I was the first to break it, posting: "Three's a crowd. I'm out. Wishing you two happiness." With that, I couldn't be bothered to see what else they might say. I directly deleted Ryan and Chloe from my friends list. Within minutes, Ryan called me. "Aria Young, have you had enough of this tantrum?" I calmly replied: "I'm not throwing a tantrum." Ryan fumed. "That comment you left on my Instagram was clearly trying to smear dirt on Chloe." "Do you have to paint her as the other woman to be satisfied?" "If you keep slandering her, we can just call off the wedding!" I listened to his cold, heartless accusations, my heart as still as dead water, unmoved. "Ryan Brown, what makes you think I'd still want someone's sloppy seconds?" I hung up the phone. Perhaps the words "sloppy seconds" stung him. He called me countless times after that. When the calls wouldn't go through, he bombarded me with messages. I ignored them all. In ten days I would be marrying Sean. These people would all become part of my past. I had hoped to spend the remaining days coexisting peacefully with them, but I never expected Chloe to knock over my father's urn. The ashes scattered on the floor. Not only did she show no remorse, she even let her pet cat urinate on them. Then she looked at me with glee. "Sis, look! The ashes can even be used as kitty litter for my cat!" In that moment, the grief and rage I had been suppressing exploded. I snatched up the baseball bat by the door and swung it viciously at Chloe. She took one hit and ran away screaming, her face pale. "Aria Young! You've really gone too far! How dare you hit your sister!" Mom's appearance made Chloe feel like she'd found a savior. She hid behind Mom, trembling. Sobbing, she said: "Mom, I'm scared. Sis tried to kill me!" Mom shielded Chloe like a mother hen protecting her chick. She berated me harshly: "I've let your bullying of your sister slide before, treating it as harmless squabbling. But this time you've gone too far." She was my mother, yet she always stood against me, defending an adopted daughter with no blood relation to her. Nothing could be more heartbreaking than this. I stared at Mom through tear-filled eyes. "She knocked over Dad's urn!" "That was Dad! My Dad! Why? Why!" Why did they have to destroy the last memento Dad left me, even though I had already been so tolerant? Why didn't my own mother love me? Chloe quickly knelt down to explain. "Mom, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to, I'm sorry Mom... If Sis won't forgive me, then I'd rather die!" Chloe cried heartbrokenly. "Chloe, don't you dare-" SLAP! Before I could finish, Mom's hand struck my face. "Enough!" "It's just ashes! The person is already dead, are ashes more important than the living?" "If you bully Chloe again, you can get out of this house."