006: Billionaires

MAYA

Her cries pricked my ears, and all of my senses were heightened. The hair at the back of my neck had risen, and my hand began to shake uncontrollably. Was I really going mad?

She burst in with agitated movements and fell to my side of the bed, throwing her arms around me and pulling me into a killing hug that melted all of my worries away.

“Oh my god, Mara! Oh god!” She cried, examining my face. “I'm so sorry, my love. I'm so sorry!”

She kissed my cheek, fawning over me, and I couldn't breathe a word. Mother. This was my mother, and…she's somehow Mara’s mother, too? I don't understand.

Before I could straighten my back, Atlas' worried tone rang in my ears. “Mara, do you remember her?”

I looked at him, trying to blink away the tears now speedily lingering in my eyes. I shook my head slowly, reluctantly.

“N-no…”

“But you just called her mother, right? That means you remember something, right? Mara…”

I looked at my mother. No, the woman in the locket who stuck very close to me, pity written in bold letters all over her smooth face.

“She…just feels familiar, is all,” I said, then swallowed hard.

Mara was her daughter. Which means…Mara is my sister. I mean, she was the one in the locket, right? It was all over her face. I bore an uncanny semblance to her.

My chest tightened.

“Oh, my poor little thing!” She rang. “I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry that I couldn't be there for you. I should have known and not left!”

“Left?”

“Yeah! It was a stupid vacation anyway!”

Oh. That was meant for Mara, not me. Of course, she didn't remember me. I couldn't describe the pain that tainted my entire chest.

How do I confirm that it was her? This was the woman that her father died for. This…was the woman that left for Semtle, leaving me behind. Once again, I was her daughter.

And I could smell her. She was human. Pure human. This wasn't how I'd hoped to meet my mother. I didn't know what to say or do.

“Rohan…” I mentioned in a breath and watched her go pale.

Tension lingered, and she locked eyes with me, almost incarcerating me with her gaze. I held my breath and watched her reaction as she struggled to get stable.

“W-what…did you say?”

“Rohan…” I repeated. “Erm- it's the doctor's name from earlier, I think. I…have a slight headache and was hoping he could check.”

“Oh!” She exclaimed with a sigh of relief. Her fingers were clamped together, and I could smell her sweat. “I thought… I mean, yeah. I'll get you the doctor.”

“She probably needed some rest, too,” Atlas added with a sympathetic look. “Let's go see the doctor. Decide what to do next.”

She nodded and kissed my forehead quickly before heading for the door. Atlas turned to me, his hands on the doorknob. “Please, stay here, Mara. I'll be back.”

I shook my head. The outside world was scary. I didn't have a choice.

Right before he opened the door, the question leaped out of me.

“Atlas?”

“Yes, my love?”

Both his eyes and Mara’s mother's locked on me.

“When is my birthday?”

His shoulders slumped a bit as if sad that I didn't remember even that. “22nd of December, 2001.”

Atlas’ response sent a shiver running down my spine, and my stomach flipped. I finally knew who Mara was.

She was my twin sister.

***

It had been a week of living in this absolute mindfuck. The ride to Atlas' mansion was swift and smooth. I'd never been in such a long vehicle in my entire life.

A ‘limozin’ he called it, and just in minutes riding, I'd seen more than three billboards with his face on them. It seemed this man was a big deal in Semtle.

I tried to sneak a peek at him, only to find that he was already looking. His thin lips burst into a smile, and my cheeks flushed.

“You look beautiful, my love,” he said cordially, smiling with those charming eyes.

Beautiful? Me? My fingers instinctively rubbed where my scar used to be. I was shocked every time I didn't feel it there.

I pursed my lips and said nothing, just staring out the vehicle—it even had a TV in it. We brushed past another billboard with Atlas’ face on it, and I was forced to say something.

“You….seem like a big deal here. What do you do?”

“We,” he corrected. “We are kind of…important, I guess?”

Oh, he was being modest. Atlas continued. “We do business. Essential business that the people need. That's what makes us a bit important.”

“What kind of business?” I asked again.

He was eager to respond to me, though I feared I'd become a bother. “Architecture, Fashion, food production, pharmaceutical companies, etc. We're like Jack, all trades.”

“We, as in…?” I pointed to myself and him.

Atlas bobbed his head. “Yeah. People go as far as calling us billionaires.”

My jaw dropped. I couldn't fix the big surprise in my unsurprisingly small self. “Billionaires,” I mouthed again. That was heavy.

“What exactly…do I do?”

“Anything and everything. You, well, we completed a major construction recently. A new company that you want to oversee, though it…wasn't easy getting there. But that's what you were preparing for, Mara, to be the CEO.”

Me? My tongue glued to the roof of my mouth and no words would come out. Like a saving grace, we pulled into his palace.

No, Mansion.

I stared ahead.

No. This…was a whole town squished into one.

I gawked.

This building structure, oh my goodness. My eyes widened as the vehicle wound down the path, and a few security officials loomed ahead. A maid opened the door. I could guess from her uniform.

I stepped out, utterly stunned that my heart could rip. “What? Is this where Mara— I, is this where we live?”

Atlas, beside me, adjusted his shirt. “Welcome to my humble abode, my dear wife?”

“Humble? This is nothing close. Oh my god! Atlas, you mean that I live here?”

A hint of sadness graced his nod. Of course, it wouldn't be easy for him to get used to a wife who doesn't remember anything.

I looked around, and goosebumps scrubbed up my arm. If I dared to say the truth, my life was over. If I didn't, I'd have to carry this burden of guilt with me forever.

I deserve this second chance at life, and I deserve to be selfish. I deserve vengeance.

“I mean…I can't really remember it, but it's amazing!” I added with a smile, like balm to suit his wounds and a tape to cover the crack in a wall.

I'd tell him the truth, but not yet. Not now. Atlas helped me inside and showed me around. I'd never seen such exquisiteness in my entire life.

And I get to live here?

“Let me show you to your room,” He said as we walked down a corridor.

At the same time, a cell phone rang, and it was Atlas's. His expression contorted into a worried look as he took the call. I stood still, waiting for him.

“What?” He said to the person on the other end. “How dare he? Tell the investors to go ahead with the deal. I'll take care of Arzhel myself.”

My brain screeched to a halt, and my breath was caught in my throat, causing my stance to falter.

Did he just say…Arzhel?