Chapter 1 Broken promises

I never thought I’d see my father smile again,

not after my mother’s death, But there he was, standing beneath an arch of lilies and white silk, smiling like a man reborn.I used to love that smile. It used to mean safety, laughter, Sunday mornings.

Now, it made my chest ache.Everyone around him clapped and whispered, congratulations, but I didn’t hear them. I was in a daze.

It hadn’t even been a month since Mom had passed.A MONTH and here he was, standing with a new woman, laughing like the world hadn’t shifted beneath my feet.

I stood at the back of the hall, frozen. The dress my stepmother-to-be had chosen for me felt tight and unfamiliar. My hair was pinned the way she liked, but the pearls felt heavy, as though they carried my grief with them.

The priest said, “You may now kiss the bride.”

I looked away. I didn’t want to see it. I only heard the soft, satisfied sound of their lips meeting and felt a cold weight settle in my stomach.

After the ceremony, people crowded around them, offering congratulations, hugs, and flowers. My father laughed, an honest laugh, light and free and I felt like the air was being stolen from my lungs.

He hadn’t laughed like that in years. Not since her.

I tried to smile when someone asked if I was happy for him. I nodded, my throat tight, the words trapped somewhere between pride and pain.

When my father finally turned to me, his eyes softened.

“Rose,” he said quietly, stepping closer. “I know this is… difficult. But give her a chance, hmm? She makes me happy.”

I wanted to ask, What about me?

I wanted to ask if he remembered the nights I cried for Mom, if he remembered the way he swore he’d never let anyone replace her.

But all I managed was a faint, “If that’s what you want, Dad.”

He smiled, the same smile he’d given her at the altar and squeezed my shoulder.

“I just want you to be happy too.”

The words were meant to comfort, but they felt like goodbye.

I couldn’t breathe in the hall anymore. The music, the laughter, the clinking glasses, all of it made me feel like I was drowning in someone else’s joy.

I slipped through the crowd, unnoticed, though I wasn’t sure if I even wanted to be. My feet carried me out to the garden, where the late afternoon sun cast long shadows across the marble paths.

The roses were in bloom, pale pink and fragrant, the same kind Mom loved. She used to tell me their smell reminded her of spring mornings, of hope, of fresh beginnings.

I knelt beside one, brushing my fingers over the petals. They were soft, delicate, and yet somehow cruel, thriving, beautiful, as if mocking the way my world had shifted.

I pressed my forehead to the petals and let my tears fall. No one would see. No one would care.

The laughter and cheer of my father and his new family faded behind me, replaced by the soft whisper of the wind through the leaves.

For a moment, I imagined Mom was there beside me. I could almost hear her voice, gentle and calm, “Rosie, breathe. It’s going to be okay.”

But it wasn’t.

I wandered along the garden paths, the sunlight warming my back, the shadows of the trees stretching across the fountain where Mom and I used to sit. I felt invisible, like a ghost wandering through the life my father had already moved on to.

How could he laugh like that? How could he bring someone else into our home so soon?

Even as the flowers swayed gently in the breeze, I felt nothing but emptiness.

The mansion loomed ahead, grand and gleaming in the sun, but I didn’t want to go back inside. I felt like I didn’t belong anywhere, not in that house.

Eventually, I knew I had to return. My steps were slow, almost reluctant, as I made my way back inside. The music and laughter greeted me again, louder now, but I kept my head down. I passed guests who smiled politely, whispered, and looked at me with that same faint pity, Poor girl.

I let them think what they wanted. I couldn’t bring myself to care.

Once in my room, I closed the door behind me and sank onto the edge of my bed. The quiet was almost unbearable after the noise downstairs, but at least here, I could breathe.

I reached for the single photograph of Mom on my nightstand, her soft smile, her hand over mine, the way she always looked at me like I was the center of the universe.

And then the memories came rushing back.

I remembered sitting with her in the garden one spring morning, the sun warm on our shoulders. She held a rose in her hand, laughing when the petals brushed my cheek.

“Mom,” I had asked, “do you think Dad will ever laugh like this again?”

She had looked at me, her eyes kind and sad, and said, “Rosie, some things in life don’t stay the same. But love… love is never gone. It just… changes.”

I remembered the way she had tucked me in on stormy nights, humming softly until I fell asleep. How she used to braid my hair when I was small, whispering, “No matter what happens, my darling, you will always be brave.”

I pressed my forehead against the photo again and whispered, “It hasn’t even been a month… how can he already forget?”

The wind stirred the curtains gently, brushing against my face, almost like her hand. For a moment, I closed my eyes and pretended she was there.

Then I spoke the words I couldn’t hold inside.

“How could he… have a daughter my age? And you… you chose the wrong man. You chose him.”

I sat there for a long time, listening to the distant laughter downstairs. It never would be.

And in that quiet, I realized the truth I was invisible.