Yet Sydney was my age. In his eyes, she was the delicate younger sister worth protecting, while I, his wife, was expected to be the one who "understood the bigger picture."
Suppressing the bitterness in my chest, I kept my smile in place.
"Very well. I'll be at the estate on time tomorrow."
Standing at the hospital entrance, I watched the two of them walk away. Sydney turned back, meeting my eyes with a smug, taunting stare.
She mouthed silently, "You'll never beat me."
I held my polite smile until their car vanished into the night.
By then, my face ached from forcing it.
The next morning, just as I stepped out of the house, thunder cracked across the sky.
A sharp pain twisted in my chest, and moments later, rain poured down in a relentless sheet.
It felt like a bad omen.
"Where's Nadine? Didn't you tell her the will was to be read at two o'clock today? Why isn't she here yet?"
I had barely stepped into the courtyard when my mother-in-law's shrill, piercing voice reached my ears.
Sydney's syrupy tone followed.
"Auntie, don't worry. Maybe Nadine was delayed on the way."