It was all because I didn’t want to hurt her or see her abused anymore. She was just another victim because she couldn’t let go of the man that she loves although he probably never loved her back in return. When I was younger, there were times when I wondered why my mother couldn’t see my father for who and what he was. The period where I was also blinded by my mother’s hopeful words that that man would one day accept us truly as a part of his family was very short-lived. Unlike me, my mother never lost faith in the man that she loves. Sooner or later, I came to realize that there was no way that she could go on living if she ever accepted the truth that she had been used by him all along. I remember watching over her as she cried and grew weaker and weaker in both spirit and body. I remember thinking that I wouldn’t be surprised if she were to snap one day and then pass away if reality really hit her. Perhaps it was from my fear of losing my mother that I somehow became an active co
Her eyes widened before she quickly averted her eyes from mine. Seeing her meek and vulnerable side was quite a rare sight and that made me want to spend my time savoring it. At the same time, I felt an overwhelming urge to protect her. She would probably get very mad at me if she were to find out that I was acting this way just to tease her. She was right that my mother was mentally unstable, but her tantrums would have gone on regardless of what Dahlia did or didn’t do. “I already said that I’m sorry…” she muttered. “I don’t want your words of apology,” I replied coldly.Dahlia eye’s returned to meet mine and I could sense the frustration in her gaze as she glared at me. She let out a sigh after a moment of silence as if she had made up her mind to give in. “Then, what is it that you want?” she asked, although without much interest. “Not much. I’ll let everything slide, if you tell me why you said those things,” I replied. My words must have shocked her even more than before. A
**Many years before** Bradon’s point of viewI didn't want to believe in the common stereotypical belief that rainy days would turn out to be bad days; however, that rainy day truly felt like one of the worst days of my life at that time. Apparently there was an important party Alfred Vulkan hosted and Anthony needed to be in attendance as heir of the host family. The problem was that Anthony had caught a very bad cold, and not surprisingly I was the only one who could take his place and attend the party. At least, that was the short story that my father came up with when he informed me of what I needed to do. What would have felt like nothing in the present was actually quite a difficult task for me back in the days when I first started impersonating my younger brother. At that point I have only had a few successful experiences of taking my brother's place and all of them were in private family gatherings or in pretty safe environments. Our father made it very clear that I needed to
To her side was her younger twin sister with wide round eyes filled with anticipation and excitement. Looking at her felt like a breath of fresh air and suddenly the warm weather didn't seem to bother me as much. Although the two sisters looked extremely identical and were dressed very similarly, I could tell right away which one of them was Dahlia. “Thank you for gathering here today. It is an honor for our family to host this party for all of you. To thank your precious time, I figured that my son could put on a little show to provide some entertainment to all of you. Your time is undoubtedly precious and I would like to make sure that this party is well worth your time. Of course, I am eternally thankful for your continuous support of our various family businesses,” my father announced to the crowd in his booming loud voice. I tried to remain calm as I looked straight ahead into the crowd. I had no idea what my father had in mind but it was clear that he didn't care what I though
The instructor helped lead the horse outside as I walked by its side. So far, Anthony's horse appeared calm but I wondered how long that was going to last. Alfred was waiting for us outside and we found him chatting with a few of his guests. His apparent bright mood seemed to vanish when his eyes landed on me. I could tell that he was displeased that I was not yet sitting atop the horse. “Sir, if I may…this might be a bad idea. Are you sure that we need to use this horse when there are so many others available?” the instructor asked my father with a pleading tone. Although I appreciated the instructor speaking up for me, I didn't dare have any hope that my father would change his mind. Keeping up appearances for the family was more important than the safety of my life.“We will use this horse. It was gifted to Anthony by the royal family. How could we use some other horse? That would be highly disrespectful,” My father replied curtly.That was that. Without a word, my father led t
Just like that, and with countless pairs of eyes watching our every move, Dahlia's legs gave out from under her and she collapsed onto the ground. My body moved instinctively as I rushed to hold her in my arms to break her fall. I almost cried out her real name in the midst of my panic. Dahlia's eyes were closed and her face did look slightly pale. Her small body felt so fragile in my arms and she also felt so light. At first it felt like time had stopped, and I could not see or hear anything except for Dahlia. It took me a short moment to figure out that she was probably just faking it. After all, what are the odds that she would mention fainting and then actually faint just a few seconds later? When that thought occurred to me, I finally managed to calm down enough to pay attention to the situation around us. Dahlia had managed to capture everyone's attention again and the sounds of their murmurs and chatters as they discussed and commented on what was going on filled my ears. Sud
“Why are you here?” I asked before I could stop myself.I glanced nervously in Dahlia's direction just to find that she had already closed her eyes. Because I knew that she was just awake not so long ago, I knew that she was just pretending to be asleep and that was probably because she didn't want to deal with the unknown visitor. Other people might have thought that what Dahlia did was completely rude; however, it worked well in my favor. I stared at the woman who just entered the room and felt thankful that Dahlia had decided not to pay her any attention.Why is my mother here of all people?It was rare for my mother to attend any kind of parties or events hosted by the Vulkan family and that was because she wasn’t allowed to do so without explicit permission from Alfred. However, there must have been a good reason why she was standing in the same room with me while I was still actively acting as Anthony. The grim looked on her face and the cold way that she was staring at me told
I knew that I had to come up with an explanation so that Dahlia wouldn’t figure out that this woman is actually my real mother. If she found out about my mother’s real identity then she would also figure out that I am not Anthony. I cursed silently inside my head because I wasn't sure how to bring the situation under control. I had seen my mother lose her temper before and I knew just how bad it could get. She could easily turn into a crazy woman with no control over her emotions and her actions in her fit of rage, and I didn't want that to happen here right in front of Dahlia. It was bad enough that she had to hear everything already. “What is going on? Why are you being so loud when i'm trying to take some rest?” A lazy and sleepy sounding voice suddenly asked from the direction of the bed. I felt my heart skip a beat in my chest as I slowly turned my head in the direction where the voice came from. I saw Dahlia sitting up on the bed and looking our way with a confused and slight
My heartbeat thundered in my ears as I approached them. The three of them were engaged in such an intense conversation that, at first, they did not recognize my presence. Diana's voice was the first that came to me. Her voice was shaky, as if she was barely holding herself together."The doctor said that there's no change in his condition. Anthony is still unresponsive, although it's been months, and this whole thing with the snipers is only making it worse..." Diana said.I came to a stop as my mind struggled to process her words. My heartbeat grew even faster in my chest, and for a moment I thought that perhaps I had misheard my own sister. What did she mean when she said that Anthony is still unresponsive?Diana already knew that Bradon had taken Anthony's place, and that meant that the man who was shot was none other than Bradon. Yet how was it possible that Anthony was the one who was unresponsive? Nothing made sense to me at that moment. It felt like I was missing a very key pie
It hurt me more than anything to realize that I couldn't blame him, even if he did that, because I was the one who betrayed him first. I left him without a word or farewell, running away from him as if he were the one who had done something wrong. Memories of our time together came back like waves. The fake honeymoon that we enjoyed together felt more real than anything, right at that moment. I remembered the way that he would laugh whenever he let his guard down on the nights when we enjoyed each other's company simply as our true selves, and the dangerous world outside and our identities didn't need to complicate things for us.There was a time when I thought that love was enough, but a small voice inside of me reminded me not to be so foolish. As time slipped by, I found myself praying that the door would just swing open and that Bradon would be standing there with his arms wide open. I wanted nothing more than to be held in his arms once again. I had to admit to myself that, with
"Where is this?" I asked without hiding my suspicion. I knew very well where the Vulkan mansion was located and also what it looked like, and the place that we had just parked in front of couldn't look more different than the mansion that I remembered."You didn't think that we would take you to our home, did you?" Mrs. Vulkan snapped before looking away with a clear look of disgust on her face."I guess your home would be the first place that Bradon would look when he finds me missing," I replied dismissively."No more chit chat," Bradon's father said as he urged me out of the car.I told myself that it did make sense that they would find a place for me to stay, but did it have to be such a shabby-looking place? The isolated low-rise building looked like it could use a round of maintenance. The room that they led me to was simple, with a single bed, a television, a desk, and absolutely no windows."How long am I supposed to stay here? I thought we made an agreement that you would h
"Why would my son want to keep you here?" Mr. Vulkan asked as his eyes seemed to search my face for the answer that he was looking for. "How am I supposed to know? Maybe he hasn't had enough of me yet..." I replied before showing them a fake yet extremely sweet smile. "Even if he isn't considered a normal member of our family, I still can't have you associating with him," he continued on as if he was lecturing me of my lack of worth. "I just told you that I'm not the one begging to stay here and with him," I replied coldly. I had hoped that by then it had become plain obvious what I wanted the two of them to do for me. With their help, I was certain that they could find a way to get me out of Bradon's mansion. Bradon wasn't around, so the next in command was Zain, whom I did not think could directly stand up against the head of the Vulkan family. At least, that was where I decided to place my bets at that point in time. "So you want to leave but he won't let you? Is that what you
I quickly followed them inside, sensing that the two of them were here looking for trouble. One glance at Zain, and I could tell that he was already informing Bradon of their unexpected arrival. It wasn't like Zain could throw out Bradon's father and stepmother, so I could understand the pitiful position that he suddenly found himself in. I straightened my back and followed them further inside, thinking to myself that I needed to hold the fort until Bradon returned. Whatever it was that they wanted, I needed to make sure to find out.The two of them sat comfortably on the sofa as if they were in their own house by the time I made it to the living room. The fact that neither of us spoke a single word as I sat down on the sofa only made the tension in the room skyrocket."I'm sure that Bradon will be back soon," I said, more to tell myself than to tell them."Why are you still here?" Mr. Vulkan asked as he turned his cold gaze in my direction.The way that he looked at me left no room f
**A few days later**"How many times do I have to tell you? You can't keep me locked up in here!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, my hands clenching into tight fists. I could feel the blood rushing to my face as anger and frustration took over.Over the past few days, I had already lost count of the number of times Bradon and I had had this argument. For some reason that I could not comprehend, my life as a prisoner inside his household had resumed. There must have been a change in Bradon that I couldn't fully understand-something that had led him to decide to keep me under house arrest. Going out was no longer an option, even if I was escorted."You may leave when I tell you that you can," Bradon replied with the same infuriatingly calm response he always gave, his tone ticking me off even more."Listen, I'm not doing this because I want to be selfish. If there's a reason why you can't let me go outside, then please just let me know, and I'll try to be understanding," I said, taking
"I'll try not to come back late," Bradon replied without any further explanations. I only managed to simply nod my head before he was already out of the living room. The look that Bradon gave me told me to hold my tongue and not ask him any questions. I knew very well that asking him anything would be useless because he most likely wouldn't give me any kind of answer. As I stared at the doorway, my mind became even more unsettled than before. Something was definitely going on and Bradon was keeping it away from me. "Probably just work..." I mumbled to myself. It wasn't unusual for Bradon not to tell me much about matters related to his work, and I never minded. A sigh escaped my lips when I realized that I had officially failed once again. The worst part was that I felt very relieved at the very same time. Bradon's parting words, telling me that he would hurry back home gave me something to look forward to and that made me realize just how much I yearned to be with him. "Stop it,
I needed to leave him and as soon as possible, but I didn't know how I could achieve that. My past experiences have taught me quite directly that I couldn't truly run away from Bradon. Escaping from the mansion was unquestionably impossible. I could not run away, so that meant that I needed to get Bradon to agree to let me leave. My legs already felt weak, and I wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and shut my eyes to escape reality. I knew that I needed to talk to Bradon about ending our fake marriage as soon as possible, although I had no idea how to bring up the topic. Something told me that it might prove to be difficult to get Bradon to agree, and there was always a risk that he might react unpredictably.However, if everything he did was simply him just acting out his role and his feelings for me didn't truly exist, then that might be the solution to all of my problems. If he felt no attachment to me, then he should have no problem letting me go just as planned. After all
The party ended early, yet it was quite eventful, at least for Bradon and myself. I felt like there was a storm raging inside of me all the while that we rode back to his mansion. It felt like there was something right at the tip of my tongue that I wanted to say, but yet I couldn't bring myself to say it. There were times when I thought that I fully understood myself and what I wanted, and yet at the very same time, I felt so confused and lost. The feelings that were struggling to take dominance inside of me did not make sense, and it made me feel as if my thoughts and my feelings were heading in the direct opposite direction of one another.Bradon's words of defiance as he confronted my father came back to me loud and clear:"Dahlia is not your daughter anymore, and neither am I one of the Vulkans. I will never let you take my wife..."I should have known that entering into this contract marriage with Bradon, while taking my sister's place, would somehow lead to blurring the line be