Our mother constantly made excuses for her. “She is just hurting because she feels excluded, Chloe. Be the bigger person.”

I was always the bigger person. I swallowed my frustration. I kept my head down. I smiled with my soul bleeding behind my teeth.

Then came the afternoon exactly 7 days before the wedding.

Amanda came over to my house unannounced. She claimed she wanted to help me assemble the reception centerpieces. We sat in the living room for an hour. Then she excused herself to use the upstairs bathroom.

She was gone for almost 20 minutes.

When she finally came back downstairs, she looked incredibly relaxed. She had a strange, completely unbothered lightness to her step.

“I am going to check on the dress,” I told her, feeling a sudden, inexplicable knot in my stomach.

I walked upstairs. The door to the guest bedroom was wide open.

I walked to the closet. The white garment bag was unzipped.

I stood very still. I stared at the shredded white silk inside.

“It is cut into pieces, Amanda,” I said quietly, my voice entirely hollow. “The entire bodice is slashed. It is completely ruined.”

Amanda had followed me upstairs. She sat casually on the edge of the guest bed. She pulled a nail file from her expensive purse and started shaping her thumb. She sighed. It was an exaggerated, heavy, exhausted sound.

“Look, weddings make everyone crazy,” she said. She finally looked up at me with a condescending, arrogant smirk. “You left the closet unlocked. Maybe your stupid rescue cat got in there. It is a tragedy, but you can just wear mom’s old dress. It builds character. You should not have spent $5,000 on a single day anyway. The universe is telling you to be humble.”

My chest turned completely cold.

She did not look guilty. She looked victorious. She genuinely believed she had successfully put me back in my place, and that our mother would force me to forgive her.

“I understand,” I said softly. The lie tasted like ash in my mouth.

“I knew you would!” Amanda smiled, completely relieved that she had won. She stood up, tossed the nail file into her bag, and kissed my cheek. “You are so strong, Chloe. I am going to head to the central mall to buy my bridesmaid shoes. See you at dinner!”