The next day, Claire was up and dressed for work at the Arrington's.
Claire joggled down the stairs to meet Cole already dressed up for school.
" Here. Take this. " She said, advancing some dollars to him and Cole received it.
" You got back earlier than before last night. " Cole said.
" Huh? "
" I heard you come in. It wasn't even 10pm yet. What happened? " Cole asked and Claire bit her lip.
" It's nothing. " She said.
" Come on. You don't want to get to school late. " Claire said and Cole sighed.
" Why am I asking? You never tell me anything anyways. " He said, walking out of the house.
Claire sighed, following and she locked the door.
She hailed a cab and dropped her brother off. Then she headed to her work place.
Claire alighted the cab and exhaled softly staring at the mansion. She felt each day she looked at it. It just seemed much more beautiful and bigger. She looked around and noticed none of the guards were around. She walked to the door and rang the doorbell. She waited but didn't get a response. She rang the doorbell again and still, there was no response.
Her brows narrowed as she gently turned the door knob and the door opened. She gently walked into the house, shutting the door behind. Claire walked to the living room but she stopped dead on her track by the scene before her.
Her bag fell to the ground as she gasped, raising a hand to her mouth and Claire stared in horror at Josie Arrington who was in a pool of her own blood. She moved her wobble feet to her body and stared at the blood which flowed.
" Oh my god " Claire muttered underneath her breath.
" Josie. " She called, her voice barely audible as tears gathered up in her eyes. She fell to the ground beside her body and she wanted to touch her but she stopped herself. One thing she has learned from horror movies.
You don't touch the body. You don't touch anything at all. Claire told herself and she inhaled sharply, withdrawing her hand.
Claire looked up at the stairs and the imaginary scene of Josie falling off played in her head. She could feel her heartbeat racing as she gazed at Josie.
Her dark hair was sprawled out and her arms were twisted.
" Oh, god. Please don't be dead. Don't be dead. " Claire muttered, tears rolling down her cheek.
" Hello? Hello. Is anyone there? Somebody please help! " Claire yelled but nothing but absolute silence met her.
Where the hell is everyone? Claire thought and suddenly, the door burst open and the Arrington's walked into the house.
" What the hell is going on here? " Mar Arrington said, staring shocked at the scene before him.
" Josie? Josie. Oh, my god! Josie! " Mrs Arrington yelled, rushing towards her daughter.
" Josie... Josie! No. Josie. " She sobbed, shaking her.
Claire stared at Mr Arrington who immediately rushed to his wife and dragged her away from the body.
" No. No! Leave me alone. Oh, Josie. No! " His wife cried and her husband embraced her, burying her face into his chest while she struggled.
" Anna. Anna! You need to calm down. " He cooed, holding her still and she shook her head, looking at him with teary eyes.
" No, Jason. That's… that's not Josie, right? That's not… Tell me that's not my daughter lying there. Tell me! " Anna yelled and Jason couldn't say a word. He just hugged his wife instead and she hugged him back, crying profusely.
Anna finally pulled away from her husband and she sniffed.
" What the hell happened? " Mr Arrington questioned, looking at Claire who snapped her gaze to them.
" I… " Claire paused, swallowing deeply.
" What the hell did you do to my daughter! " Anna Arrington yelled, rushing to Claire.
" What the hell did you do to her! You commoner! " Anna yelled
" Nothing! " Claire said, her whole body shaking.
" I… I didn't do anything. I just… I just arrived and I… I met her like this. " Claire whispered, tears streaming down her eyes.
Anna let go of her and she looked at her daughter. She fell to the floor, screaming on top of her voice and Claire glances at Jason Arrington who has mixed expression on his face.
He sighted something crumpled in Josie's hand and he moved closer to her body. Jason bent and opened Josie's cold palm. He saw a note in her hand and he glanced at his wife. Jason collected the note and opened it.
" What? What's in it? " His wife questioned as he stared at the writing in the paper.
I am sorry, Mom, Dad. But I just can't be that person you want me to be. I have moved to a better place. Forgive me. Jason read and he bit his lower lip, staring in anger at Josie's body.
" What's in it, Jason? " Anna asked
" A suicide note. " Jason mumbled and Claire snapped her gaze to him.
" No! No… that can't be true. " Anna muttered and she moved to her husband, snatching the note from him.
" Oh, my god! " Anna said, raising a hand to her mouth.
" No.. no. No, Josie! " Anna yelled, tears streaming down her face and she felI the floor.
" Where the hell are the maids and the guards, huh? Where the hell is everyone?! " Jason yelled and Claire stood still to the ground, burying her gaze to the floor.
" What are you standing there for, huh? Call 911 immediately! " Anna yelled at Claire who flinched.
Claire moved her wobble feet to her bag and she collected her phone from it with shaky hands.
She dialed 911 but suddenly, Jason moved and snatched the phone from her.
" We are not calling 911. " He said, cutting off the call.
" What?... What do you mean? " Anna asked.
" She is gone, Anna. " Jason gritted out and she blinked, staring unbelievably at her husband.
Claire snapped her gaze to him, not believing he just said that.
" What did you just say? " Anna questioned, walking close to him.
" She is gone. " Jason repeated and Anna slapped him hard across the face.
" Don't you ever… ever say that to me again, you hear me! " She said, pointing a finger at him.
" Now, hand over the phone. " She said.
Suddenly the guards rushed into the house and they all halted abruptly on their heels when they saw Josie's body.
" Where the hell were you all, huh? Why the fuck weren't you all at your posts?! " Jason demanded and all of them shook with fear, gazing at the floor.
" I asked a question! " Jason yelled.
" It was… it was Miss Josie. She… she asked us all to leave and not return in the next one hour. " One of the guards responded.
" She what? " Jason asked, his brows knitted.
" Ye… yes. She… she threatened to fire us if we didn't leave. " Another guy said.
" Oh, god! " Anna whimpered, slumping into the couch and Claire gulped down nothing.
" And the maids? Where are they? " Jason questioned.
" She sent them to get things from the grocery store. "
" She planned this? She planned all of this? " Anna asked no one in particular.
And nothing but silence reigned as Jason Arrington paced about the room.
" The two of you… " Jason pointed to two guys out of the six standing.
" Tie her up and lock her up " Jason ordered and Claire's eyes widened and they guys stared at each other, none of them moving.
" Are you going to make me repeat myself?! " Jason snapped and the two men immediately moved towards Claire who stepped back.
" I swear Mr Arrington. I didn't do anything to her. I didn't-. "
" Get her out of here now! " Jason said, cutting Claire off and the two men grabbed Claire by the hand, taking her away.
" Please… I don't know anything. I swear! " Claire yelled on top of her voice as they dragged her away.
" What the hell are you doing, Jason? " His wife questioned.
Jason Arrington stared at his daughter's body, ignoring her and he turned to the remaining four guys.
" You two… " He pointed at two of them.
" Wrap up her body and take her to the basement. " Jason ordered.
" And you two… clean this place up and get me every information on Claire Walker. " Jason said, pointing his finger.
" Yes… boss. " They all chorused and Jason turned to his wife.
" You… Come with me. " He said, walking away and his wife followed him. They arrived at their room and Jason shut the door behind.
" What the hell is going on, Jason? " Anna questioned.
" Relax. " Jason said.
" Relax? You just stopped me from calling the emergency when I just found my daughter lying in the pool of her blood and you are telling me to relax? "
" Goddammit, Anna, just shut the hell up! I am trying it think " Jason snapped and his wife flinched.
He sighed, rubbing his temple.
" I didn't… I didn't mean to yell. I am just. I am lost here too, Anna. Freaking lost. " He mumbled, resting his hands against the table.
" Why do you think she did it? " Anna asked softly.
" What do you think she jumped off that stairs, Jason? " She asked and Jason shook his head.
" I don't know. " He mumbled and Anna gently sat on the bed, sobbing quietly.
Jasoy turned to his wife and moved closer to her.
" Hey, She is gone, okay? There is no point shedding tears. We can't afford to let this affect our business "
" Business?! Oh, so that's all you care about? My daughter is dead, Jason and all you care about is the business?! "
" We had a deal with the Gold's, Anna. What do you think will happen when they find out Josie committed suicide, huh?! "
" That means, no deal! They will withdraw their funding and what do you think will happen to us, then? We will go down the fucking drain, is that what you want?! "
" What I want is to call the paramedics, Jason. We could still save her. " Anna cried.
" There is no saving anyone! She is gone! " Jason yelled.
" Is that why you asked your men to bundle her up like a piece of trash? " His wife yelled back.
" Yes! Because no one can know she is dead, Anna. No one can know Josie is gone, you hear me? "
" What? … what do you mean by that? " Anna questioned and Jason rubbed on his temple.
" I have a plan. " Jason said.
" What plan? "
" We are going to use that girl. "
" What girl? Claire? "
" Yes. We will have Josie's body cremated. "
" What?! No way! "
" Don't start, Anna. Just listen! " Jason snapped and Anna swallowed her guts.
" This will only be between you, I and the people in this house. I will make that Claire girl a proposition. She will become our new Josie in exchange for 1 million dollars "
" What the hell are you talking about, Jason?! "
" She is the perfect person. Weirdly, the two share almost the same looks. No one will notice a thing. And it will be like our Josie never died. " Jason explained and Anna shook her head in negation.
" No. We can't… we can't do that to Josie. " She mumbled.
" We have to. And after all we gave her, this is how she repays us? " Jason asked and Anna sniffed.
" And you can wipe off those fake tears. She was never our real daughter to begin with. " Jason said, walking towards the door.
" Where are you going? " Anna asked.
" Stay here. Take a nap if you must. I am going to handle this mess. " Jason responded, walking out the door and he locked it behind.
Two guards came up the stairs.
" Boss. We found out something about Claire. " One of them said.
" Yes. What is it? "
" She is an orphan and she has a younger brother. "
" Do you know where she lives? " Jason questioned.
" Yes, boss. " The two men chorused.
" Good. Bring the boy over here. Do it secretly. I don't want no fuck ups. Bring him here immediately. " Jason ordered.
" Yes, boss! " They said and walked away while Jason walked toward his study.
" An orphan. Perfect. " He mumbled.
Jason stepped into a room and he locked the door behind. He turned to Claire who was tied to a chair with a sellotape pressed to her mouthClaire stared at Mr Arrington and she watched him grab a bottle of whiskey, decanting it into a glass cup.He drank the content in one gulp and exhaled. " Claire Walker. " Jason muttered, leaning against the table." You know I never could understand what my daughter saw in you. But you just might be useful after all. " Jason said. He walked towards her and he peeled off the sellotape from her mouth. " Please… I didn't do anything to your daughter. I swear. " Claire cried. " Oh, I know. My daughter committed suicide, Claire. Of course you have nothing to do with it. " Jason said." I have a proposition for you. As you know, my daughter was supposed to get married in two days. " " Yes." Claire whispered. " I was supposed to be her bridesmaid. " She added, gazing down as tears slipped her cheek." What do you think about being the bride instead?
Claire stared into the mirror, watching the maids make her up.It's finally the day of her wedding–Josie's wedding. Since the past two days, Claire's life has changed drastically. All her life, she has always wished to live in a mansion. Wear nice, expensive clothes, Bath in a tub, walk in nice shoes to nice places. Live a luxurious life. And somehow in the blink of an eye. She has all of that. And hell, she was now about to get married to one of the most successful and young business men in Washington.But none of the changes in her life made Claire happy. Not the clothes, not even the title as the CEO of a huge company. Cause this wasn't how she wished for these things to happen. She wanted to achieve these things by herself and make herself and her younger brother happy. She never wanted to live a lie and that was exactly what she was doing now. The thought of it all alone brought tears to Claire's eyes and she blinked them back.A knock came on the door and the door opened, rev
Panic was written all over Claire’s face as she kept staring at him, at a loss of words. Knowing the kind of person Mason was, Claire knew that she was in big trouble. Quickly, Claire grabbed her gown and walked away. Unfortunately, Mason went after Claire. “Hey, stop, I need to talk to you,” Mason whispered in Claire’s ears when he was close enough to her.“There’s nothing to talk about so stop following me,” Claire replied, unwillingly to give Mason an audience and without stopping.“I'm sorry, pardon my bad manners, It's just that you seemed quite familiar to me. I'm Mason, a close friend of Ryan and a family friend of the Golds,” said Mason, extending his hand to Claire for a handshake.Claire looked down at Mason’s hands, and then back at him, trying her best to hide her hate towards him. Eventually, she decided it would be suspicious to not take the handshake on a first meeting with him so she took his handshake and shook him firmly.“I'm Josie, it's nice to meet you,” Claire
Ryan looked at Bethany, surprised by her suggestion. Ryan had known Bethany for a while and had never seen her dance so it was shocking when she suggested they do so.Unsure of Bethsny’s dancing skills and unwillingness to engage in any activity that would make him look less cool, Ryan decided to ask for clarity on what he heard her ask before he gave her a reply.“Did you just ask for a dance?” Ryan asked.“Yes, I did. Is there anything wrong with that?” Bethany replied. Ryan paused, he had heard correctly so he had to give her a reply now. Ryan could turn her down if he wanted but he felt it would be good if the groom and bride were dancing with different people so he decided to accept her request.“You sure you're up to it? I'm a really good dancer?” said Ryan taking Bethany’s hand and standing up.“Oh. Show me then,” Bethany replied.“My pleasure, try to keep up,” said Ryan.They went to the dancefloor and Claire couldn't believe what she was seeing. The same girl she had danced
Claire couldn't believe her ears. These guys were unbelievable, they were willing to lose such an amount on just an ordinary dance.It was bizarre even for people of such caliber so she was taken aback by Ryan’s response. If this was how they spent carelessly, Claire began to wonder how exactly rich people stayed rich.“No, that wouldn't get enough people interested. I say we go bigger, let’s do five hundred thousand instead,” Ryan replied.Mason smiled mischievously again and Claire wondered why. To him, It seemed he was going to win.However, Claire was getting tired and wasn't sure how long she would last if she continued dancing at such a high level.“I accept your challenge. However, I'm bored of this song. Ask the DJ to change it, and also set up everything before we dance. You're trending so we should get the minimum required number of viewers within seconds,” Mason said.“On it, said Ryan,” walking away to where the DJ was and explaining everything to him. The DJ was surprised
Claire felt nervous sitting beside Ryan in the backseat. She didn't know the kind of person he was. Even though their wedding was arranged, she thought he was still going to demand sex.It wouldn't be out of place if he demanded it anyway. After all, it was their wedding night, and it was clear she had no choice but to accept.The driver was driving very fast, and their bodies brushed each other several times, making her shiver. It was like he would grab her any moment from now, and the stench of beer on him wasn't helping matters.Earlier, Mason and she had won the dance, and Ryan hadn't been pleased about it. After Ryan lost, he whispered in Claire’s ear that a woman is supposed to help her husband and not bring him down.Claire had been terrified and unable to utter a word when he began to laugh suddenly. Still, she couldn't tell whether he was offended or not.Many rumors had been spread about Ryan, and the entire city knew he didn't value women. Today, she was beginning a new lif
Claire woke up the next morning in a mansion. Although she had experienced wealth at its highest level in the last few days, once she opened my eyes that morning and saw the mansion in broad daylight, It was like she had gotten an immediate superior awareness.The mansion epitomized beauty, showing the inhabitants lived the best possible life. The bed alone was half the size of her former apartment, and the guest room given to her was bigger than the entirety of it.The walls were decorated with fine furniture, which probably cost thousands. Claire stood up to observe the rest of the room, and she wondered why the room needed a wardrobe when it was built with the idea of accommodating guests.Most people moving in would probably have their luggage with them, which was supposed to be more than enough.If this was a room meant for the guests that came to this house, Claire found herself wondering how large the size of the family members would be.This was a bit much for just about anyon
Claire followed because there was nothing more to do, and she had no choice. They both went In and left the billionaire to his bodyguards.“Claire, I was impressed with your performance; I didn't know you were such a talented dancer. It was very interesting to watch your battle online. Don't tell anyone, but I was rooting for you, “ she said, saying the last part in whispers.Claire smiled, embarrassed after that moment. She had been very happy and satisfied when they won because of how it made Bethany feel.It turns out that betting higher than the boys was more dangerous than it seemed. Unlike them, who were guys and didn't care about anything, Bethany was not used to losing, and she was very angry, having to give away that huge amount of money to him for free.Claire had kept a straight face throughout the dance and afterward, but she had been laughing inside as the sight had been very funny.After the dance, Bethany had eyed her and left, showing her disgust. If only they had agre