They spent her whole life telling her that it was her job to protect the family, but at some point, it just starts feeling like her family keeps trying to kill her. Petal Berkely was born to be the shield that protected her older brother Reed and sister Rose; it was a tradition by the Berkelys, and considered an honor, but it made her feel disposable. She spent her whole life taking the blame for her brother's accidents and her sister's scandals, believing it was her duty to the family she loved, but she never realized that she was never loved in return.

If they did, they would have never forced her to do this because her sister cheated on her boyfriend. She stood in this white dress while her mother was too busy adjusting the heavy, antique lace of Petal’s veil. She had worn the bruises of their mistakes like medals of honor, believing that the silence she maintained was the glue holding their dynasty together. This dress was an extension of that.

To her family, she wasn't a person but a lightning rod to catch all of their strikes, and the only good thing about this wedding was that she would no longer have to be the lightning rod. Her sister swept into the room without a care, with expensive lilies and a mile-long smile. Rose looked longingly at what she had given up, the dress. Rose was not mad about anything else but losing that. Since a week ago, Rose had been the one rehearsing this walk, the one meant to secure the trade deal with the Collins family, but that was until the scandal. Rose was found in the leaked photos with the son of a rival house, and not just any rival house, her father's and the Collins' enemy. It was a messy affair that nearly stopped the merger before the ink was even dry on the contract. Now, Rose stood there playing as if she were a supportive sister and not the one who tanked Petal's life.

"Time to walk to the groom," her mother said.