Today was supposed to be her sister's wedding day. It was supposed to be a day that she finally resigned to her fate and moved on with her life, but destiny probably had something else planned for her.
She was walking down the aisle towards a man who doesn't want her, towards a man who doesn't even know who she was.
He doesn't remember her, the little girl he tried so much to please, the little girl who was so madly in love with him.
You might want to know why she would be getting married to a man who doesn't want her, but it all started just like this…. 18 years ago, she met him as a teenager.
EIGHTEEN YEARS AGO...
Kate Bai walked out of her room in her princess-like dress, she was excited about going out to play with her and Elena's friends.
Elena was her elder sister, four years older than her and the favorite child of the family, but little Kate had no idea.
When she walked inside their living room, her parents were sitting down on the couch and discussing business.
"Mother," Kate called. Her mother looked up at her and raised her eyebrows.
"Kate, why are you wearing that dress and what for?" Her mother asked her angrily, which shocked Kate because she was expecting something entirely different.
"Mother, sister and I are going out to play." Kate responded calmly.
She was confused as to why her mother was so mad at her for wearing a beautiful dress.
She did nothing wrong, or did she?
"Mother! Look at my dress." Elena shouted as she ran inside the living room.
She was wearing a beautiful golden dress that compliments her skin.
Her mother smiled brightly and grabbed Elena's hand.
"You look beautiful, my dear. Gorgeous. Don't you think so, honey?" Her mother asked.
Kate stares at her mother, confused.
Her mother was angry at her for wearing a beautiful dress but compliments Elena who wore a more beautiful dress than her.
What was going on?
"She is." Her father chirped in, staring at Elena adorably.
Kate's eyes welled with tears, but she closed her eyes, fighting it back.
She would rather not cry in front of them, Elena would only make fun of her.
Kate turned around and walked out of the living room, leaving Elena behind.
Yes, she was an unloved child.
The least favorite.
The runner-up.
An hour of playing, Kate was already exhausted.
She sat down on the ground and looked up at the sky.
She wished that her parents would love her as much as they loved Elena.
Not only that, but she doesn't understand why her parents seem to hate her. Furthermore, she has done nothing wrong to them except being born.
Someone sat down beside her, and she turned her head to look at the person, only for her eyes to meet with that of a boy.
A very handsome boy.
Kate was speechless as she watched him quietly with surprise and fascination.
He was older, but he was also too handsome for her to look away.
"You are Kate." It was not a question, so she didn't see the need to answer that.
"Why didn't you join us? We were playing a fun game." He said, Kate glanced back at where Elena and the rest of their friends were, and she shook her head.
"What is your name?" She asked in a whisper after a while.
"Julian. I am Julian Wang, Elena's friend." He introduced himself.
Kate fell in love with that boy she met that sunny afternoon.
She fell in love with everything about him, even though she knew nothing else except his name.
She fell in love with an older boy.
"Do you want to play with me, Kate?"
Kate raised her eyebrows at him, confused. He was an older boy, why would he want to play with a little girl like her?
Boys his age don't like being seen with little girls.
"Why would you want to play with me?" She asked him.
"Well, because you are Elena's sister." He said almost immediately.
Kate looked away hurtfully and a bit on her lip. Her eyes fixated on the grass.
He didn't want to play with her because he wanted to, but because she was Elena's sister.
Always the second best.
"No, thank you." She muttered and stood up from the ground to walk away, but Julian quickly grabbed her hand.
"Are you angry at me?" He asked innocently.
Kate forced out a smile and quickly shook her head.
"No. I'm just tired." She responded with a nod before slipping away.
Julian Wang.
Their fate was decided that fateful day.
*****
Nine Years Later…
A gigantic bomb landed on Kate's head, and she just doesn't know how to react to it.
Marriage.
When she had been hoping to work hard and go to the school which Julian graduated from; Harvard business college, her father was busy arranging her marriage for her.
"I would rather not marry him, father. He is older than me and I want to go to college." Kate cried out.
"You are lucky that he wishes to marry you, Kate. Do you know who he is? Do you know which family he comes from? You will live a better life and your sister can finally go to Harvard. You love her, right? Likewise, you have to do this for her." Kate was speechless.
They were busy thinking about Elena's well-being over her own.
They wanted to force her into an arranged marriage because of money.
She felt disgusted, but she couldn't do anything.
She was unable to do anything but cry.
She was going to marry a man she doesn't love, and she would lose Julian forever.
Kate doesn't know which one is more hurtful.
Her marrying a man older than her or getting married to a man who is not Julian.
She doesn't know what to do or how to react.
How could they do this to her?
She knows for sure that her parents don't love her,, but why will they be so cruel to the extent of destroying their future for their own selfish reasons?
Just why?
She locked herself in her room, crying all day and all night.
She refused to see anybody. She went numb. She became powerless.
At eighteen, she has grown into a beautiful woman. Numerous men have asked for her hand in marriage, but she wasn't interested.
She wanted to go to college.
She didn't realize that her father had other plans for her.
Kate Bai got married at the age of eighteen to a man ten years older than her.
A man who enjoyed hurting her and reminding her of the situation behind their marriage.
She married him for money, and he enjoys reminding her about it every single time while she watches Elena walking around hand in hand with the man she loves; Julian Wang.