“Take it,” Zoe said, her voice low, her hand trembling as she pushed the stick into my palm.
I stared down at the small plastic test. Two bold lines glared back at me, mocking me, branding me with a truth I wasn’t ready to face. I swallowed hard, my fingers shaking. “No… no, this can’t be real.” Zoe rubbed her forehead, pacing the length of the room. “It’s real, Chloe. You’re pregnant.” The word hit me like a slap. Pregnant. My chest tightened until I could barely breathe. “But… how?” My voice cracked. My knees gave way, and I sank onto the edge of the bed, clutching the test like it was proof of my downfall. “That night… I don’t even remember what happened. How could I…?” Zoe stopped pacing and spun around to face me, her eyes sharp. “That’s exactly what I’m asking. How do you get yourself pregnant from a night you barely remember? Didn’t you think? Didn’t you use anything?” I looked at her helplessly, tears rushing to my eyes. “I don’t even know who it was, Zoe. I swear… I don’t remember his face, his name… nothing. It’s just… blank.” Zoe’s jaw tightened. For a moment, she looked away. “I thought you remembered the guy.” Her words sliced through me. My eyes widened. “Wait… you told me you knew. You told me you could take care of yourself that night.” Zoe shook her head quickly, too quickly. “I was drunk too, Chloe. You can’t blame me for everything. I thought I could handle it, but I blacked out, same as you. I don’t know who you ended up with.” Silence filled the room, heavy and suffocating. My heart pounded, panic clawing at my chest. “Then what am I supposed to do? Zoe, what if people find out? What if Papa finds out? Do you know what this would do to him? To us? To the Rodriguez name?” Her lips pressed into a thin line. She sat down beside me, her hand squeezing mine. “We can’t let anyone know. Do you hear me? Not a soul. We’re the daughters of Alejandro Rodriguez. People look at us like we’re untouchable. We can’t let one mistake drag our family through shame.” Tears spilled from my eyes, blurring everything. “But what if…” “No, Chloe.” Zoe’s voice hardened. “We’ll figure something out. We always do. But you cannot breathe a word of this to anyone. Not even Dad.” My throat tightened with fear and confusion. She was my twin, the only one I thought I could trust, but the look in her eyes made my stomach twist. There was something she wasn’t telling me. Before I could say anything else, a sharp knock echoed at the door. “Girls.” My father’s voice boomed from the hallway, stern and commanding as always. “Come to the study. I have an announcement.” I wiped at my tears quickly, shoving the test under a pillow. My heart raced, heavy with dread. We followed him into the study. His tall frame stood by the window, hands clasped behind his back, his presence filling the room with authority. “I’ve made a decision,” Alejandro Rodriguez said firmly, turning to face us. His eyes landed on Zoe. “You, Zoe, will be getting married. The arrangements are already in place. You will wed Jake Williams Martinez. It is settled.” The room spun around me. My breath caught in my throat. Zoe. Married. To Jake. The only person I thought I could lean on, my sister, was being pushed into a marriage that tied our family to the Martinez empire. And I was carrying a secret that could destroy us all. My chest squeezed until I could hardly breathe. For the first time in my life, I didn’t know if I could trust Zoe anymore.“Just a moment,” I whispered, excusing myself with a shaky smile before slipping out of Jake’s reach. My hands were clammy as I found Zoe waiting at the back corridor, her lipstick slightly smudged, her eyes sparkling with the thrill of what we had just pulled off.The moment I saw her, the mask cracked. Tears blurred my vision. I threw my arms around her.She held me tight, her perfume strong and familiar, her voice low against my ear. “Chloe… you did it. You really did it.”I pulled back, trembling. “I don’t know if I can keep doing this, Zoe. I feel like I’m drowning in a lie.”She cupped my face, her smile soft for once. “Listen to me. You have to keep going. Do you hear me? There’s no turning back now. If anyone finds out, Dad will never forgive us. The company will sink. And you…” Her voice dropped, almost a whisper, “…you have a baby to protect.”My stomach twisted. I pressed a hand over my belly, shame flooding me. “Zoe…”She cut me off with a firm shake of her head. “Don’t wa
The mirror didn’t lie.I looked at the woman staring back at me and almost didn’t recognize her. The veil framed my face in a soft blur, the gown clung to me in ways that felt both heavy and suffocating, and the red lipstick Zoe insisted on painted my lips into a stranger’s smile. My reflection whispered the truth I was trying to bury.This wasn’t me.This was Zoe Rodriguez.My twin sister’s identity wrapped around me like a mask, a disguise stitched together with silk and lies.Behind me, Zoe clapped her hands together, grinning wide. “Perfect. Absolutely perfect. No one will know the difference. Not Dad, not Jake, not anyone. You look exactly like me.”My stomach twisted. I pressed a hand against my gown, the fabric cool beneath my trembling fingers. “Zoe… I can’t breathe.”She rolled her eyes, stepping closer to fix a strand of hair out of my face. “Don’t start now, Chloe. You agreed to this. You said yes. And besides, you’re not allowed to back out. Not when we’ve come this far.”
Zoe slammed the door behind us, her heels clicking fast across the marble floor as she pulled me down the hallway. I stumbled, still dazed from Father’s announcement.“Zoe, slow down…”“No,” she snapped, turning to face me. Her eyes were blazing, her chest rising and falling with every furious breath. “Did you hear him, Chloe? He’s marrying me off like I’m some bargaining chip. To Jake Williams Martinez of all people! That man doesn’t want a wife, he wants a trophy.”I opened my mouth but the words wouldn’t come. My hands twisted together nervously. “What are we supposed to do then? You know Dad won’t listen once he’s made up his mind.”Zoe’s eyes narrowed, her lips curving into something sharp and dangerous. “Then we won’t give him what he wants. We’ll give him what he thinks he wants.”My heart thudded in my chest. “What does that mean?”She stepped closer, lowering her voice. “It means you’re going to take my place.”I blinked, stunned. “What?”“You heard me.” Zoe grabbed my should
The study was thick with silence, the kind that pressed against the walls and made the air feel heavier than stone. Father’s words still rang in my ears. Marriage. Zoe. Jake Williams Martinez.Zoe slammed her palm against the polished oak desk, her voice sharp enough to cut glass. “What? Marriage? To that man? Are you serious, Dad?”Alejandro Rodriguez’s expression didn’t flinch. His eyes were cold, steady, as if he had already prepared himself for her tantrum. “This is not up for debate, Zoe. The company is hanging by a thread. The Martinez empire is our only chance at survival. Jake has agreed to step in…”“Step in?!” Zoe cut him off, her voice rising. “You mean he wants to trap me in some golden cage just to save your failing company. Why me? Why not Chloe? She’s the boring one!”I felt my chest tighten at her words, but Father didn’t even glance my way. His voice remained firm. “Because Jake asked for you. He specifically requested you, Zoe. He wants you, and this is bigger than y
“Take it,” Zoe said, her voice low, her hand trembling as she pushed the stick into my palm.I stared down at the small plastic test. Two bold lines glared back at me, mocking me, branding me with a truth I wasn’t ready to face.I swallowed hard, my fingers shaking. “No… no, this can’t be real.”Zoe rubbed her forehead, pacing the length of the room. “It’s real, Chloe. You’re pregnant.”The word hit me like a slap. Pregnant. My chest tightened until I could barely breathe.“But… how?” My voice cracked. My knees gave way, and I sank onto the edge of the bed, clutching the test like it was proof of my downfall. “That night… I don’t even remember what happened. How could I…?”Zoe stopped pacing and spun around to face me, her eyes sharp. “That’s exactly what I’m asking. How do you get yourself pregnant from a night you barely remember? Didn’t you think? Didn’t you use anything?”I looked at her helplessly, tears rushing to my eyes. “I don’t even know who it was, Zoe. I swear… I don’t rem
Flashback…“Seriously?” Zoe’s voice cut through my misery, sharp and annoyed. She stood by the door, arms crossed, looking at me like I was weak. “You’re really going to keep crying over him? Over Tyler?” Zoe was the same as me, same face same height and body size everything was same except that she has a total different personality from me. She was the bold, wild and always the centre of attention.I was curled up on the bed, my face buried in a pillow, tears soaking the white sheets. My chest hurt like something sharp had been driven through it. No matter how hard I tried to breathe, it felt like I was choking on my own sobs.I sniffled, turning my face away. “You don’t understand… I loved him.”I said still sobbing.She rolled her eyes dramatically and walked over, yanking the pillow from under me. “Love? Please, Chloe. Stop humiliating yourself. You’re Chloe Rodriguez, daughter of Alejandro Rodriguez, one of the richest men in Venice. We don’t cry over boys. Boys cry over us.”Her