Chapter 3: Step Sisters

The golden rays of the morning sun peeked through the curtains, shining on the two bodies in bed. Clothes were messily scattered around the room.

Jessica ran her hands over the luxurious fabrics of the soft bed she was sleeping on. Faint red marks were visible on her neck and even on her chest.

She slowly opened her eyes before letting out a yawn, followed by a groan. Her body felt sore and ached badly; she could barely feel her legs.

‘Oh no.’ Her eyes widened as she remembered what happened last night. She had done it—she had really slept with Oliver. She held the sheets close to her body, suddenly feeling dirty.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt a movement behind her. Turning around, her whole body froze—both in astonishment and in shock.

Not only was this man not Oliver, but he looked too perfect to be true. If she had once thought Louis was very handsome, she was wrong—this man overshadowed him by far. From his blond hair, nose, thin lips, smooth skin, everything about this man screamed perfection.

As perfect as he looked, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she had seen this face before—it was Louis's cousin.

Jessica quickly sprang up from the bed. “I need to get out of here!” She couldn’t hide the surprised look on her face when she saw her clothes on the floor, torn.

Before her feet could meet the marble floor, a pair of strong arms pulled her back to the bed, with an arm wound around her neck, pinning her down.

“Where do you think you're going? You think you can seduce me and then leave just like that? Is it money you want? I’ll pay you double what the person paid you. Now speak—who sent you?” William yelled.

“Huh…” Jessica muttered.

“What? Is the money not enough for you? I’ll pay triple what he paid. Now speak up, whore!”

He felt both confused and angry. To think he had fallen for such a cheap trap was infuriating, but at the same time, he couldn’t understand why his allergy wasn’t resurfacing.

Every time he came in contact with a woman, his body would start itching badly, leaving red marks that took days to heal. The countless doctors he had visited weren’t able to provide a cure, but this woman—

“Get off me!” Jessica pushed him off with all her strength.

Holding the sheets to cover her body, she glared at him. “First of all, I didn’t come here for you. Who do you think you are that I’d waste my precious time seducing you? You weren’t even impressive in bed. If I had to rate you, I’d give you a 2 out of 10. How bold of you to think I’d accept your filthy money!” Jessica scoffed and rolled her eyes.

“What…” William’s eyes widened.

Jessica got out of bed. “You can feed that money to the dogs, or better yet, use it to improve your skills in bed.” Without looking at him, she grabbed one of the white shirts she saw and marched to the door.

“Mr. Presi…” Maxwell, who was about to knock, was shocked to see a lady opening the door, wearing his boss’s shirt.

Before he could recover from the shock, Jessica walked off. Maxwell walked into the room, confused, only to be met with another shock when he saw clothes scattered on the floor and his boss in bed, covered by nothing but the sheets.

He didn’t need a fortune teller to know what had transpired here.

“2 out of 10?” William kept replaying her words in his head. There was no bigger insult than what he had just received.

“Mr. Presi—”

“Have this room cleaned up,” William said, making his way to the bathroom.

Maxwell looked at the mess the room was in. The red stains on the bedsheets didn’t go unnoticed by him. He walked closer to the bed with furrowed brows.

“A virgin?”

______

Jessica got out of the taxi, already changed into another set of clothes she had bought before heading home. She hurriedly made her way to her room but mistakenly bumped into someone.

“Careful,” the man said, steadying her by the shoulder.

“Thank you. Jericho?” Jessica muttered when their gazes met.

The man smiled. “Still as clumsy as ever. How have you been?”

Jessica mirrored his smile. “Well—”

“Jessica,” a voice interrupted her. She turned to see three people approaching her—her father, stepmother, and stepsister.

“Where have you been? We were so worried about you,” Renata, her stepmother, said.

Jessica internally rolled her eyes. If there were an award for the best pretender, this woman would win it hands down.

“Let’s go in. We have something important to discuss,” Leon said.

A few minutes later, Jessica found herself sitting in front of them.

Leon smiled. “Good news! The company will be merging with the Shermans, a reputable family with conglomerates across the country,” he said.

“Okay…” Jessica replied, not liking where the conversation was heading.

“But for the pact to be sealed officially, we need to marry two of our children together. As you can see, your sister is engaged to Jericho, so… congrats! Jessica, you’ll be getting married soon.”

“What?” Jessica exclaimed.

“Everything has been arranged. You’ll be meeting him tomorrow to get acquainted,” Renata smiled.

Jessica stood up with an unpleasant look. “Father, I’m not getting married,” she said.

“Come on, Jessica, not everyone is lucky enough to marry the man of their dreams. This is a golden opportunity for you,” Belinda, her stepsister, commented.

“We’re doing this for your own good, Jessica,” Leon said.

Jessica snorted. “My own good?”

“Was it for my good when you married your mistress a month after Mom died? Throughout my 22 years on this earth, I’ve been living like a shadow in this family, and now you want to sell me off to the most prominent family you’ve encountered. How the hell is this for my good?” Jessica snapped.

“I’m not getting married. Like it or leave it,” Jessica said and walked away.

Renata stood up. “Jessica—”

“Mom, let her be. I’ll go talk to her myself,” Belinda smiled.

Jessica walked into her room, slamming the door loudly. She looked at the white shirt she had been holding all along and hissed.

“That rude jerk. How dare he compare me to a whore?” she muttered, throwing the shirt into the trash.

“Did you see the news? Louis is getting married in two months.”

Jessica looked up to see Belinda standing by the door with a scornful smile on her lips.

“Poor thing. Your childhood crush chose me over you, and now your first love has chosen another woman over you. You must be really jinxed,” Belinda said, walking closer and standing in front of her.

“You’re a failure in your career and in your love life. Isn’t life just miserable for you?”

“Get out,” Jessica said coldly.

“I just wanted to console my dear sister—”

“Stepsister,” Jessica cut her off.

“Huh?”

“You heard me. It’s stepsister. My mother wasn’t the one who slept around with a married man, resulting in her giving birth to a bastard like you, all because of money. We’re not in the same league,” Jessica smirked.

“You bitch!” Belinda slapped Jessica, who returned the slap almost immediately.

“Belinda,” Jericho walked in and grabbed Belinda by the arm. “Let’s go.”

Belinda glared at Jessica, who smirked back defiantly.