Guests raised their glasses one after another, faces bright with flattery, compliments pouring out like a tide: "Mr. and Mrs. Delgado are truly a match made in heaven! So handsome, so elegant together!"
"I heard Mrs. Delgado is expecting again? Congratulations!"
"Look at how Mr. Delgado dotes on his wife. What a lucky woman!"
Everyone was offering their blessings, as if every single person had forgotten that Alice was the wife of Dustin's late elder brother, not his. No one dared ask whose child she was carrying.
I watched the whole spectacle and felt nothing. No pain. Just the absurdity of it all.
I turned and walked toward an empty corner.
"Cecily."
Dustin caught up and grabbed my arm.
"Are you upset? You know the guests only said those things because they're afraid of setting Alice off again."
"Oh, and what about the pregnancy?" I turned to face him, a bitter smile curling my lips. "Your brother's been dead for years. Did he crawl out of his grave to get her pregnant?"
The color drained from Dustin's face. A vein throbbed along his neck.