"Just one more day, and then I'm free." Scarlette Rose Astor whispered to herself almost like a mantra.
It was the evening before the most important day of her life.
Her wedding day.
Just one day from now, she would finally be free from her current state of uncertainty and dependence on her family.
She would finally be free of her parents' control.
She would finally be free from being just a body that was tolerated and kept around as spare body parts, a blood bank for her half sister.
She would finally be free to actually LIVE!
With a tiny smile that was more of relief than true happiness, Scarlette stared at her reflection in the floor-to-ceiling mirror.
In it, the figure of a tall woman, whose entire figure was drowned out in a pastel pink, overly fluffy dress piled high with lace, ribbons, chiffon, and ruffles, stood in a stiff pose that quickly relaxed as she met her own eyes.
With naturally curly fiery red hair that just brushed her shoulders, foxlike, upturned amber eyes that looked gold when the light hit them just right, arched full red brows, thick curly lashes, naturally red colored lips, and sun kissed golden skin dotted with light golden freckles, Scarlette thought that she looked quite pretty if unique, although some people might not share the sentiment.
In fact, along with comments that accurately called her a redheaded stepchild and other unsavory things, she was often told that she looked like a living flame or a fox who made a wish to be a human so she could seduce men.
The last bit was a backhanded compliment that was often given to her by people whose pride wouldn't allow them to say that they found her attractive without sprinkling in an extra insult.
With a resigned sigh, Scarlette lightly slapped her cheeks before she adjusted the overly floofy dress that was not to her taste.
In fact, despite it being the night of her wedding rehearsal dinner, nothing, including the entire wedding ceremony and reception, was Scarlette's choice.
From the dress she wore, to the wedding hall, from the bridesmaids and groom selection, to the style of decorations, and menus.
Not a single thing had been selected by Scarlette.
It had all been chosen by her sickly, elder sister, Katherine SnowLilly Astor, while she acted as a mannequin or some mute vessel for all of her sister's wedding wishes and fantasies.
It was what her parents forced her to do since Katherine might never get the opportunity because of her unknown illness that had been chipping away at her life since she was born.
An illness that was only held at bay because Scarlette was the only blood match in the world and had to constantly donate blood, bone marrow, and other things, to keep Katherine as healthy as she could be.
Even the groom that she was marrying was someone originally betrothed to Katherine before the arranged marriage was transferred to Scarlette due to the groom's family's dissatisfaction with Katherine's chronic health issues.
As the only other daughter of the Astor family, even if she was a bastard child, she had no choice but to do as her family ordered.
Otherwise, her life would be ruined as she had not a single cent to her name and had no power of influence.
In a world where aristocratic families were intertwined in every aspect, from business to government, it would be hard to survive if she made an enemy of the family.
And as her family constantly reminded her, her being Katherine's donor was the only reason why she was here, so she should be forever grateful.
Otherwise, she would have been shipped away to some strange corner of the earth like all of her father's other children born from his chronic infidelity.
Thankfully, Damian Walton, her fiancé and soon-to-be husband, was gentle, sweet, and accommodating.
While she couldn't say it was love at first sight for her, especially because he was originally Katherine's fiancé, over the six years they had been engaged, they had developed a mutual friendship that had evolved into love.
She could now proudly say that he was the love of her life, and Scarlette felt that he was the only man in the world who understood her.
And Scarlette could swear on her life that he felt the same way about her.
Damian often comforted her, took her out, and allowed her to experience everyday things that she wasn't allowed to do because her body always had to be in pristine condition in case Katherine needed something when she had a medical episode.
He secretly took her out for ice cream, bike rides, and snuck her candy and flowers, and gave her little presents that made her feel human and loved.
Despite her unhappiness with her family situation, he was a steady rock that did his best to smooth out the rocky relationship between her, Katherine, and the rest of her half-siblings.
When Damian was around, she was treated like a human being with an opinion and a life, and she couldn't wait to be his wife.
Damian had promised her that once they were married, she could live the way she wanted and that he would do his best to protect her so that she no longer had to donate her blood, organs, and other things just to keep her sister alive.
If she wanted to cut off her family, he would support her, just as she had supported him.
She could live for herself, figure out what hobbies she liked, what passions she wanted to pursue, and anything else.
He would be there right by her side, being the steady rock that he had been all throughout her teenage years into adulthood, and they could continue to build a future together, where he would take over his family's company and she would become a successful woman in her own right.
She just had to get through tonight and then tomorrow.
Then she would have forever to be happy with the love of her life.
As Scarlette was deep in thought-
Bang bang bang bang!
The sound of someone banging on the powder room door broke her out of her reverie.
"What's taking so long, Scarlette? Katherine is hungry and needs to eat on time to take her medicine. Come out now! You're wasting my dear sister's time!"
The voice of Robert Basil Astor Jr, her eldest brother, sounded out, and Scarlette immediately rolled her eyes.
"Of course I am. It's always my fault, and everything revolves around Katherine. Including my freaking wedding day."
Scarlette muttered as she grabbed the excessively large, princess-style dress that was just Katherine's style and began walking slowly toward the door so that she wouldn't trip.
All the way there, Robert continued to bang on the door, and when she finally opened it, she saw Robert Jr. glaring at her.
Rolling her eyes, she quickly looked over his appearance.
Like the rest of her half-siblings, he had silvery blonde hair, dark blue eyes, and a slightly soft chin, which he inherited from their father.
His figure was lean, and although he was decently tall, with the heels that Scarlette was forced to wear in addition to her own tall height for a woman, the two of them were at the same eye level, which she knew irritated her brother.
In a snarky tone, he looked her up and down before questioning her, "What was taking you so long?"
"Nothing," Scarlette replied rudely, her temper flaring up, but Robert immediately grabbed her arm angrily.
"You think that you're all grown up just because you're getting married? No matter what happens, you're still an Astor, and as the heir, I control you. I hope that you weren't doing anything in there that would hurt your body. Otherwise-"
"Otherwise, what? Poor Katherine will keel over and die? Boo hoo. You'd better let me go before I do something drastic. Then who will be able to donate to keep your sister alive?" Scarlette shot back angrily.
At the threat, Robert released her while gritting his teeth.
"She's your sibling, too. You should be honored to donate everything to her."
"Well, I'm not, and she's not my sibling. None of you are. We just unfortunately happen to share the same blood, which you forcibly take out of me like fucking vampires. I hate you all, and I can't wait to be married and be done with you for good!"
She and Robert had a staring contest before he smirked at her.
"You'd better go and meet your fiancée. He has something important to tell you, and I'm sure you would want to hear it sooner rather than later. I'll see you back at the house, sister! And congrats on your upcoming nuptials."
Giving Robert a strange look as he walked off, Scarlette slowly walked to the room where she was supposed to have her first look with Damian.
Although she didn't see the videographers in the hallway like she was supposed to, it didn't ring any alarms to her, and in fact, she preferred it this way.
It was tiring putting on a happy smile on her face, and at least this way, she had a moment to collect herself after her interaction with Robert, before seeing Damian.
She wanted to greet him as the best version of herself, even though she hated this dress, this building, and everything else.
Stopping at the ornate door, Scarlette took a deep breath before opening it.
What she expected was to see Damian, dressed in a silvery white suit, waiting for her with an expectant expression.
Instead, what she saw was her half sister and her fiancé standing cozily together.
Damian had his hands wrapped around Katherine's waist, and she was snuggled into his chest with the slender fingers of her left hand resting there.
And on the ring finger of that pale hand was the large white diamond engagement ring that had once sat on Scarlette's finger before she lost it a couple of days ago.
Looking between Damian's apologetic yet content expression and Katherine's smug one that was quickly disguised with tears that gently dripped down her cheeks, Scarlette felt her already short, frayed temper snap.
"What the hell is going on here?"
Scarlette's furious voice rang through the room as Damian bent over to gently kiss the tears away from Katherine's face.