Inferior [completed]

...key,

"My lovely niece," Aunt Clara said and pulled Jane into a hug. "How have you been?"

"Good thank you," answered Jane with a smile. "And how are you?" she didn't have to ask the question but out of politeness she did; it can be seen clearly on her aunt's jovial face.

"As good as a mother of three can be," she said with a little laugh. "I've been able to sleep much better now. This little one isn't giving me too much trouble at night," she said and looked down lovingly at her baby, craddled in a blanket in her arms.

Jane couldn't help but openly stare at the little human, who was looking back at her with wide blue eyes. A few seconds later, his tiny lips stretched into a toothless smile. Jane felt herself grinning at her baby cousin.

"Here, the last one," came a loud manly voice. Jane's uncle soon came in sight, holding a large suitcase.

Jane smiled brightly at him, but her smile fell slightly a minute later when Derek and Olivia appeared behind him. Before they could catch her looking at them, she quickly averted her gaze back to Uncle Will.

"Hi Uncle Will. It's good to see you again," she said and went to give a kiss on his cheek.

"Likewise Jane," said her uncle. "You look lovely in that dress."

"I was about to say the same thing," Aunt Clara chuckled.

Jane blushed at the comment and murmured a timid 'thank you'.

"Please, come in. Make yourself comfortable," said Jane as she moved to the side to let them pass. She avoided the piercing gaze of her cousins and held in her breath when Olivia passed by her, following her parents without a word her way.

But it wasn't the case for Derek. He walked purposefully close to Jane and then suddenly bent close to her ear, causing Jane to flinch.

"Looking very lovely indeed," he said and let out a hot breath on Jane's bare neck. "Like a slut."

Jane felt tears pricking her eyes as Derek walked away. As much as she had tried to push away the dread she was having at the idea of spending the weekend with Derek and Olivia in the same house, it was certainly not going to be easy. Derek just proved it.

"Jane!" Mrs. Miller shouted from outside, where she was unloading grocery bags from the car's trunk.

Before her mother could say anything else, Jane quickly rushed to her side and took one of the bags from her. They were heavy and her arms started hurting just a minute after holding them, but she remained quiet and went inside the house, disposing them onto the kitchen counter.

Jane discreetly started easing the pain on her arm by rubbing onto the sore muscles. She was not really an athletic girl; rather, she was very skinny and barely had any muscle. Doing works which involved a great deal of exercise could tire her very much but she couldn't complain.

She did once and her mother reprimanded her for being a lazy daughter who uses lame excuses for justification. Connor just laughed at her and called her a 'ragged doll'. Jane's father showed some degree of sympathy for her but that was it. It felt like too much sometimes but there was nothing Jane could do about it.

"Hey man! What's up?" Connor's loud voice resonated from the living room.

"Connor! Long time no see brother," came Derek's response.

"Hi Connor!" said Olivia in a singsong voice.

While Jane was the least favorite cousin, Connor was the complete opposite. He was in fact Derek and Olivia's idol. Jane's brother was older than them by two years only yet they looked up to him as if he was their inspiration. All of her other cousins adored Connor for whatever reason — maybe because of his good looks or sometimes gangster attitude.

In Jane's opinion, there was nothing that great about his brother. He was just a bag of sleep and he is always partying with friends — something which Jane's parents seemed to turn a blind eye to.

Many a time, Jane had had the impression that Connor was the favourite child. That maybe, she was an accident; she was not planned for. Or perhaps her parents wanted another son, but she came instead. After all, her father owned a great business and having a couple of male heirs to take over would be awesome.

Many a time, she felt like a burden to her family.

"Serve these biscuits to the guests," ordered Jane's mother before thrusting a plate filled with different flavored biscuits towards Jane.

Wordlessly, Jane made her way into the living room. Aunt Clara and Uncle Will were cuddling the baby together on the couch while Olivia was scrolling through her phone. Derek and Connor were standing by the fireplace talking and laughing loudly.

"Biscuits?" asked Jane in a small voice, displaying the filled plate in front of her aunt and uncle. Aunt Clara reached out and picked two while Uncle Will shook his head no, mouthing a 'thank you'.

Jane's baby cousin started making small baby noise and tried to reach towards the plate of biscuits. His wide eyes met that of Jane's and he smiled his toothless smile again. Jane felt her heart melting at how cute and innocent he was.

"He rarely smiles at anybody, besides his mother," Uncle Will said, grinning at Jane. "He likes you very much."

Jane smiled shyly. At last, one of her cousins liked her.

Jane moved forward reluctantly, towards Olivia who was giving her a dirty look. No wonder she was jealous; her baby brother always cries around her and he had never smiled at her.

"Biscuits?" Jane asked again, her voice trembling slightly with fear.

"No," replied Olivia with a sneer.

Without insisting, Jane started making her way towards where her brother and Derek were. However, just as she was passing Olivia, the latter extended her leg and made Jane trip.

It all happened too fast for Jane to keep her balance and soon enough she was falling face flat on the carpeted floor, while the plate of biscuits went flying a few feet away.

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