Four

Zoe’s POV

Immediately, the other car collided with mine, and I lost control of the steering wheel for a while before finally grabbing it again and taking control of the car back on track.

At this point, my hands were shaking and become sweaty, my breathe had suddenly increased. Someone was trying to kill me.

I glanced to my side again, hoping I could see whoever was behind it, but the glass was tinted and the car was coming for a second hit.

I stepped on the accelerator and continued moving fast ahead of the car, but it was chasing me from behind as well. The car kept following me at full speed.

It was so unfortunate that there were no other cars passing by. I was the only one driving on the road.

Then I heard the sound of the motor engine pushing to the fullest. I saw it coming at me again.

At that moment, I stepped on the brake so hard that my whole body jolted, I couldn't control myself, and my head hit the steering wheel.

But that was the only thing that saved me. The car that had come at me had crashed on the side of the bridge and fallen to the ground.

I had avoided such an attack. If not, I would have been the one that crashed.

“Ah…” I groaned, opening my eyes slowly.

I touched my forehead and could feel the pain and blood coming out. I could hardly see at this point. My head was banging, and everything was blue and blurry.

I couldn't die yet. I can’t die.

I thought about all my plans and everything I had set in motion. I had to reach Chloe, to inform her of everything. If not, all my efforts would have been in vain.

I moved my hand to the car keys and turned it but it wouldn’t start. I turned it again. Still nothing.

On the third try, the car’s engine was fully back on. I pressed my leg on the accelerator and turned the wheel putting the car back on track. My destination was Chloe. I had to meet her.

---

Chloe’s POV

“Where is she? She is supposed to be here. But she is not.”

I was worried. About my sister. The twin sister I had only recently been told I had.

Right now, everything seemed so confusing to me. But one thing I knew was that I needed to see her.

If there was any explanation I needed, I was sure she was the one who could give it to me.

I was happy, at least, that I had someone. I had a family I could call my own.

Some years back, before the coma incident, my mother had informed me that I was adopted. But that was all she said.

The only person I could rely on was my stepbrother. And I had to protect him as his guardian. He was just a high school kid.

I kept thinking of all that Daniel had told me.

I didn’t know for a fact if I was angry at him. I didn’t even know how to place my feelings at this point.

He told me I had a twin sister. He had deceived me all this time and yet he knew about it.

‘Why was I abandoned And left behind ‘ I asked him but Daniel could not answer that. All he could say was that it was for our protection. 

My protection? I still did not understand what was going on.

Ten minutes passed. Twenty minutes passed.

“Something is wrong,” Daniel said.

He had been dialing. Daniel said he had been calling Zoe’s number, but she wasn’t picking up.

My hands were shaking. At this point, I was starting to imagine all sorts of things, most of which were not good.

“What’s that?” I said, turning to look at the direction where the light was shining.

We moved closer to check what it was. Ahead of us was a car, stopped on the road with its front lights still on.

“That’s a car,” Daniel said.

I swallowed hard and we both ran towards it.

We stopped some distance away and could see that it was wrecked.

What had happened here? I thought, when I saw a figure with her head resting on the steering wheel.

“…Is that…?”

My mouth could not complete the words as I covered it with my hand.

Daniel saw her too then he shouted. “Zoe!”

I tried opening the door but I couldn’t. Then Daniel came and started pulling at it as well.

The door had been dented from the side, making it hard to open. But after some push and pull, Daniel was able to force it open.

He carried Zoe out of the car and laid her on the ground.

“Zoe… Zoe…” He kept tapping her. “Zoe, wake up. Wake up, Zoe.”

Blood was dripping and sticking to her hair.

I shook him off and moved closer to look at my identical twin.

He was right. We looked so much alike.

But I wasn’t focused on that. I was worried she might be dead.

I could not begin to imagine the pain I would go through, the hurt I would feel, if she was gone already.

I pressed my hand hand slowly again her chest, my hand slightly asking as i held my breath. I felt her heart beat and then she groan

I put the thought firmly in my mind, and then… I heard a low groan. She was alive.

“Arrgh…” she murmured, and I bent down quickly to look at her. She opened her eyes slowly.

Daniel passed her to me, then immediately pulled out his phone to make a call. He was calling an ambulance to pick her up.

“Hello, 911. Hello, 911. We have an emergency,” he said, his voice trembling.

He kept talking, but my eyes were fixed on Zoe as I held her in my arms.

She looked at me and smiled, a smile filled with happiness but stained with sadness.

“I always wanted to meet you. I’m so glad I was able to…”

“Are you okay?” I asked, brushing her hair gently, my heart aching with concern.

It felt so good to have her in my arms. My heart was beating fast. I was terrified something bad was going to happen to her.

Then she started talking again.

“Big sister. I have something to tell you.”

“Who did this?” I asked. “Who wants you dead?”

But she gave me no reply. She only shook her head.

It seemed she didn’t know. She had too many enemies. She could not pinpoint who actually did this. Many of them wanted her dead. It was only a matter of time.

My sister kept smiling as she looked at me, and I could only feel the pain and sadness in her eyes.

What had she gone through all these years? She looked like someone who had been fighting battles all along, finally at rest.

“No, no…” I whispered, unable to imagine losing her so soon.

“Big sister,” she called out in a weak voice. “You have to be strong.”

She turned her head slowly, raised her hand, and pointed her finger at the car—no, inside the car, toward the dashboard.

“My diary is there. Read it. It will explain everything to you. And also… you need to find the flash drive in the family boat.”

I stayed quiet, trying to take in her words. She was giving me hints that if I read it, I would know what to do.

I turned my eyes back to her. She was growing weaker, and my heart ached that very second. My body was trembling.

“No, no, no… wake up, wake up,” I cried, shaking her. “No, don’t die, you can’t die. I just met you!”

My heart was aching as tears poured nonstop from my eyes.

Then she gasped and opened her eyes again, and for that moment I felt joy and excitement like never before. It was the happiest and saddest I had been in a long time. The fact that she came back to me filled me with relief.

I kept breathing hard, panting. “Don’t scare me like that again… stay with me… everything is going to be okay.”

“Stay with me. Everything’s going to be okay. The ambulance is almost here.”

But she only smiled. It was as if she found comfort in seeing me worried.

“You have to marry him tomorrow. You have to take on my identity. You have to take on our revenge. Please.”

And tears rolled down her eyes.

This time, I felt her head fall against my chest. She wasn’t breathing.

“Zoe!” I screamed her name. “Please wake up, please wake up, please wake up!”

Daniel rushed over, trying to shake her too.

“Zoe! Zoe, listen to me. Wake up!” he said, his face pale with worry. He had been her secretary, but he was also my friend.

I kept on crying. My whole body trembled. My lips quivered. Daniel held me back, but I fought to hold her.

Nurses from the ambulance came rushing out. I closed my eyes, sobbing.

“No, no, no, no, no,” I repeated, shaking my head.

I cried while they worked, trying to bring her back to life. I saw them pick her up and carry her into the vehicle.

Daniel followed them inside. I told him I’d come soon, but in truth, I collapsed on my knees on the ground, crying my eyes out.

‘Why did it have to be us? What did we do so wrong?’

I checked inside the car and saw her phone lying on the seat.

The last app open was the sound recorder, and I played the last words she had spoken:

“Big sister, the phone is now yours. No one should know about my accident. You have to take on my identity and take revenge against them.”

I held the phone with trembling hands. All of a sudden, it rang, jolting me out of my grief.

Someone was calling my sister’s phone. What was I supposed to do?

Zoe’s last words had been for me to take on her identity. That meant I had to act like her.

I slowly reached under the seat to pick up the phone. When I did, I checked the caller ID.

“Vincent – Husband to be.” My sister’s fiancé was calling her phone.

What was I supposed to do?