Violet Weaver’s cheeks were bright red. 

No, that was an understatement. Her cheeks were the color of sunburn, boiling red from the blistering heat of the sun. As the eye contact between she and Noah intensified, Violet’s cheeks continued to darken.

“Violet,” Shannon beckoned, wriggling her finger towards her only sister, “come here!”

Breaking the eye contact, Violet turned her head towards the ground and muttered another profanity under her breath. One of the old maids, Ms. Francesca, was cursing at Violet in French while maneuvering a hand vacuum across the glass pieces.

“Violet!” Shannon repeated in her high-pitched voice. The dazzling blonde then flashed her million-dollar ring towards another family member before gesturing her sibling to come once again.

“Chienne laide, pouvez-vous entendre?” the maid tittered to herself while emptying out the vacuum in a nearby trashcan. “Ugly bitch,” she had said. “Can you hear?”

Violet, who was fluent in French due to the fact that her mother coerced her into taking classes for fourteen years, understood the insult that the maid had vocalized. However, the insult hadn’t affected Violet, as it normally would have. She was way too occupied with the task of holding down her breakfast and lunch.

“Violet!”

How is he going to react?, Violet thought to herself, Is he going to tell Shannon about us? He seems like a nice guy. Maybe he will tell Shannon, and I won’t have to live life with this huge issue sitting on my conscience. 

Running a hand through her straightened hair, Violet gingerly maneuvered across the broken glass towards the model-esque couple in the front of the room. With each step, Violet’s stomach lurched and tumbled. It felt like a million bees were swarming around her body. 

This was painful for her.

“Violet, dear!” Shannon squealed, pecking Violet on the right cheek upon her arrival. From an outsider’s point of view, it would appear as if Shannon and Violet were as close as any siblings could be. However, it was exactly the opposite.

“Hi, Shannon.” Violet cringed, backing away from the tall blonde. She patted the girl’s shoulder. 

Violet’s eyes flickered to the man beside her. Noah’s eyes bore into hers; his lips were set in a firm line. The blonde stared at Noah’s face as she attempted to read his emotions. Was he angry? Was he mentally cursing himself for his stupid actions four months ago? 

“Vi, this is Noah Anderson, my fiancé.”

Violet gulped. Her fingers ached to hold another glass of champagne. This was too much for her. It felt as if Violet was stuck on a teeter-totter. If she told Shannon, Shannon would hate her, and the rest of her family would, too. If she kept this secret hidden, then Violet would have to go along the long path of life, knowing that her sister married a cheater.

It wasn’t like Violet particularly cared about her sister, but she wouldn’t want anyone to marry a liar like Noah. 

“Shannon,” Violet barely chocked out. It felt as if there was a boulder sitting on her voice box, “I need to—“

“Nice to meet you!” Noah instantly cut her off and grabbed her hand, shaking it rapidly back and forth. A fake smile was glued on his face. “Too bad we’ve never met before! I would’ve remembered you. But since we have never,” he paused, his eyes tightening, “never never never met before, I had no clue what you looked like!”

The tiny blonde in red ripped her hand from Noah’s. “Well, since we have never never met before, I should introduce myself. I’m Violet Weaver, the aberration and embarrassment to the Weaver family.”

A quiet laugh left Shannon’s perfectly glossed lips. “What a way to describe yourself! You’re such a comedian.”

An equally enthusiastic-but-fake chuckle came from Violet. “That’s me, the joker of the family! Hardy har har!”

Shannon almost keeled over laughing. She cupped her stomach with her manicured hands, and she bent over, as if she was ready to blow chunks all over Charlie’s thousand-dollar floor. Violet and Noah, on the other hand, were not moved. The two glowered at each other while hushed snorts and giggles rang next to them. 

Violet’s eyes rolled. Of course she had to RSVP to this party! When the lilac, laced invite with Shannon’s perfect handwriting inscribed on the cover floated out of her mail slot onto her shag carpet, Violet had pondered over whether to burn the envelope without opening it or to open it. Usually, she would have thrown it into the trash immediately, but on this unfortunate day, Violet chose to read the envelope’s contents aloud to one of her cats. Her favorite spotted cat, Fufu, had told her to attend her only sister’s party. 

Well, Fufu didn’t exactly tell Violet to go to the party (cats do not have speech capabilities!), but she licked the part of the invitation that said, ‘Yes, I will attend.”

Violet was one to listen to her cats. They had never served her wrong before!

Until now.

“Well,” Shannon wiped a cascading tear from her cheek, “that was too funny. God, I’ve missed you, Violet, and your jokes so much. It’s been so long since we’ve had sister time. I’m thinking lunch on Tuesday?” Shannon quipped, pulling out her white iPhone from her Chanel bag.

“Yeah…I’ll get back to you on that.” Violet grumbled, obviously lacking zest.

I’ll get back to you...never.

“Perfect! Anyways, guys, I will catch up with you later. I have to go change into my second outfit for the dinner!” The tall blonde placed a soft kiss on her beloved’s cheek before skipping off towards the northwest exit of the dining room. 

As soon as she left, Noah snatched Violet’s hand and pulled her towards the outside. Her feet skidded across the floor, leaving a trial of licorice black scuffmarks. A few of the party guests inquired what they were doing, and Violet, with a quavering voice, vaguely replied that they were off to get Violet’s engagement surprise from her car.

Surprise, Violet joked, I banged your fiancé!

Noah never had cried before.

When he was seven, his father had lectured him on the roles of men and women. “Manly men,” he had said, taking a puff from his pipe, “are supposed to be the breadwinners. They’re supposed to take care of their women; they’re supposed to be strong. If men are strong, they never cry.”

And Noah took that to heart. With each obstacle in his way, Noah smiled his award-winning smile and let the waves roll of his back. Even when his father died a couple of years from lung cancer after that lecture, Noah refused to let even a sole tear form at his eyes.

But his resolve came crashing down today.

“Holy shit,” Noah spat out, his hands interlocked behind his head. He had been banging his head against the steering wheel for five minutes and had been repeatedly uttering those words. “Holy holy shit!” 

“Are you,” Violet trailed off, noticing the liquid brimming under his eyes, “are you okay, Noah?”

The man in the white polo picked his head off of the wheel. He threw his head towards the right and stared at the cowering blonde, who was sitting in the passenger’s seat of her car. Her eyes enlarged with each moment of their eye contact; her fingers were wringing the end of her red dress.

“I’m fine.” His scratchy voice ruined his façade; tears began flowing down the sides of his face. “Oh, god, what is happening to me?”

A sheepish smile spread on the girl’s face. “Do you love my sister?”

Noah’s eyes narrowed. What a stupid question! Of course, he loved Shannon. He had fallen in love with her the very first day they met. He remembered that day clearly. She was wearing a Burberry, brown trench coat and black heels; she was sitting all alone in the middle of the café. A journal, with presumably every inch covered in black ink, was placed in front of her. Noah happened to be working as a waiter as he was filling in for a friend that day, and he had the guts to talk to that beautiful girl with the killer legs and smile. 

The rest was history.

“I proposed to her, didn’t I?” He spat, his voice seething with venom. Once those words flew into the air, he wished that he could take them back. It was a stupid yet harmless question. He shouldn’t have blown his top like that.

Violet bit her lip and averted her gaze. “I just wanted to know why you were involved with me if you love my sister so much.”

The question felt like a punch to the face. Noah’s eyebrows tilted downwards, and his lips opened slightly. “I, uhh,” he paused, rubbing a few brimming tears from his eyes.

He honestly didn’t know. He was drunk, that’s for sure, but this wasn’t his first time intoxicated. During college, Noah had been extremely intoxicated, to the point that he almost had to be hospitalized. Even then, he never had taken a girl home. 

What was different about Violet?

“I was drunk. It was a stupid mistake. Besides, shouldn’t you have known that I was your sister’s fiancé?” He smirked, obviously the winner of this verbal brawl.

“I don’t know if you have noticed, but I’m not exactly fond of my family. I didn’t even know Shannon was engaged.” No emotion was etched across the small blonde’s features.

Noah pouted. As he pondered over his conversations with Shannon, he realized that Shannon had mentioned that she had a sister, but she never had shown him a photo of her. He hadn’t even known her sister’s name was Violet. 

His mouth was ajar for a few moments. “Are you and your sister,” he halted, afraid to venture into dangerous territory. He had observed that Violet was agitated by his question, and he decided to not prompt her any further.

“I want to tell Shannon.”

“No way in hell! Why would I tell Shannon? Are you fucking insane?” His tone startled the girl, whose hand promptly grasped the handle of the door. 

“We could nonchalantly tell her in a conversation. Like, ‘Oh hey, sister. I had a chocolate muffin from that market on Charles Avenue in town. Remember how Mother would ask the maid to get you one every morning? It was dark chocolate, and by the way, I slept with your fiancé. Sorry about that. But, seriously the chocolate muffin was amazing!”

His teeth gritted. “This isn’t a time to be making jokes. We can’t tell her. You know Shay as well as I know her. She’ll never forgive me.”

Violet ran a hand through her hair. A deep sigh escaped her lips; her top teeth bit her bottom lip. “I know. I just think it’s the right thing to do.”

“Please.” Noah’s voice cracked. All the emotions that he attempted to bottle up overflowed. His hands covered his face, trying to hide his actions. However, Violet saw, and her face melted.

Noah always had that effect on people.

“Okay," she sighed, waving her hand as if she was waving a white flag, "I won’t tell her.”