3. Handsome man.

"I'm sorry, Jillian," Aimee apologized while crying.

 

I shook my head and held her both hands. "It's fine. It is my duty to make sure you are safe." 

 

"But they would force you to marry someone you don't even know!" 

 

"I know him," yes, I do. From the internet, of course. From Julia's social media accounts, because she would often flex her billionaire boyfriend in her posts. So, somehow, I knew what Sake Fortalejo looked like. 

 

"But you don't love him, Jillian!"

 

I rolled my eyes. Love was not even in my considerations. I agreed because I was left with no choice.

 

Luciano's men got my sister. How am I supposed to keep running away? 

 

Theodore fixed the situation for us. He paid Luciano that very instant. And just like that, we were freed of the debt we owed Luciano. No more hide and seek and chasing games.

 

But as a result, I am now heavily indebted to my biological father and was obligated to obey his wishes. 

 

Theodore gave me a day before he would take me back to the mansion. But I refused to leave Aimee alone here. So, she was going with me. 

 

It's just about time she should meet her grandparents, who still serve the Valencias. It was just a good thing that Theodore didn't disagree.

 

Maybe that's how important my participation in his plan was. 

 

"If I have known that he's a bad man, I would've never opened the door for him," Aimee regretfully added. 

 

It was funny how my neighbors led Theodore to my house, but not Luciano and his men. Did my good father appear kinder than Luciano? Or did he bribe them? Threatened? I don't really know.

 

Maybe that's just a perfect example of how money could work wonders. 

 

"Don't mention it anymore, Aimee. We're already at this point. We will face it bravely, right?" I smiled at my sister. Although we share nothing similar but our surnames, I love her so much. 

 

Aimee was my only sister. And I agreed to this stupid job to pretend as Julia because I don't want to see Aimee suffer. If it were only me, I'd rather be Luciano's slave rather than go back to the family that never acknowledged me. 

 

But to be honest, I'm not sure how this entire plan of pretending to be Julia would work. 

 

First off, even though I and Julia were identical twins, and might share almost the same face than most identical twins, circumstances on how we were brought up had made our physique somehow different. 

 

Julia was a princess. I was a pauper. That said, she grew up to be exquisite and classy. My priority while growing up was to make friends with as many kinds of people as possible, so living in the slums would be easier for us.

 

I did not have time to make sure I look good because, hey, I'm the prettiest in my neighborhood! So, really I never thought I should not be content with my physical appearance.

 

But would I pass to pretend as my sister? Julia had fairer skin, mine's rough, especially my hands that were forced to work at an early age. I have scars while she was flawless. 

 

She sports short hair. I love mine long, although it's always pulled into a bun or a ponytail. Not exactly the soft and silky kind of hair, but I love it the way it was, split ends included. 

 

And as I've read in her bio, she stood five feet five inches. I'm an inch shorter at five feet four inches. Again, blame it on the heavy work I did as a child that probably affected my growth. 

 

Julia did ballet, yoga, workout, while I worked my *ss off day and night. 

 

That's just a few of our differences. Need I mention the other things? 

 

---

 

The next day, uniformed personnel were sent to fetch me and Aimee. We said our temporary goodbye to our friends because, for sure, we're going to be back in this neighborhood in a few weeks. 

 

Fina cried like she couldn't stand not seeing me for a long time. 

 

"Be back, alright? Take care. Come back in one piece. You and Aimee," Fina said emotionally.

 

"Of course. Don't cry," then I moved to whisper to her. "Your makeup has smeared all over your face."

 

"Really?" she asked, wide-eyed. 

 

I nodded and watched her runoff. 

 

"Don't tell me she believed you again?" Aimee chuckled. "She couldn't afford makeup." 

 

I laughed with Aimee and went with Theodore's personnel. We didn't tell anyone the reason for our sudden decision to leave. But in a place like that, nothing is kept secret for a day. 

 

They knew it's got something to do with the rich man that visited us the other day. 

 

"My name is Fhaye. I am Miss Julia's personal assistant," the uniformed lady that was waiting in the van introduced herself. "I'm tasked to train you on how to be like her."

 

As if she did not want to waste a second, she immediately started discussing things I barely understood. 

 

The only thing I was able to catch was we're going to the hospital where Julia was. Fhaye gave me a glimpse of what happened to my sister a month ago.

 

She was with a couple of friends when their car crashed into a bus. While the accident was familiar to me, I didn't know that Julia was involved. Theodore and the families of the other two victims made a good job of keeping their identities a secret. 

 

"Mr. Fortalejo is in the States and has no knowledge of what happened," Fhaye continued. "He must not find out about it or the merger of his company and the Valencias would be put on hold. If that happens, the VGC would have to declare bankruptcy. Thousands of employees would be laid off."

 

"He is the fiance. Shouldn't he be the first person you informed about what happened? I'm sure he would understand," I commented.

 

"Mr. Fortalejo would surely understand. But his family won't. Miss Jillian, the business merger, doesn't solely rely on Mr. Fortalejo's hands. His grandfather and his mother also have a say in the matter."

 

"So, is this marriage just practically a merger?" I'm confused. Because if I were to base it on Julia's posts, the two were in love.

 

"For the families, yes," Fhaye admitted. "But for Miss Julia, this marriage is her dream."

 

The way Fhaye said that, I assumed she had a nice and close working relationship with Julia. 

 

"I also believe that Mr. Fortalejo loves her," Fhaye looked at my eyes sadly. "If I would be given a chance to express my opinion, I do not agree that you pretend to be Miss Julia. It would surely hurt her. And Mr. Fortalejo doesn't deserve this either."

 

I agree with Fhaye. But what should I do? It had already come to this. Could I still back out? 

 

"But, if you're not going to do this, I and everyone else will lose our jobs."

 

"Don't worry. Let's just hope Julia wakes up before the wedding," I smiled at Fhaye. 

 

Honestly, that's my biggest hope too. Even if I hold a grudge against Julia, I do not wish to replace her on her wedding day.

 

I mean, come on, ain't it every girl's dream to get married? Even if I don't have that particular dream on my list now, I still think it's unfair to continue Julia's wedding without her.

 

She surely spent months planning the wedding.

 

"Thank you," Fhaye smiled back, and I thought, she's a nice girl. "You can ask me just anything you want to know. Later, you will meet Miss Julia."

 

That's what we did because our first stop was in the hospital. I learned that the Valencias owned it, so it was easy to keep Julia's true condition from the Fortalejos. 

 

Julia was not in a regular room. From the time of the accident up to now, she stayed in the Intensive Care Unit, as her condition remained critical. 

 

Theodore was with Julia when we arrived. He was watching over his favorite daughter like she was the only one he had, and losing her would be his end as well. 

 

What a joke! He might appear like a perfect father, but my existence proved he wasn't any inch closer to an ideal parent!

 

"Come here," he called me after I was made to wear appropriate attire to be in the ICU. "Look at your sister."

 

"I look like her, but she's not my sister," I said, not feeling an ounce of pity for the sleeping woman with lots of life machines connected to her body. 

 

Julia looked terrible. Her pale skin showed almost no sign of life had it not been for the heartbeat monitor, making it obvious that she was still alive. 

 

Theodore didn't try to correct me. Why would he? He himself doesn't think of me as his daughter. So why would he refer to Julia as my sister? 

 

"How long would she stay like that?" I asked, averting my gaze from Julia to Theodore. I did not want to look at Julia for long as I felt a sharp pain in my chest seeing her in that condition.

 

Was it a pity? I shouldn't be feeling anything. In the past, Julia was never a good sister to me and treated me like a servant. Who knows what she thinks of me now?

 

"I don't know," Theodore answered sadly. 

 

I wanted to laugh at how miserable he looked as he kept his gaze on his precious daughter.

 

I decided I didn't want to stay there for another minute. This whole thing about meeting Julia first was pointless. As if she knew I was there! 

 

I was walking in the hospital lobby and was finding my way out when I saw a familiar handsome man walking furiously in my direction. I didn't think he was looking at me, so I subconsciously sidestepped to give way to him.

 

But for some reason, I couldn't tear my gaze away from the man. Like I was drawn to him or something.

 

And then I saw Fhaye hurriedly running after the man. "Mr. Fortalejo, wait!" 

 

Mr. Fortalejo? My eyes grew wide at the realization that hit me. 

 

Just as I was about to look at the man again, Fhaye shouted. "Miss Julia!" 

 

That caught the man's attention. He stopped to look around, and finally, his eyes landed on me. The anxiety that was all over his face just seconds ago vanished when he saw me. Instead, it was replaced with an intense look of longing as he walked hurriedly towards me.

 

"Julia!" He exclaimed.

 

Before I knew it, he was hugging me like he was so happy to see me. His arms around me told me he was terrified a while ago, but was relieved when he saw that I was fine. 

 

"I'm so glad you are alright!" 

 

And as if the hug was not enough, I suddenly found myself wide-eyed in shock as Sake Fortalejo's lips suddenly claimed mine!