Chapter 4: Unwilling Decision

Her Mom's alarming voice is what awakened her from sleep that morning so she immediately arises in the bed and went outside her room. The moment she went outside, she immediately notice the open door of her twin sister's room which is next to her room, and found her Mom sitting on her sister's bed holding a piece of paper while crying. Seeing her mom's condition, she immediately attended to her to find out what was wrong. 

"What happened Mom?" She worriedly asked. 

"Your sister left, Andra!" Her Mom stated in an alarming voice. 

"What do you mean left? Are you sure, Ma?" 

"I tried to check on her this morning and I found this letter on her bed." Her mom started to sobbed again that alarmed her.

It's her sister's wedding today and based on her strange and anxious reaction last night, it only justifies that she really run away because she got pressured on this wedding. 

Not too long ago, she saw her Dad panting from running immediately enter the room to check on her Mom as well. The moment her Mom saw her father, she started to wail and cry harder. 

"What's wrong Jimena?" Her father's upset voice confronted. 

"Gerardo! Maria Alexandra left! She ran away!" 

"What do you mean she left? It's her Wedding day today, Jimena!" Her father's thunderous voice filled the room.

"Your daughter runs away with Kyle! I can't believe your daughter will do this to us, Gerardo!" She gasped when she heard that revelation as she felt her knees weaken.

Something bitter feeling crept inside her chest as she felt her eyes start to go teary. When did they get back together? Funny because all along, she thought Kyle will finally give her attention since her sister is about to get married. It turn out she was completely wrong. 

"That bastard! She might kidnap our daughter, Jimena! We should call cops!" She can't believe how preposterous her father is. Her sister left a letter so it's obvious she run away with her ex-boyfriend.

"Kyle will never do that, Dad! I've known him for years."  She stated bitterly. 

"Maria Alexandra will not do that to us. She was a good daughter. Unlike you, she will not turn her back to us!"

That hurt her. All along her Dad's favorite is her twin sister Alexa because she was a good kid. Even after this trouble her sister caused to their parents, he was still refusing to admit that Alexa fail her this time. 

"You really think she can't fail you? She left a letter, Dad!" She addresses the obvious just in case her father doesn't realize that yet. 

Her father drastically took the letter from her Mom and read it.  She saw how her father's hand shivered in anger while reading the letter. Not long enough he furiously ripped the paper off into pieces.

"Oh God, this can't be happening! What are we gonna do now, Gerard? Should we call the Saldivar's? Shall we call the Wedding off? Oh my god, this is a disgrace to our family!"

"No! You will not do that Jimena. We can't call off the wedding!"

"But your daughter is nowhere to be found! We're lacking time! What are we gonna do now?" Her Mom said in a scandalous voice. That's when she saw her father slowly turn to her as if he had an idea come into mind. She don't understand but that kind of look made her nervous. 

"You have to replace your sister's place, Maria Alejandra. You will be the one to marry Zeke."  Shock and fear immediately enveloped her after hearing her Dad's sentence. She even blinked twice trying to figure out if he mean his words but his father's face was drop-dead serious and knowing her Dad, he doesn't know the word joke.  

"D-Dad?" 

"You want Alexa to take Andra's place and marry Zeke Saldivar? Are you out of your mind Gerardo!" Fright and different emotions radiated her face after hearing her Mom's elaboration of her father's idea. 

"Do we have a choice Jimena? Tell me what's the best option you have in mind?" Her father angrily replied that made her Mom go silent and think deep. 

"What? No Dad!" She immediately exclaimed out of disgust and resentment. 

She can't believe how can her Dad make decisions easily like this as if he doesn't care about her future. As if he doesn't care what would be the impact of this craziness on her life? To her surprise, her mom suddenly come near her and held her hand as if trying to beg her. 

"Listen, Andra. I was against your father's decision, alright, but we don't have any other choice if your sister did not come back. We need your help, child. Your sister's wedding is a promise marriage that we made to the Saldivar's. We will be compromised if the wedding doesn't happen? The wedding is a merge of both companies." Her mom explained. 

Sudden memories of last night came to her mind that made her clench her first. This might be the reason why Alexa acted strangely and keep on apologizing to her last night. Why does she suddenly feel that her sister intentionally trapped her in this situation? She was well aware that her sister is cunning and a bit selfish. Could it be possible that she planned to make her come home and replace her position? It was stupid of her she believe that she could still have a chance with Kyle. The man was desperately in love with her sister to the point of leaving everything to have a life with Alexa. 

"No! You can't do that! You know I can't pretend to be Alexa and marry her fiance? We can't just fool him and his family!" 

Are they expecting they won't be caught? Her disgust and hatred suddenly arose to her sister knowing how cunning and selfish she is. She doesn't wanna assume but why does she have a feeling she trapped her into this mess?  That she intentionally invite her and made her come home to take her place. It was obvious how she acted strange last night.

"Maria Alexandra only met Zeke twice. First on the formal dinner of both families and the last was the Engagement party. He won't suspect you that you were not his original fiancee. Then your father can deal with the legal papers and pull some strings to change your sister's name into your name on the marriage certificate after the wedding." Her mom explained. 

"Are you insane? You can't expect me to marry a complete stranger? We're talking about marriage here, Mom, Dad!" She opposed.

"You have to do this Andra. Our company is down and the Saldivars promised help on your Dad's company after the marriage." Her mother sadly added. 

"What do you mean Mom?" 

"The company is dealing with financial problems for the past months due to market condition change and previously failed transactions. Your Dad is dealing with lots of debts, especially to the Saldivar. Don Juancho Saldivar has been helping our company since then and this marriage is supposed to be a merge between two companies. If this marriage will not happen then I'm afraid we will lose everything. Your Dad can go to jail if he can't pay the Company's debts too." She felt her knees weakened not realizing she wiltedly seated on the bed out of distress and confusion. 

"You need to replace your sister and marry the Saldivar's heir for our Company's sake." Her father stated in a stern voice. 

It's so funny that even from this point, her father was still cold and proud. It doesn't seem to her that he is asking a favor. It is more like an order than a request. 

"How can you just marry me off to someone I barely met like I'm some kind of a property you want to get rid of?" She couldn't help to accuse full of resentment. 

"You have never done something worth in this family! You always keep on failing and disappointing us. This will be the last time I will ask you a favor, Maria Alejandra. Marry Zeke Saldivar or I will completely disown you as my child!" Her father said in a solemn voice full of restraint and seriousness.

Tears started to stream down her face after hearing her father's cruel words of accusations. She felt her Mom hug her but that didn't even comfort her. It always goes like this. Every time she was being scolded by her Dad even since she was young, her Mom will just hug and comfort her but will not have the courage to defend her from her Dad. She understands that her Mom has no courage to go against her Dad's will but sometimes, she can help to sulk with her as well. It's like she has no one she can depend on this family at all. She shook her head in disbelief as her feet found their way out to the room to leave. She frantically walk back through her room as a decision came up in her mind and that is to leave. Being threatened to disown by her father will no longer scar or pain her. She had been long disowned by him for the past eight years anyway. There was never a time she felt she was loved by her father. For him, she was nothing but a failure and disappointment. She can't just marry a stranger without assurance of what life she will lead on. She just can't give up her freedom when her freedom is everything to her. 

The moment she reached her room, she start packing her things as tears fastly streamed down her face. She can run if she wants to, she can immediately leave this country and come back in her normal life but guilt will surely haunt her thinking about what will happen to her parents especially her Dad. She couldn't help to cover her face with her both palms as she pulled a heavy sigh out of worries and distress with that thinking. She then found herself watching her baggage thinking if she will go on leaving this house and bear to leave her family in this worst situation. 

Then a knock on her door suddenly caught her attention from her deep thoughts. Having a feeling who it is, she opened the door and her Mom's face is what she saw just like what she expected.  

"You're leaving?" She noticed the fear and anxiety in her Mom's voice when she saw her baggage. 

"I have to." She replied instead keeping her voice not to break. 

A long moment of silence intervenes between them. She never fail to notice how her Mom secretly wiped the tears on the side of her eyes before she came near and seated on her bed. 

"Dad send you here to convince me right?" She started. 

"It was my own will that I came here to talk to you."

"My answer is still no, Ma. We're talking about marriage here. A lifetime commitment!"

"Listen, Andra. I was against your father's decision but we have no other choice."

"I'm sorry, Ma but -- " Her words were cut when her Mom suddenly started to sob painfully, and seeing her in that condition feels like her heart was crushed into pieces. 

"Your father is sick Andra!" That totally stunned and dithered her. 

"He doesn't want you to know this but I'm worried about his condition after what Alexa did. Your father's heart condition was getting weak, Andra. Last year, he had a mild heart attack and I'm afraid this will pressure him. The problem of the company affects his health condition and I'm afraid he can't take it if we completely lose the company." Worries and fear of losing her father dominate her deep thoughts as she suddenly felt tears start to form in her eyes again. 

"Does Alexa know about this?" She felt her voice broke but she didn't mind it. 

"She does." Her Mom replied in between sobs. 

She couldn't help to get mad at her sister's selfishness this time. How could she still choose to leave knowing their Dad's heart condition? 

"I know he been unfair to you all these years Andra but I'm begging you, child. Your father needs your help. He will never take it if he loses the company. This is the last option that we have to save the reputation of the family and the company." 

Feeling imbecile staring at a loss, she wiped her tears away as a decision borne out of her will. This is what makes her different from her sister Maria Alexandra. She may be a prodigal and hard-headed daughter but she can never turn her back on her family. She knew she will eventually agree with this agreement because she have no choice because if not, she might lose her Dad if they lost the Company too. Even though she never felt being loved by him, even though it felt he had disowned her a long time ago, the fact remains that she love her and he was still her parent. She cannot afford to see her Dad go to jail if he fails to pay the debts of the company. She cannot afford to lose and fail him this time knowing his life might be the consequence. 

She wanted to hate her sister for putting her up in this situation. Will she ever get out on her shadow and stop being hurt because of her? Wherever she is now, she couldn't help to still wish her nothing but the best. Guess she needs to totally forget and finally give up on her silliness to the man who only loves no one but her sister. She could only wish that God will give her the strength to get through this unwilling decision she will make from now on...