2 - Elena

“What on Earth does he want from you this time?” Talia scoffed, her eyes narrowed as I hung up and placed the phone back down on the table.

“Uh...” I trailed off, forcing a tight smile. I knew she wouldn't be pleased with what I was about to tell. “Sarah's birthday anniversary comes up in a few days. He needs me to accompany him to the store so he can get a present for her.”

Talia snorts, gritting her teeth. “And you blindly agreed? What the hell is wrong with you, Elena?” She exhaled, running a hand through her hair, and when she spoke again, her tone was lighter. “You know what, call him up right now and tell him you won't be coming. She's his girlfriend, and he can always figure out what she'd love as a birthday gift. Why do you have to help him?”

“It's not a big deal, Tee,” I said, even though I wasn't sure if it wasn't. It's been years, and I still give in to his wishes no matter what. I could disappoint anyone else but him. That goes to show how head-over-heels in love with him I still was.

“No, it's not and you know it,” Talia groaned, rolling her eyes. “Look, I love my cousin brother, but I love you just as much. I'm looking out for your best interest here. You need to stop making it easy for him to get to you when each and every time you spend with him, you heart aches.”

I shook my head in denial, trying unsuccessfully to avoid her eyes. “I don't do that, Talia. Richard and I are just friends, and friends help each other no matter what. We've always been so close, but there's no attraction. It's all in your head, really.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and pinned me down with a glare. “Lie to yourself all you want, Elena, but you're not fooling me. I'm not a toddler. I know what I'm saying.”

I averted my gaze, unable to keep up my act when she was looking at me so intensely. She was the only one who knew what happened while we were younger, and though I tried to avoid discussions that would bring that back up, she was the only one who knew that I was still in love with Richard as much as I was then. The feelings never died no matter how many good men I came in contact with. It felt as though my heart was wired to beat specifically for Richard.

“Elena, don't you ever wonder what would have happened if you had confessed your feelings to him after that night? Don't you think — ”

I held up my hand, shaking my head. “It wouldn't have changed a thing. It's always been Sarah that mattered. From the moment she walked into his life, she'd captured his heart and stowed it away in a bottle. Her bottle. If I'd come clean about my feelings for him, it would've complicated things, not just for us, but our families as well. I would've lost him and our friendship.”

She sighed, her eyes mirroring the sorrow that was clawing at my heart. People often said that she should've been my twin instead of Sarah, due to how she we were so alike, and felt each other's pain and struggles. “So, it's decided, then? You've made up your mind to sit back and watch Richard get married to your sister?”

I turned away to face the window and inhaled shakily. “You're talking as though I have an option here. What choice do I have? They've been together for six years, Talia. If there was any chance for Richard and I to be together, I've missed it, and that's fine. They're happy together. Richard's happiness is all that matters to me. If he or Sarah finds out about my feelings, it's cost me my friendship with him, and also ruin the thin relationship between Sarah and I. All that hassle for what? He'd never see me as nothing more than a best friend. I can't hope on a miracle at this point. It's no use.”

Talia shook her head, refusing to back down. “Well, neither of us knows about that, do we? But what I do know is, I don't think Richard is as happy as he convinces himself to be, and I sincerely doubt that he sees you as just a friend. He might not be able to admit it himself, but there's this sizzling chemistry that has always existed between you two. It was there before Sarah came into the picture, and though she's tried, she's never been able to fully erase it. She can't take your place in his life. Never.”

I looked down at my hands, at a loss for words. I hated this. Hated how she fueled my hopes, when it was clear that nothing could work out between Richard and I. He was about to become my brother-in-law, and I respected the boundaries between us firmly if I wanted to survive their wedding. I had to.

“Elena, you and I know the fact that the only reason why they're still together is because they have no say in the matter. They're stuck with each other due to familial ties. Richard can't complain about Sarah giving him less attention, because he's blinded by his love for her. He choosed her over you, and it's too late to whine now, that's why he's trying everything to make their relationship work. Have you forgotten that my uncle's initial choice for him was you?”

My heart ripped open at the hurtful reminder. I remembered the day my parents called up a family meeting, and informed us of their wish to retire. They'd decided to merge their booming real-estate empire, Williams Holdings, with Delmonte Realtors. The Williams and the Delmonte families had been business rivals for years, up until that point, but the proposed merger was poised to change our histories, and it did.

They wanted to keep their beloved companies in the family, and since the Delmontes are well-known for arranging marriages for their successors, they were handed the perfect solution. A marriage between the Williams and Delmonte families would keep the merged empire in the family, and it'd keep both families in control of the companies which would now be one of the leading business empires in all of New York.

At the time, the daughter they'd considered for this arrangement wasn't Sarah. She hardly had time for the family business, always buried in her surgeon work, and so I was the perfect choice. Also, I was very close to Talia, and that worked in my favour. I'd been twenty when the deal was made, and I'd been happy, enamoured by the thought of getting married to the man of my dreams. Thankfully, Richard wasn't opposed to the idea as well.

But all that came crashing down when I was invited for a Talia's parents wedding anniversary and I took Sarah with me. I remembered that night like it was yesterday. Memorized it into the back of my mind. Let it haunt me at night. That was the night I fell in love with him.

But she was the one he fell in love with. Not me.