Chapter 3

Seven years had passed. Time flew by so fast, Celeste shook her head, seven years had already gone by, as if she had only blinked seven times, the passage of time was so swift.

“You can’t be serious, Celestial Elegance paid you half a billion to be their designer? Where did they get that much money if the company is sinking?” Sarah said incredulously.

Even Celeste was wondering where the company got that much money to pay her.

“Don’t tell me you’re going back to the Philippines just to accept their offer. Girl, move on! They kicked you out, right? And you’re going back?” Sarah continued. Celeste swirled the wine in her wine glass before she drank it.

“You know what my plan was from the start, right? The company is sinking, so this is my chance to reclaim my mom’s company from them.”

“Won’t you lose money from that? If you take the company from them, you’ll be buried in debt. Celestial has a lot of debt to the bank.” Sarah didn’t like her friend’s decision, especially since she knew Celeste would only get hurt if she went back to the Philippines.

“But I learned that all their debts were paid. I don’t know how or where they get the huge amounts of money they’re spending, but I don’t care because all I want is to reclaim my mom’s company from Elloise and Hannah's hands.” She said resolutely.

“Maxwell!” Sarah and Celeste’s conversation was interrupted when they heard Luna’s loud scream again, so they both looked at the children’s room.

“Please read it to me again,” Luna ordered her big brother. Luna’s voice was so loud that even their neighbors could hear her loud screams.“You’re not listening to me, just play with your Barbie dolls and I will read my books. I’m done reading a story for you, Luna, and then you’re not listening. I’m done!” Maxwell shouted back. A moment later, they heard Luna’s loud cries, so Celeste went to her children.

“What is happening here?” Celeste asked her children.

“Maxwell doesn’t want to read a story for me.” Luna complained, crying.

“I am reading her a story, but she’s not listening, Mom. She’s just playing with her Barbie doll.” Maxwell retorted to his mom. Celeste slightly knelt down to be at eye level with her children.

Zachary, the eldest of her triplets, was quietly reading a book in the corner.

“Luna baby, if you want your brother to read a story for you, please focus on him so you will understand the story, and if you want to play, then let your brother read a story peacefully, hmmmf? Please don’t shout at him. He’s still your big brother.” Luna pouted, but she nodded and realized her mistake.

Celeste kissed both of her arguing children. Who would have thought that in just one night, she would have triplets. Two boys and one girl.

“Mom, is it true that we’re going home to your birth country?” Zachary asked from the corner. Luna and Maxwell both looked at their mother in surprise.

“Really, Mom?” They confirmed.

“Hmm, yes. So, be ready, okay?” She replied. Her children were too smart, so she couldn’t hide any secrets from them.

The day of their flight arrived. Their landing in the Philippines was smooth. Celeste’s face was blank as she looked around. Seven years had passed, but the country she came from hadn’t changed. It was still hot and there was still traffic, just like before.

“Are you going straight to your company?” Sarah asked while looking at her iPad.

“Yeah, I should have gone yesterday. I don’t want them to think I’m too VIP.”

“Do they know that you and Mia Moda are the same person?” she said, Mia Moda is a famous designer in France and that’s Celeste’s screen name.

“Well, it’s a surprise for them.” Sarah chuckled slightly because she was happy with her friend’s plan even though she was against it at first.

“I love that,” she winked. Celeste looked at her three children who were fast asleep. They were still tired from their long trip, for sure.

When they arrived at the house Celeste had rented, she put the children in their rooms so they could rest and be more comfortable.

“You take care of them first, Sarah. I’ll be back later.” Sarah nodded. Celeste took her bag and car keys and left. She didn’t rest because she had already told Hannah’s secretary that she would be coming today to meet.

Celeste was walking in the company’s lobby and she furrowed her brows because all the employees she passed by greeted her.

“Good afternoon, Ma’am,” they greeted her again. She wondered why the company’s employees knew her when she wasn’t introduced before.

“They know me?” she asked herself. It was also impossible for them to know her as Mia Moda, because no one knows her real face, not even the country she came from.

“Did Ma’am change her fashion today? To be fair, it suits her.” She heard the employees she passed by talking. She knew they were talking about her because they were looking at her.

She was really confused about what was happening. She never worked at the company because she had just graduated when she left the country, so it was strange that the company’s employees knew her.

Did her father introduce her as his daughter? Were they expecting her arrival today? But that was impossible because she hadn’t had contact with her father for seven years.

Meanwhile, Hannah had been waiting in her office for Mia Moda’s arrival.

“You said she’s coming today, right? Where is she?!” She impatiently asked her secretary.

“Maybe, Ma’am, she went straight to her hotel. She just landed.” Hannah’s secretary replied, bowing her head. She was annoyed because she had been waiting for the designer they paid to be their company’s designer for the past two days.

“We can’t waste the money we paid her. Did you give her the money?” Hannah asked, losing her patience.

“I think so, Ma’am. Carter sent the money.”

“Aish! You should have made her come here first before you sent it. What if she ran off with the money?! You really don’t think!” She shouted again. Her secretary just bowed her head because it was better to be quiet than to make excuses when you’re still the one who’s wrong.

Hannah ruffled her hair and angrily left her office.

Meanwhile, Celeste looked back at the employee who greeted her. What was happening was really creepy because if the company’s employees greeted her, it was as if everyone knew her well.

When the elevator opened, it was as if the world stopped. They were both shocked at what they saw in front of them.

Celeste furrowed her brows. How could it be that there was a woman who looked exactly like her in their company? They were like two halves of a whole, because you couldn’t see any difference in their faces. If there was any difference in their physical appearance, it was their height. Celeste was taller than the woman in front of her now.

“Who are you?” Celeste asked the woman who looked like her. The woman came out of the elevator and pulled Celeste to a place where no one could see them.

“I’m asking you, who the hell are you?” Celeste’s patience was almost running out. If you looked at them both, you would mistake them for twins.

“You’re back, Celeste.” The woman in front of Celeste said. Celeste’s brows furrowed even more because even though she didn’t know the woman in front of her, she couldn’t forget the voice she hated.

“Hannah?” She said, but she shook her head because it was impossible for Hannah to be the woman who looked like her. That couldn’t happen, and what reason would Hannah have to copy Celeste’s face?

Was this why the employees she passed by greeted her because there was a woman who looked like her in the company?

Hannah averted her gaze from Celeste.

“What are you doing here? You left a long time ago, so why did you come back?!” Hannah shouted angrily at her. Celeste laughed bitterly, she couldn’t be wrong because the woman in front of her now was her sister, Hannah.

Celeste looked at Hannah sharply.

“What do you think you’re doing, Hannah? You’re copying me, since when?” Hannah didn’t answer, she didn’t expect her sister to be back in the country.

“Answer me, Hannah!” Celeste’s veins almost popped out of her neck from the intensity of her anger. She had just landed in the country, but anger was already brewing in her heart. She left their house angry, and she was still angry when she came back?

“Why do you care anyway?! My body, my rules! I’ll do what I want to do with my own body!” Celeste laughed like a crazy person. She couldn’t imagine that Hannah would copy her. She could accept it if Hannah copied her clothes, her style, took the company from her, but to copy even her face? That was a different level!

“Are you obsessed with me? The hell wrong with you! You already took everything from me, don’t tell me you’ve already claimed my whole personality too? Did you introduce yourself as me? Damn it, Hannah! What are you thinking?!” You could feel Celeste’s anger.

In their situation now, they could be mistaken for twins.

“I didn’t use your name, I didn’t claim your personality! They know me as Hannah Marquez in the company, so don’t worry, even if I copied your face, I won’t steal your personality from you. What are you doing here anyway? Daddy kicked you out, right? Why did you come back?!”

“Do you think I won’t come back? Is that why you had plastic surgery to look like me? Whether I come back or not, you still have no right to copy my looks, Hannah.” Hannah raised an eyebrow at Celeste.

“I have the right, plastic surgery is legal now, so I’ll do what I want with my body. Just leave, Celeste, before you embarrass our family.” Celeste laughed bitterly. She was the one who would embarrass their family?

“Shouldn’t you be the one embarrassed? I am the original, Hannah. Even if we look the same, I’m still the original, and you can’t change the fact that you’re just Daddy’s illegitimate child. Remember what I said before I left? No matter what you do, you can’t hide your true personality.”

“I may be Daddy’s illegitimate child, but you’re the one who looks like the illegitimate child of the two of us, Celeste.” A sharp slap landed on Hannah’s cheek, which surprised her.

She was about to slap Celeste back when she saw who was behind them. She pretended to be hurt, and her angry face a moment ago was now angelic.

“What is happening here? Hannah, you okay?” Maximus asked, who had just arrived and saw what Celeste did. Maximus approached Hannah and looked at the woman who was her enemy. Maximus furrowed his brows because he saw two Hannahs now.

Celeste also furrowed her brows when she saw who was with Hannah now.

“Mr. Lim,” Celeste said. Hannah hooked her arm on Maximus’s arm and played the victim.

“Let’s just leave her, Max, let’s go.” Hannah wanted to leave with Maximus, but Maximus didn’t move because he was staring intently at Celeste. Celeste wondered how Hannah got into a relationship with Mr. Lim, especially since Mr. Lim was known to be picky with women.