No family members attended my wedding because my sister’s engagement was “more important.” Hours later, her lavish banquet canceled out of loyalty to me. While I was celebrating, my phone exploded with furious voice messages: “Do you have any idea how embarrassed we were?”

She sat in the living room and looked at the photos of our wedding on the wall.

“You have a nice house,” she remarked.

“Thank you, but what do you need?” I asked.

I didn’t ask how she was, because I knew that tone of voice all too well.

“I was offered a job at a marketing agency, but when they investigated my name, all the wedding drama came up,” she said.

“So?” I asked.

“I need you to publish a statement saying that it was all a family misunderstanding,” she said.

I looked at her without moving.

“You want me to lie publicly to save your career?” I asked.

“It is not lying, it is just softening the blow,” she argued.

“You planned your party on my wedding day to force the family to choose, and that is the truth,” I said.

Her eyes filled with tears, but they weren’t tears of regret.

“Are you going to punish me for the rest of my life?” she asked.

“I am not punishing you, I am just not going to bear the consequences for you,” I said.

“You were always so resentful,” she spat.

I opened the door wide.

“You came to ask for help, but insulting me is not a good strategy,” I said.

Isabelle stood up with a hardened face.

“You are going to regret this,” she said.

“I don’t believe that for a second,” I replied.