moments, blood pooled on the floor where I stood. "My baby... my baby..." was all I could manage. "Hold on, Cat! I’ll get a doctor right now!" I saw Matthew and Patrick turn to me, their faces drained of color. Patrick’s voice quivered as he spoke. "There's so much blood... was she really pregnant?" I wept, pounding my fists against Matthew’s chest as he held me. "You! You killed our child with your own hands!" Matthew stared at me in shock. The doctor rushed into the room and quickly assessed my condition. He shook his head in regret, his expression heavy. "I'm sorry. Your child can’t be saved." "She was really pregnant? She wasn’t faking it?" Someone asked. “She nearly lost the baby during her last hospital visit, and now it's gone for good,” the doctor said as he hurriedly wheeled me into surgery. Matthew stood frozen, unable to process what had just happened, muttering soft apologies under his breath. Half an hour later, I was back in the hospital room. He stood by my side, staring at my pale, exhausted face. His eyes filled with unshed tears. "I'm sorry, Cat. I didn’t know you were pregnant..." I gave him a bitter smile as tears slipped down my cheeks. "It’s not that you didn’t know. You just didn’t want to believe me. Just like how Patrick treated Sarah." Patrick stayed silent. At that moment, the door creaked open, and Patrick’s assistant entered, carrying a small box. "Mr. Patrick Brosnan, this was delivered to the house. I didn’t dare open it, so I brought it to you." Sarah sat up quickly. "Go on, open it. That’s my gift to you," she said, her voice heavy with emotion. With trembling hands, Patrick opened the box. Inside was a small vial. His voice quivered as he looked at her, barely able to get the words out. "What... what is this?" She smiled faintly, her voice tight with sorrow. "That, Patrick, is our child."