Paige Donahue glanced around the elegant dining room and literally wanted to die. She hated visiting her sister, she hated all that Camille had been blessed with, and most important, she hated her. In fact, she always had, ever since childhood, thanks to the way their parents had doted on Camille and treated her like she was just a bit more precious. They’d gone out of their way, confirming the idea that Camille was the better daughter, their golden child so to speak, and that Paige was the very least of their worries. They’d even as much as told Paige this very thing on several different occasions—maybe not directly, of course, but their actions had made their feelings dreadfully clear. Such as the time when she’d turned sixteen and they’d told her how they simply couldn’t afford to give her the same pricey sweet-sixteen party they’d given Camille just two years before, since they now had to save all their money for Camille’s graduation gala. Worse, they’d never even apologized for it and had merely expected Paige to accept their decision. And it was the same situation when they’d purchased Camille that brand-new SUV right before she left for college but had convinced Paige that there was nothing wrong with driving her sister’s hand-me-down, ten-year-old Camry when she graduated—that is, since Paige would only be traveling ten miles down the road to a junior college. It was true that Camille had done much better than Paige in high school, and yes, Camille had practically breezed through Marquette with honors, and right after had immediately been hired by one of Chicago’s top advertising firms. But had that given George and Maxine Donahue the right to treat their younger daughter like she didn’t matter? Had it been okay for them to boast about Camille’s high accomplishments to anyone who would listen and then constantly compare those accomplishments to all that Paige had failed at? Had it been okay for them to insist that maybe if Paige had been just a tad more like Camille, they’d have been a lot prouder of her?
Even today, Paige still hadn’t forgiven them, doubted she ever would, and pretty much kept her distance. From her parents, anyway, because when it came to Camille, Paige had always visited her regularly and never let on how she truly felt about her—not once. They did everything sisters should do together, and Paige went out of her way to let Camille know that she loved her and would give her life for her if she had to. She’d done all of this for years because she needed her sister to love and trust her completely. She needed her to trust her so much that she would never suspect what was coming. Paige had denied herself for fifteen agonizing years, partly because she didn’t want to hurt Crystal and PJ, her adorable niece and nephew, but as of a few months ago, they’d turned ten and twelve, respectively—meaning they were older and wiser and would handle things a lot better now. They would still be hurt, that much she knew for sure, but not devastated.
Paige smiled at her sister, then at her flawless-looking brother-in-law, Pierce, and then at the children. She lifted one of the freshly baked dinner rolls from the basket, set it back onto the table, and pretended she couldn’t be happier.
“So, how’s business this month?” Camille asked Paige, referring to the public relations firm Paige had founded shortly after being laid off from her previous job.
“Not bad. I’m still working with my three ongoing clients, and I just contracted two short-term clients a couple of days ago.”
“That’s really great, sis,” Camille said, and Paige could tell Camille was genuinely happy for her. Too bad Paige could barely stand the sight of her—too bad Paige envied everything about her sister, including her beautiful, extremely thick, off-black shoulder-length hair and her ridiculously toned five-foot-ten-inch frame. Even sitting down, there was no mistaking how statuesque and attractive Camille was, and suddenly Paige felt ill, so much so that she wanted to leave. But she knew escaping the situation wouldn’t help her, and she pulled herself together.
“I think it’s wonderful how you were able to start your own business and find so much success with it,” Pierce said. “Truly impressive.”
“Why, thank you.” Paige wanted to hug him.
Pierce was an honestly good man who had always been very kind to her, and she loved him for it. He was one of the best men she knew, and while he’d graduated at the top of his MBA class sixteen years ago and was now a top bank executive earning well into the mid–six figures, he treated her as an equal. He never talked down to her the way her parents did, and she appreciated that. She appreciated everything about him and had felt this way ever since first laying eyes on him. As a matter of fact, it seemed only days ago when Camille had finally decided to bring Pierce to their parents’ home for dinner. He’d been the perfect gentleman, and Paige had known immediately that Camille wasn’t about to let him get away. So there was no surprise when the two of them had announced their engagement only three months later and had begun planning the wedding of the century. Their parents had even taken out a sizable home equity loan, used a portion of their savings, and their mother had acted as though she’d been the one who was actually getting married. She’d been so excited about her first daughter tying the knot, and to Paige’s great disappointment, Camille and Pierce’s wedding had ended up being the most talked-about nuptials in Covington Park—the south suburb of Chicago where Paige and Camille had grown up and where they all still resided. Paige also remembered how miserable she’d been, standing next to her sister, serving as her maid of honor, and how she’d wished it was her who’d met the perfect man and was going to live happily ever after.
But the longer Paige sat reminiscing about her overall relationship with her sister and how terribly her parents had treated her, the more certain she was of her decision. She was going to take what rightly should have been hers from the very beginning: her brother-in-law, Pierce Montgomery. She would take what belonged to her, which wouldn’t be very difficult, considering how there had always been an obvious attraction between the two of them—Paige may not have been as tall as Camille, but she’d been told on more than a number of occasions that she was beautiful. So, yes, things would work out just the way they were supposed to, and soon, Pierce would realize he’d fallen in love with the wrong sister. Soon, Pierce would fall madly in love with Paige, he would ask his darling wife for a divorce, and he and Paige would marry at a lovely resort in the Caribbean. They would become husband and wife the way God intended. Paige knew this because she’d plotted a very clever plan.