“I’ve been thinking about this non-stop, to be honest. Anthony, where is he?” I asked a I cocked my head to the side slightly to show my curiosity in an exaggerated way.Where is Anthony?Does he even know that I’m locked up in this place?Does he know that Bradon took his place and married me instead?Is he fine with it?I stared at Bradon as I kept a curious look on my face as I waited for his response. It felt like a storm was coming and I could feel it although I couldn’t see it. It was just a feeling, but I knew that I had struck a chord within him. Although his face still betrayed absolutely no emotions, I could tell that I had willingly wandered into forbidden territory.“Where is Antony? I’ve been meaning to ask since I didn’t end up marrying him and he definitely wasn’t at our wedding or the reception after…” I asked while trying to sound completely innocent.Bradon just stared at me as if he could literally see through my face. Perhaps in his mind, I had already become trans
Without any hesitation, I turned and quickly ran as fast as my legs could carry me toward the door. My mind and my emotions were both a mess and the journey back to the comfort of my bedroom felt blurry. The peaceful quiet of my bedroom felt suffocating in a strange way. Just like it had always been the case in my life, there was no one there to comfort me. Diana was no longer there, and I wasn’t even sure where she was. Hopefully, unlike me, she was living a happy life full of smiles with the man that she loved.Thinking about Diana and the happiness that she was probably experiencing seemed to be the only saving grace that could help me believe that the pain that I was going through wasn’t for naught. As I dived onto the bed and pulled the covers over my head, I realized just how much I missed my twin sister.Wallowing in my own sorrows and frustrations was the only thing that I could do. Once again, I was reminded of how hurtful my own disappointments could feel. I gave up on havin
Due to the strained relationship between our families, our interaction had been limited to what was absolutely necessary to pass as polite pleasantries. Although she had answered with an affirmative ‘yes’, I wasn’t sure just how much Diana actually remembered of him.“Perfect. He really is a charming little gentleman even at his age. Also, he’s the only heir to the Vulkan family and we think that he is the perfect person for you to marry,” father explained with a satisfied smile.My eyes widened before I turned to stare at my sister to see her reaction to the news that father had just broken to us. I’ve heard of arranged marriages before and some of our friends already had fiancés of their own which their parents have told them about; however, I never thought that a day would come when my sister would have one too.“I have to marry him?” Diana asked.“Yes. I am sure that he is the perfect one for you. You will see for yourself when you meet him tomorrow,” mother chimed in followed by
It felt like our parents only ever saw her and her achievements. She would always receive praise while I would be blamed for not being good enough. That was why when it happened, I was so confused and didn’t quite know how to take it. It was a normal evening after we had both returned home from school. Just as scheduled, our art instructor was there to give us supplementary water painting classes.“Wow! This is coming along very nicely. The way the color blends here makes these flowers look so serene,” our teacher complimented.“Thank you…very much…” I replied softly.It was extremely rare for me to be complimented and so her comment took me by surprise. I glanced over at Diana who also had just finished her painting for the day and found her smiling quite proudly at me. It was even rarer for me to be complimented when my sister was also there.“You’re such a fast learner, Diana. I truly believe you have a gift,” the teacher said to me before showing me a bright smile.It took all my
“Right, I guess I don’t have to come too,” I mumbled.“Don’t sound so sad. I’ll choose to stay in bed any day than go out to meet all the random people that mum and dad want me to meet,” she said before she giggled.Her giggling ended up in rough coughs that made me believe that she may not need to pretend to be sick in order to stay in bed.“You should get in bed. You’ll sleep in my room tonight, right?” I asked while still feeing uneasy.“Yup, and you’ll sleep in mine. When morning comes, you’ll be Diana and I’ll be Dahlia,” she said before winking at me.…“You look exactly like a princess in this dress. I knew that it would look perfect on you, but this just exceeded my expectations!” my mother exclaimed.Life as Diana meant waking up extra early and getting dolled up. The day of her engagement was undoubtedly a big day for her and also the two families. Our parents did not spare any expense in making sure that she was dressed up for the occasion.“Thank you, mother,” I replied wi
My eyes narrowed slightly as my mind raced to come up with the right answer to his question. Was he trying to test me with his seemingly random question?If I told him that the dress was comfortable, would he think that I like to overdress or that I was lying to him given that there was no way the dress that I was wearing could look comfortable to anyone. However, if I told him that it was uncomfortable, would he think that I didn’t have any endurance and perseverance to bear with something so insignificant?What would Diana say in such a situation?“My suit is so tight. It feels hard to move in and some parts here are making me itch. I don’t know why we have to overdress like this…” Anthony openly complained as he moved his arms up and down as if to show me how difficult it was to move in his outfit.I wasn’t sure what was more surprising, his words or the fact t
The teapot that came with its matching teacups had intricate flowery patterns on them in various pastel colors and curvy lines of gold that sparkled as the lighting in the room shone against it. The design felt romantic and extremely artistic at the same time. It was probably the most beautiful tea set that I had ever seen, and I knew instantly that it must be quite expensive as well.“This tea set is extremely beautiful…” I complimented the tea set as I reached my hand to grab the handle of a teacup.“Don’t touch it!” Anthony yelled loudly.His sudden outburst and warning did not make any sense to me. My eyes widened as I turned to face him in absolute surprise. The handle of the teacup against the tips of my fingers felt smooth.“Diana!” Anthony cried out in clear panic as he reached for my hand.I was too shocked and confused at
My eyes widened at his words and my mouth hung open as I turned to face him. Anthony paid me no attention at all and didn’t look at me. Instead, his eyes were glued on our parents who were now staring intensely at him.“What did you say?” his mother asked in a low whisper as she pressed her hand against her chest.“I said, I broke the teacup,” Anthony repeated clearer this time.Why is he…lying?“Anthony, are you sure? Are you sure that you were the one who broke the teacup?” his mother asked again.“Yes. I broke it. My fingertips grazed its handle, and for some strange reason, the teacup just cracked and broke,” Anthony explained quite emotionlessly.“That’s not…” his mother said before her gaze shifted to land on me.At that moment, I wondered if she had somehow caught on to the fact that it was actually me who had broken the teapot and not her son. The way she was staring so accusingly at me made me want to hide away. I still had no idea why Anthony was going to such lengths to pro
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