He Only Saw His Stepsister

Back when we were still in college, Daniel and Lily were the two names our architecture professors never stopped gushing about. One took home the National Merit Scholarship, the other won the Gold Award at the national design competition. Our classmates even called them a match made in heaven. As for me? I was in the same class as them, stuck solidly in the middle of the class rankings, never moving up or down. After we graduated, I got engaged to Daniel. Everyone whispered I was punching way above my weight, that I didn't deserve him. That includes my own stepsister, Lily. She landed a job at the same design institute Daniel works at right after graduation, and she's always clinging to his side, chirping "Daniel! Daniel!" nonstop every single day. Daniel helps her revise blueprints, bails her out when difficult clients give her trouble, and even drives her home when she stays late working overtime. Yet I, his actual fiancée, might as well have been an afterthought. Last week, Daniel actually got a rare day off, and he offered to go shopping with me. I crunched through all my work three days early just to clear my schedule, and turned down every friend gathering I had planned that day. I didn't need anything fancy, I told myself. Even just strolling around holding hands would be enough. But right as we were about to walk out the door, Lily showed up at the entrance in a brand-new dress. "Olivia, Daniel, are you two going shopping? Can I come with you? I'm so bored all by myself!" she begged. Daniel glanced at her and said just like that, "Let's go." He didn't even bother to ask me what I thought. Not even a single question. Right then and there, I knew the nice little date I'd been daydreaming about was already dead before it even started. And I was right. The second we got to the mall, Lily locked her arm through Daniel's and marched ahead like they were a couple. I trailed behind them, silent and invisible, just like a lowly errand girl following her bosses. When we passed a jewelry store, Lily dragged Daniel inside to look at diamond rings. "Daniel, do you think this style is pretty?" she asked, holding it up to the light. Daniel leaned in, studied it carefully, and said, "The setting could be a little thinner." "Then draw me a custom one! I want something no one else in the world has," she giggled, batting her eyelashes at him. I just stood by the door. The sales associate came over and asked, "Miss, would you like to come in and look around?" I told her no. After all, he only ever draws custom designs for Lily. I once asked him for a ring he designed with his own two hands, too. You know what he said to me? "Any style looks fine on you, honestly. I'll just buy you one ready-made." Any style looks fine. We've never been the same to him. We're worlds apart. When lunchtime rolled around, Daniel ordered a whole table full of dishes. Lily mentioned she was craving something spicy, so he immediately added chili to the order. I spoke up and said, "My stomach has been acting up lately. Could we order less spicy food?" He just grunted in response. Then he turned right around and ordered an extra spicy taco for Lily. We were halfway through our meal when Lily got a phone call. One look at the screen, and her face dropped. "Daniel, something went wrong with the Southside old town redevelopment project. The client says the structure isn't safe, and they need us over there right now." Daniel dropped his chopsticks and grabbed his jacket. He glanced at Lily first, then his eyes flicked over to me. "You keep shopping on your own. We'll go handle this." We. We again. I didn't even get a single word out before the two of them were already out the door and gone. Over half the food on the table was still untouched, and the chili was still curling wisp after wisp of hot steam into the air. I sat right there, and ate every last bite of food, slowly, bite by bite. Then I paid the bill and went home. I wrote my resignation letter that same night. I'd worked as a drafter at the design institute for three whole years. Daniel and Lily were both lead designers there. I'd drawn hundreds upon hundreds of working drawings for them, tweaking and reworking every single draft over and over until they were completely satisfied with the result. But my name never once appeared on any of those finished drawings. My phone buzzed a few times. It was a text from Daniel. Daniel: The site's a mess. We're probably pulling an all-nighter. Go ahead to sleep. I didn't reply. A moment later, another message popped up. Daniel: Lily said you seemed upset? She told me to tell you not to overthink anything. I stared at the words on my screen, and suddenly it all felt ridiculous. Even though I was unhappy, it was something he only knew because "Lily said so". Couldn't he see it for himself? Or was it that he never bothered to look at all?