Since the school was reserved for children from aristocratic families or those from very well-off families, I realized quickly that, just like everyone at the event, Kevin must have a pretty good backing of his own.“I guess we’re bound to run into our old friends in an event of this size,” I said before showing him another practiced smile.“By the way, do you remember our teacher from school? Mr. Howard? You know that teacher that taught us science. He’s here. I just met him, he’s over there. I couldn’t believe it at first. I mean, why would he be here?” Kevin said excitedly.“I’ll go see him later,” Bradon replied.“We should head over there now before even more people turn up. It’ll be hard to find him afterwards. You two used to be so close. I’m sure he’ll be delighted to see you after all these years,” Kevin replied before throwing his arm around Bradon’s shoulders.I could sense Bradon’s discomfort although he wasn’t letting it show. On the other hand, Kevin was completely obliv
“It’s been too long. You look well…” I said with a smile.I meant it. She did look well. Everything about her looked well and perfect except for the fact that she was now stuck in a wheelchair.“You look very well yourself. Congratulations on your marriage. You look so happy, so I take it that marriage life is treating you well,” she said before showing me a sweet smile.“Thank you. I’m still trying to get used to married life, but it’s been quite smooth sailing so far,” I lied smoothly as required of my role as Diana.“I’m so happy for you, honestly. It’s such a shame that I couldn’t be there on your big day. I was still going through some rehab abroad…” she said while looking quite apologetic.“It’s not a problem at all. I did receive the present that you sent. Thank you again,” I thanked her politely.I had no idea whether the gentle smile that she was showing me was genuine or not, but if I had to place my bets, I would put everything that I had on the line to bet that she was jus
“Tomorrow is going to be another hassle…” she said before heaving another sigh.“More love letters asking you out?” I made an educated guess.She turned to me and nodded her head before shaking her head and rolling her eyes upwards at the same time. I ended up laughing whenever Diana made that funny face. I liked the fact that I seemed to be the only one who knew this side to my sister. After all, she couldn’t show off all the nasty, playful, and truthful sides of herself to anyone else without being judged. Sadly, that also meant that she couldn’t be herself in front of anyone, our parents included.“Dahlia, can you be Diana again tomorrow? Please…” she asked with pleading eyes.For me, it wasn’t that challenging to act as Diana. The effort was well worth it mostly because I knew that Diana could relax more on the days when she was acting as Dahlia. Fewer eyes would be on her and she wouldn’t have to spend her days living under such crushingly high expectations. The truth was that I
“Umm…” I murmured as I tried to pull my arm back.“Don’t just reject me like this, Diana. Why don’t you take some time to think about it properly?” he suggested as he closed the distance between us.I sensed immediately that this guy wasn’t simply willing to back down just like the other guys that I’ve rejected. I could smell trouble coming my way, but I wasn’t sure how I should deal with it.“I truly feel happy that you feel this way about me, but I don’t think that we can start dating…” I said while trying to remain calm.“Let’s start again. Do you even know who I am?” he asked with clear displeasure.I looked up into his face and had to admit that he didn’t look so bad. Most girls would probably find him quite attractive. He was probably a little older than I was. He was tall, well-built, and had attractive determined eyes. Since the love letter he sent didn’t have a resume attached, I didn’t quite know who he was in the sense that he wanted me to understand, and it wasn’t like I c
“Why are you here?” Bill growled with a scowl on his face.“I have date with my fiancée today,” Anthony replied smoothly before turning to offer me a charming smile.Oh, that’s right. I’m supposed to meet with Anthony today…Wait, but didn’t Diana mention that it wasn’t supposed to be a date?I was too captivated by Anthony’s attractive smile at first to remember that we still had a problem on our hands. By the time that I came back to my senses, Bill had already closed the distance between himself and Anthony.“Watch out, Anthony!” I yelled out.It was too late because Bill had already grabbed onto Anthony’s shoulder to turn him around. I was so shocked that violence was about to break out. Anthony is a kindhearted guy who would never resort to violence, and I immediately got scared for him and his safety. Everything moved so fast that at first, I wasn’t sure what exactly had happened. The next thing I knew, there was a cracking sound followed by a thumping sound and then Bill was sp
This all happened because I failed to control the situation and the things that I said to Bill must have angered him. I recalled the way that Bill looked at me and the feeling of his tight grip on my wrist. Thankfully, Anthony showed up when he did and saved me because I wasn’t quite sure how I would have handled Bill otherwise.I hated how helpless I felt and how that weakness of mine led to Anthony’s injury.“You don’t have to do this…” he said softly but he did not attempt to pull his hand away from mine again.“I want to do this,” I said before glancing up from his hand and smiling at him.It felt like the least that I could do apart from thanking him repeatedly. I could feel Anthony’s eyes on me as I cleansed his wounds and applied medicine on them before sticking bandages on them.“I think that’s a bit much…” he said as he looked at the result of my handiwork.The bandages did make the condition of his hand look much worse than it actually was, but I thought that it was best to
I liked how he talked to me in his gentle and soothing tone, the way he smiled at me, and the way he always handled me with care as if I might break. Then there would be times like earlier where I could get glimpses of other sides of him that never failed to intrigue me.“Anywhere is fine…” I replied as I felt myself blushing for no good reason.“Should we just run off? Just the two of us?” he suggested as his eyes widened with apparent excitement.“We’ll get in trouble if we do that,” I replied while worrying more about Anthony than myself.His wild suggestion was unexpected and didn’t seem to fit his character but that only made me feel special for getting to see this side to him. I ended up giggling at just the idea of making a run for it together even though I was supposed to be against the idea.“We’ll get in plenty of trouble already as it is…” he pointed out before winking at me.I knew immediately what he was referring to. He did just beat up someone, and even if it was for my
“Hmm…is that so?” Anthony replied while sounding extremely unconvinced.I wished that I could come right out and tell him honestly that I wanted to see him in action but because I couldn’t quite tell him that, I decided to ask him something instead to change the direction of my conversation.“How did you find me?” I asked curiously.“I asked around for you and someone told me that you’d gone into the back garden…” he replied before grinning at me.I could tell that he had also learnt from that moment on why I had gone to the back garden, and I couldn’t blame him for not being impressed.“Does it happen very often?” he asked, and I knew that he was referring to those confessions.“Yeah…too often…” I replied honestly before pressing my lips into a regrettable thin line.“Diana…” Anthony said after a moment of pause.It looked like he had something that he wanted to tell me but before he could say anything, the loud sound of thunder roaring in the distance disturbed us. The wind picked u
"You should go to bed," Bradon told me the moment that we stepped into the mansion. I knew that his suggestion was spot on because sleep was exactly what I needed to deal with what was to come. The media and everyone had undoubtedly gone wild as they both communicated and speculated on what was the truth and what were twisted lies from all the events that happened in the past that I shared with my sister.I switched off my phone when it wouldn't stop vibrating, without bothering to read the caller ID on the screen. I could already guess who would be calling me and also exactly what they had to say."It feels like my head is ready to explode," I confessed before smiling weakly at Bradon."Which is precisely why you should stop thinking or caring about anyone else and just get some shut-eye," Bradon said as he peeled away the mobile phone that I held in my hand. I let him do so without putting up any resistance because all I wanted to do was crawl into bed and hide under the sheets wit
"My name is Diana, which can only mean that the Diana standing over there is, in fact, my twin sister, Dahlia. In fact, for the past months, I wasn't present, and the Diana that you knew had always been my sister acting out in my place," Diana explained as if it was something to be proud of.The crowd went wild, but I decided to focus my attention on the two figures that seemed so intent on ruining my life along with my sister’s. Our father had officially become our enemy, and at that moment, he looked like he might have started to regret pushing both of us over the edge. Mr. Malton, who, after all this time, clearly never regretted his actions and never realized that he should have been man enough to take responsibility. I was certain that even now, he was willing to destroy our reputation and our future—all for the sake of the money undoubtedly promised to him by our father. Desperate times truly call for desperate measures; that applied to our father but also to us as well.I could
I found myself praying silently that Desmond could bring everything under control, but my prayers probably fell on deafened ears. Instead of Desmond stepping up to the podium, it was my sister who approached it instead."What is she doing?" I asked in a shaky whisper as I felt myself breaking into a cold sweat. It felt like my eyes were about to pop out of their sockets as I continued staring in bewilderment and disbelief at my sister, who stood with a beautiful smile behind the podium, the microphone very close to her lips. I turned to stare at Desmond and managed to lock gazes with him. I could tell that he was staring right back at me, and the way he nodded his head reassuringly was supposed to bring me some relief and keep me at ease, but it only made me even more nervous.I could tell that everyone in the crowd was staring daggers at my sister, even from where I was standing. It wasn't surprising, considering that everyone thought Diana was me. It felt like tight knots had formed
Back to the present"Homewrecker! Homewrecker! Homewrecker!"The violent chanting continued and began seeping into my consciousness, dragging me back to the present. Disaster seemed to be staring me right in the face."Leya..." Bradon whispered my name right beside my ear.His presence close to me reminded me that, unlike that day back then, I wasn't alone. I had Bradon by my side, and, on top of that, everyone was here with me: Desmond and my sister. I suddenly felt a surge of confidence that made me believe that there could be a way out, one that would save us all from this dire situation my father had plotted against us.I had to admit that after leaving the country, I hadn't spared much thought for what would unfold after my departure. I never took care to follow up on any news-not that they would be made public-related to Mr. Malton's wife and child. I had no idea what happened to him or his family after that incident. My parents completely cut me off, and there was frankly no on
"What have you done? Have you completely lost your mind?" my father yelled at me immediately when our family was gathered in private. His face was completely red with anger as his voice echoed in the room. My mother looked like she was on the verge of tears, and I could tell that she was more worried about our family rather than her own daughter. "News of your ridiculous and scandalous behavior is now all over the place!" my father continued yelling. As if to drive his message home, his mobile phone began ringing non-stop. One glance at the name displayed on the screen drove my father to the brink before he switched off the phone and threw it onto the floor. My mother let out a scream at my father's sudden violent outburst before sinking down onto the sofa as if she had lost all strength in her body.I took the opportunity to slowly take a seat, and Diana was by my side in an instant. I knew that the best way to brave out this storm was to keep quiet and not let his words get to me.
Not having the experience of being a criminal before, I wasn't quite sure how one was supposed to be treated, but the experiences that I went through might have indeed been close. I thought that I was used to disappointing my parents and the people around me. I thought that I was used to seeing the look of disappointment and disapproval in their eyes before it became a look of resentment and then complete apathy and lack of care. I thought that I could deal with everything without getting my emotions involved because, after all, I was supposed to be used to this kind of treatment, and that was why I was caught utterly off guard by how quickly things escalated.Thinking back on it, my memories were quite blurry. Either it was simply too much for me to take in at the time for my brain to form any clear memories, or it was simply too shocking and too harsh for me to take. Either way, everything seemed to fly by me and over my head.Although every single teacher and the principal tried to
Just thinking that the fool right in front of me dared to say he was in love with my sister, while he couldn't even tell the two of us apart, made my blood boil. It took a lot of effort to repress the urge to reach out and strangle his neck right then and there. I reminded myself that I had a part to play and quite an audience to impress."No... this can't be..." Mr. Malton whispered hoarsely from a distance, stepping even further away from me. I stood up from the table, grabbed his arm, and pulled him back to my side as I glared up into his face."It's actually quite simple to fool you. All I had to do was dress up in my sister's clothes whenever I met you and talk a little more sweetly..." I said, letting out a hysterical laugh. I could still feel everyone's eyes on us as the attention in the room escalated even more than before.Mr. Malton was speechless as he tried to pull his arm away from my grip, but I wasn't about to let him get away so easily."Well, now I guess the secret is
I had no idea how Diana managed to keep the girls silent up until that point so that the news wouldn't spread; however, I knew that it wouldn't be too long before everyone in school knew about this illicit affair. We would be extremely lucky if this news did not spread beyond the school walls. Despite the gravity of the situation, Mr. Malton was already ready to make his retreat."What if they don't believe us? I feel so scared. I don't want to be alone, and I don't want you to leave me," I said pleadingly just to see his reaction."You know that I would never do that. It would just be temporary until everything blows over. I promise that I will never leave you. How could I possibly leave you? I love you so much," he declared his love for me boldly.The more dramatic things became, the more I felt that his act of adoration was completely fake. No matter how many times he claimed to be in love with my sister, it seemed like he couldn't even tell us apart. I wondered what kind of face h
"Leya, you need to help me find a way out of this. Diana simply cannot make this kind of mistake," my sister told me slowly and clearly as she stared directly into my eyes."You're right. You can't afford to make these kinds of mistakes," I agreed solemnly."No one else must find out about this. We have to do something before word gets out because word is definitely going to get out,," my sister stated calmly, and I could tell that she had returned to her calm and collected self."Can't we tell them that they simply misunderstood and that it's not true?" I asked, daring to harbor a little bit of hope."They probably won't believe what we tell them, but they might believe what we show them," Diana replied, and I could tell her mind was made up.Without using any more words, it seemed like an understanding had formed between us, and once again, it felt like it was us against the entire world....**The Next Day**As I pushed open the back door to the building that was supposed to be off