Three sisters are whispering and contemplating their lives under a plane tree. Marjolaine and Ludivine dressed up for Camille’s engagement party, nothing too fancy, nothing too bright. Their sister has been dreading this moment for some time as she is unsure of the man she is about to marry.

Her red-rimmed eyes are fighting back tears of anguish and guilt. The wedding is in a week and the announcement in a couple of hours. Everything has been decided but nothing has set in her heart.

Her siblings never knew she felt that way. Camille had been hiding her sorrow, crying at night when no one was awake and protecting her family from humiliation. The fateful date approached and she could not consent to let her emotion show in front of her parents. While everyone was busy setting tables and decorating walls, Camille took a moment for herself and stepped outside next to a plane tree.

One by one, her sisters approached her with trepidation. Not wanting to startle her they held their hands on her shoulders, glancing at her lovingly. Ludivine, who could not bear one of her sisters being unhappy, hurried back into the house to fetch the garland of leaves she had crafted as a centrepiece and placed it delicately around Camille’s neck.

The soon-to-be-wedded young lady did not stir and kept staring into space, her eyes puffy and her foundation paler than the moon. Marjolaine decided she wished to remain close to her desolated sister and console her.

But Camille’s heart had shattered into pieces and would never be able to recover for she was either to marry a man she did not love or condemn her family to unsettling embarrassment.

As she reminisced about her childhood while hearing her sisters’ voices murmur their endearment, teardrops streamed down her face warming her rosy cheeks.