When my brother introduced me to his fiancée, I was stunned. She was the same girl who had made my high school years a nightmare… and she hadn’t changed a bit. Even though the wedding preparations had brought us closer, she still humiliated me behind my back. Then, at the wedding, my father gave her a gift that no one expected.

I set the table for five, humming softly to myself.

My brother Ron was going to bring his fiancée home that night.

The whole family was excited with curiosity.

“Do you think she’s pretty?” my mother whispered to me, smoothing the tablecloth for the third time.

“Ron says she’s beautiful,” I replied, lighting the candles. “He says she’s the kindest woman he’s ever met.”

I wish I had known then that my brother had been deceived.

“She is the kindest woman he has ever met.”

My father chuckled from his armchair. “He’d better hurry. The roast isn’t going to wait forever.”

I laughed and carried the bread basket.

For the first time in years, I felt completely at ease with myself.

I had finally left behind that scared girl I was in high school, when bullies made my life impossible.

I was really excited to welcome someone new to our family.

She had finally left behind that scared girl she used to be.

The doorbell rang.

“It’s them,” my mother exclaimed breathlessly.

I dried my hands with a towel and approached the door behind my father.

Ron’s voice came from the porch, warm and proud.

“Guys, I want to introduce you to Kristel.”

That name sent a shiver down my spine, but I was sure it wasn’t the same Kristel I knew.

The doorbell rang.

I entered the lobby with a polite smile already prepared.

And then my whole world stopped.

Next to my brother was the last person I expected to ever see again.

Eight years had passed, but I would have recognized that face anywhere.

Kristel.

The same Kristel who had made sure that she cried in the school bathroom every single week.

The last person I expected to see again.

The towel slipped from my fingers.

Ron smiled from ear to ear.

“Honey, this is my sister. I was dying for you two to meet.”

Kristel turned her head very slightly.

For half a second, the smile vanished from her eyes.

He knew perfectly well who I was.

“I was dying for them to meet.”

Did I imagine that flash of amusement that crossed his face?

Was that penetrating gaze that seemed to indicate she was delighted to see her former victim?

“I’m so glad to meet you,” she said sweetly, as she hugged me.

“Likewise,” I whispered, because I couldn’t think of a single other word.

My father stepped forward and shook his hand firmly.

I noticed that his eyes lingered on her for a moment longer than necessary, but he said nothing.

She was delighted to see her former victim.

“Come in, come in,” my mother said enthusiastically. “Dinner is almost ready.”

Ron took Kristel’s coat off and accompanied her to the dining room.

I stood frozen in the hallway, my pulse pounding in my ears.

“Are you okay, honey?” my father asked me in a low voice, stopping beside me.

“Yes,” I lied. “Just a little surprised.”

He stared intently at my face for a long time.

I froze.

My father had always been able to read me like an open book.

I noticed I was accumulating questions that I wouldn’t ask in front of the guests.

“We’ll talk later,” he murmured, and then went into the dining room.

I was left alone in the hallway, listening to Kristel’s melodious laughter floating throughout the house.

Eight years of recovery, and the woman who once called me “frog” was now sitting at my mother’s table, twirling a diamond ring in slow, deliberate circles.

I realized that my high school nightmare was about to become my sister-in-law forever.

Questions he wouldn’t ask in front of the guests.

The morning after Ron’s announcement, I sat at the kitchen table stirring the cold coffee in my cup.

I had barely slept.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Kristel’s satisfied face from eight years ago.

I could hear her telling the whole cafeteria that my braces could pick up radio signals.

“You got up early,” my mother told me, giving me a kiss on the top of my head.

I had barely slept.

“I couldn’t sleep.”

“Try to be nice, love. Kristel is coming back tonight to help me with the table layout.”

I forced a smile until he left through the door.

***

At six o’clock that afternoon, Kristel arrived wearing a pale pink summer dress.

He complimented my father’s tie and called my mother “mom” as if he had earned that right.

“Kristel is coming again tonight.”

I watched her from the hallway, with my arms crossed.

“There you are,” Kristel sang when she saw me. “Come and give your future sister a hug.”

I let him hug me.

Ron looked at her as if she were made of gold.

I didn’t know it yet, but that night would prove to me once and for all that Kristel hadn’t changed one bit.

Kristel hadn’t changed.

After dinner, my mother asked me to help Kristel clear the dishes.

Ron and my father went to the living room to discuss football.

As soon as the kitchen door closed behind us, Kristel put down a stack of dishes and turned to me.

“Wow. You really still dress like that.”

My mother asked me to help Kristel clear the dishes.

“Kristel, please.”

“Please what? Honesty between sisters, right?”

I rinsed a glass and tried to ignore her.

“You know what’s funny?” she said, leaning against the counter. “I never thought I’d marry someone from a family that has a frog in it. Imagine my surprise.”

“Enough is enough.”

“Kristel, please.”

“Why? No one can hear us.” He tilted his head. “Just like old times.”

I turned off the tap and turned towards her, my hands trembling.

“We’re not in high school anymore, Kristel. I’m asking you, woman to woman, please, stop.”

He burst out laughing.

“Did you really think I’d changed? Honey, people don’t change. They just get better at hiding it.”

“So why are you marrying Ron? You hate this family so much.”

“Just like in the old days.”

“Hate?” she asked, her eyes widening in feigned offense. “I love Ron. I love this beautiful house. I love your father’s bank account. What more could one ask for?”

My stomach churned. “You don’t want it.”

“Be careful,” she whispered, moving closer. “Because after the wedding, I’m going to be at every birthday, every Christmas, every Sunday dinner. I can ignore you, or I can make your life a living nightmare forever.”

“You don’t want it.”

“Ron would never allow it.”

“Ron believes every word I say. What about you?” He looked me up and down slowly. “You’re still the girl who cried in the bathroom during the prom. Nobody believes girls like you.”

My eyes were burning.

I hated that she still had that power over me.

“I’ll tell him exactly what you’re like,” I whispered.

“Nobody believes girls like you.”

“Go ahead. Tell him that his perfect fiancée is mean to his weird little sister. Let’s see which side he takes.”

The kitchen door burst open and my mother came in carrying some empty wine glasses.

“Are you girls making friends around here?”

Kristel’s face changed in less than a second.

The cruelty faded away and in its place appeared a soft, radiant smile.

“Let’s see which side he takes.”

“Mom, your daughter is a delight. I’m so lucky to be part of this family.”

She put an arm around my waist and pulled me close.

I couldn’t say anything.

My mother smiled brightly. “Oh, you two are going to be best friends. I know it.”

When my mother turned around to fill the dishwasher, Kristel leaned into my ear.

“See? It’s easy.”

I couldn’t say anything.

I grabbed the counter and forced myself to breathe.

I thought about telling Ron that very night, at that very moment, that his fiancée was a cruel witch.

But then I imagined his face.

Disbelief. Pain.

The way he would look at me, his little sister, and silently choose her.

I thought about telling Ron that same night.

Things only got worse as the wedding approached.

Kristel would corner me every time she came to visit.

“Don’t worry. Someday you’ll find a toad just like you,” he once told me.

“Thank goodness Ron doesn’t look anything like you,” he laughed one night.

“Some people remain losers long after high school,” he whispered in my ear as he hugged me goodbye.

But whenever Ron or my parents were around, he got as sweet as sugar.

Things only got worse.

I felt so alone.

Without witnesses, how could I prove that Kristel was tormenting me?

I had spent most of my adult life recovering from it, and now, deep down, I was back in high school, back to being the frog.

I couldn’t let it continue like that.

So I cornered Kristel in the laundromat the day before the wedding.

Back to being the frog.

“I’m tired of keeping quiet, Kristel. If you don’t stop, I’m going to tell Ron exactly who you are and how you’ve been treating me.”

She shrugged. “Go ahead. Tell him.”

“I’m serious. I have nothing left to lose.”

“Honey, do you really think Ron is going to believe his jealous little sister before the woman he’s about to marry?”

“I’m tired of keeping quiet, Kristel.”

“He’s not stupid, Kristel. He’ll listen to me as soon as I tell him you’re the girl who bullied me in high school.”

“He will listen to you. Then he will comfort you and tell you that I have changed and that you shouldn’t hold a grudge.”

I felt my jaw tense. “You don’t know him like I do.”

“Oh, I know him perfectly,” she said, smiling. “I know exactly what kind of woman makes him feel like a hero. You’re the clumsy little sister he puts up with because Mommy and Daddy tell him he has to.”

“You shouldn’t hold a grudge.”

“That’s not true.”

“Isn’t that true? When was the last time he chose you… above everything else? When was the last time he even noticed you were angry?”

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.

“Exactly,” she whispered. “Now go cry somewhere where no one can see you. You’re making a fool of yourself.”

I left that laundry room feeling like I weighed five hundred kilos.

“When was the last time he chose you… above everything else?”

I made it to the guest bathroom before I burst into tears.

I couldn’t bear the thought of seeing my brother choose her over me.

***

That night, during dinner, I retired early and went up to my room.

An hour later, I heard soft knocks on my bedroom door.

“Honey, it’s me,” my father said. “May I come in?”

I quickly wiped my face. “Yes, Dad. Come in.”

I left early.

He sat on the edge of my bed, holding his old tablet in both hands.

“I have to show you something.”

“Dad, I’m very tired. Can’t it wait?”

“No, darling. It can’t wait.”

He turned the screen towards me and tapped on a video file.

What I saw there left me speechless.

“Can it wait?”

The images came from one of the small security cameras that had been installed throughout the ground floor following a series of robberies in the neighborhood.

They covered the hallway, the kitchen entrance, and the laundry room, places that everyone passed through daily.

I had almost forgotten they were there.

I stared at the screen, where Kristel was standing laughing at me, and my hands started to tremble.

I had almost forgotten they were there.

My father cleared his throat. “I’m showing you this because I want you to know that I’m aware of what Kristel has been doing to you, and I have a plan.”

“What’s the plan?” I whispered.

He put the tablet down on the table and looked at me with a frown.

“I’ve ordered a very special wedding gift for Kristel. You’ll understand everything when you see it.”

Then he got up and left.

As I watched him leave, I couldn’t help but wonder what my father had planned to unmask Kristel.

“I’ve ordered a very special wedding gift.”

And then their wedding day arrived.

I was among the guests when Kristel approached, slowly looked me up and down, and gave me a mocking smile.

“Wow… even in that dress you look like a frog. Honey, don’t worry. Some people are still losers long after high school.”

I wish the ground would swallow me up once and for all.

And then their wedding day arrived.

Kristel’s laughter was still ringing in my ears as I walked back to our table.

My father squeezed my hand under the tablecloth.

“Stay calm, darling,” she whispered to me. “Just watch what’s going to happen now.”

He stood up, smoothed down his jacket, and headed towards the small stage.

Two staff members wheeled out a tall wooden box wrapped in white tape on a trolley.

“Before the evening continues, I want to give the bride a very special gift,” my father announced over the microphone.

“Look at what’s happening now.”

Kristel practically ran onto the stage, smiling at the cameras.

“Oh, you didn’t have to!”

“Open it, darling. Let everyone see what you truly deserve.”

She pulled the ribbon, smiling at the guests.

The lid suddenly flew open.

And Kristel screamed.

“Let everyone see what you truly deserve.”

An actor in a giant green frog costume came out, holding a black speaker above his head.

She pressed a button and Kristel’s voice echoed throughout the room.

“Don’t worry. Someday you’ll find a frog just like you.”

“Thank goodness Ron doesn’t look anything like you.”

“Some people remain losers long after high school.”

Silence fell over the room.

Kristel’s voice echoed throughout the room.

“Turn it off! Turn it off!” he yelled.

“There’s more.” Dad pointed at the screen.

The videos she had shown me the night before started playing, in which Kristel could be seen cornering me in our house.

Ron stepped forward, his hands trembling. “What is this, Kristel?”

“Ron, darling, your sister has set me up. She hates me. She’s been tormenting me for ages!”

“Turn it off! Turn it off!”

“That’s not true!” I said, taking a step forward. “Kristel is the same girl who bullied me in high school, and she’s been awful to me ever since you brought her home, Ron.”

Ron looked at both of us.

It was the moment of truth.

Would you choose me or Kristel?

Ron turned to face the guests.

It was the moment of truth.

“The wedding is off,” Ron declared. “I can’t marry a woman who treats my family like garbage.”

“You can’t do this!” Kristel exclaimed as she looked around, desperate to find someone to defend her.

Her bridesmaids walked away in silence.

His parents were paralyzed, unable to look anyone in the eye.

Throughout the hall, whispers spread from table to table.

For the first time all day, she was completely alone.

“You can’t do this!”