Now? Sure, she still got flustered. But no way she was letting some young buck get the upper hand.
She poked his abs. "I just don't want to make things hard for you. Don't want you fighting with your grandparents over me."
"Worry about yourself. I'm not worried. Listen—in this world, even I come second. Your feelings come first. Always. You don't owe anyone else's feelings a damn thing.
"You've put everyone else before yourself. Did any of them say thank you? Did they appreciate it?"
Sherry went quiet.
Thank her? They'd doubled down, attacked her harder, and never once saw what she gave up.
Just as Sherry started to figure it out, a familiar voice cut in.
"Sherry! How dare you hug Lucas! He's my fiancé!
"He's Julia's fiancé!"
Cathy's eyes glazed over for a second when she saw Lucas.
She blurted it wrong, called him her fiancé, then corrected herself a second later.
She used to think her cousin Gilbert was the peak. If she hadn't been so into Sam back then, she'd have thought no better man existed.
But the best man she'd ever seen? Sherry was destroying him.
Yes. This was all Sherry's fault.
Back when Sam wasn't married to someone else, they weren't allowed to be together. Now Sam was married and this was happening.
Who else to blame but Sherry?
If Sherry hadn't meddled, none of this would've happened. She made her own bed, now lie in it.
Everything Cathy had done to Sherry over the years? Sherry deserved it.
They were even.
Sherry should've just kept being a good little servant and taken her punishment quietly.
But no. Sherry had to set a trap, making Cathy so humiliated she couldn't leave the house.
Cathy forced a smile at Lucas. Genuine, actually—he was just that gorgeous.
Then she grabbed Sherry.
"You're still my cousin's wife, technically. And these two are the real couple. How can you just throw yourself at someone else's fiancé?"
She yanked Sherry closer, whispering in her ear, "You destroyed my first love. And you think you get a happy ending? Stringing my cousin along while chasing this golden boy? Dream on."
If she was miserable, then Sherry could forget about living well.
"Mr. Harrison! Do you know how trashy this woman is? If she had any decency, she'd stop clinging to you and embarrassing the Harrison name!"
Lucas finally glanced at her.
One look—that's all it took.
Cathy stumbled back half a step. Even Julia couldn't handle that presence. Cathy, with her glass heart? Forget it.
But she felt it more acutely.
Julia had faced so much hatred, so many murderous stares, she'd gone numb. She could sense something was wrong without actually feeling it.
Cathy felt everything.
"Next time I hear you say one bad word about Sherry, I'll rip your tongue out myself."
He said it while one arm still around Sherry, the other holding the cream puffs he'd bought her.
Sherry didn't like desserts.
She wasn't interested in them before.
But Wendy loved them. So Sherry only ever got the leftovers.

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