Chapter 1: My rival is back

Always the bridesmaids but never the bride. That's how I wound up gleefully as my sister's substitute the moment she bailed on her lame fiance.

Was I desperate? Yes, too desperate. I guess that's how it feels after being a bridesmaid to scores of my friends and old schoolmates. Everyone, who didn't have many people to call, came to me until it slapped me on the face and left a palm print. Now, I wish I hadn't stepped in.

" I'm back, Lucy. You don't have to throw tantrums. We both know you were nothing but a step in. Damian wouldn't have looked your way if I had stayed." She spoke harshly. The pain clawing at my chest could have been mild, if only Damian's mother wasn't in conjunction with her.

" The Skywalker family is eternally grateful to you. But you have to understand, this is for Damian's happiness. You know better given there's nothing to show for your five years with him."

Her words ripped my heart. I wanted children. I longed to have them. My investment in his Foundation For The Orphaned was partly my longing for kids. But how do I make babies with a man who hasn't grazed my skin on his own.

" See! Just leave. I'm sure his mom won't send you away empty. Right mom?" She fawns.

His mother smiled, affirming what she said.

" You expect me to leave. After five years of being his arms and feet?" I asked after eternity of watching, appalled. Was I going to give up on my new-found companionship? Right when Damian is beginning to see me as someone significant. Boom! She pops up like an unsolicited commercial.

" No! I won't back down," I told myself. " If she wanted him, she should have stayed. Finders keepers."

About to counter her, I hear the door creak, and those broad shoulders completed by a Greek demigod figure walks in his glory, eyes searching the room helplessly with longing in their blue rings.

" Damian..." My lips parted, feeling a gush of relief wash down my core. He sidesteps me, and flew into my sister's ready hands. My jaw dropped. The dagger that had been on standby plunged deep into my chest. Not by Lisa's hand or his mom's, but his.

" You left me worried," he said, one hand slithered around her waist, and the other pressing her back to his chest. " Where have you been, Lisa?" He hummed softly to her ears. The gentility sharply contrasts with the indifference I have known for five years.

Is he the same man I have been married to? The same man who treated me like a mere roommate?

She wriggled tenderly, looking my way with scorn, lacing her eyes and smiling. " Sidepiece," she mouthed.

He follows her sight to me.

" Is this connected to Lucy?" He asked, eyes threatening to deal with me if it turns true.

She wriggled free and faced him, face buried on his chest.

" You are family with her now. You don't expect me to steal my sister's happiness." She pouted, wearing gloom like a shroud of silk. "I couldn't contact you after I heard about your marriage. Lucy is my sister after all. But I had no choice this time around. It felt like I was gonna die when the car crashed."

" Now I feel terrible. My sister must think I'm here to drive a wedge between you two."

My mouth fell. Her fake charm radiates the good sister vibe. That makes me the bad guy. I scoffed. He turns and orders me into the corridor away from Lisa's room.

I was wondering how my wounded sister wound up in the hospital's VIP room before I made it here. His finger is all over it.

" Lucy, I appreciate your patience and support in the past five years," he started off. I can see where it's going to end. At twenty-eight you don't expect me to be blind to a man who is bound to leave. Do you?

I know I brought this upon myself. His indifference in our five years of marriage. The sudden turn of tides after his recovery. He was just playing nice so he could bounce me away softly once his dream girl returned. An alternative isn't always original. I brought it upon myself.

Lisa is younger after all.

" Damian Skywalker." I take a deep breath, interrupting him. I have to keep going. Else, I might grip so tight to this burning log until I'm done for.

"Let me make it easier for you both. Let's get divorced. Lisa is back. The love of your life. Isn't she? I will leave, but, I want a compensation for my... work...these five years."

" Name it," he rushed into the web. I hoped for a little hesitation. How pathetic!

My heart fell open like a broken glass vase. Sharp pangs kicked into the doors of my heart. I know our marriage wasn't founded on love, but is five years nothing?

" Five million dollars. Give it to me, and I'll sign your papers," I said and strutted away, worried that my resolve would weaken if I stayed a little longer.

Night met me behind the neon green lights of a club. My excuse: celebrating my impending freedom from the Skywalker family. But it was just enlightenment. I didn't marry for love. I fell for pressure and this is the consequences.

My phone dings with a notification for the umpteenth time. I check and met a credit alert. I should be thrilled, he sent double the amount. But it feels like multiple knives are being driven into my chest.

" Seen." I sent him on W******p and paused over photos from Lisa. It took awhile to d******d over fifty of them. Guess what. It was a story of the love flight since my departure from the hospital. Spar, delivery of things shopped online, drawing couple's goal for the year, and the last one, he was lying on her chest while clad in his pants alone.

" This is what love looks like," she commented on it.

A sad smile crept up my eyes. I got up to leave and something flashed in my glass. A camera. I snapped in the direction, and saw a man leaving. Tailing him, I ended up in the parking lot. He looks around, while placing a call.

Somehow, I could hear the dial from some distance away.

" I told you to get some men to join her. I don't want a photo of her alone. That's the only way Damian will accept the divorce." Someone rasped on the other end. I blinked, struggling with the glaring truth. The voice, that hoarse and authoritative tone. My chest tightened.

" I tried. She scared the sh*t out of them," the man replied.

" Then you should get ready to take the fall. My son is searching for the cause of the crash. We can't give him any reason to suspect it was staged. Is that understood?"

" Yes, Grand Luna."

I waddled back home. Prepared my heart to meet the divorce papers. Instead, he was there in pajamas looking lost on the journey of the ticking clock.

" Where have you been?" He sprang from his seat and grabbed my hands. I shrugged it off, and took two steps away.

" Are the papers ready? Let's finalize them before ten tomorrow." I said, and headed upstairs.

" What happens after ten tomorrow?" He droned, eyebrows arched.

I halted on the steps, feeling the broken pieces of my dejected self sobbing in my chest. I hurt the girl inside me. I sacrificed her happiness to clothe my shame. Not anymore.

" Got something to take care of," I said.

" Lucy, Lisa is your sister. Right now, she needs every help she can get."

" Aren't you here to provide it..."

" Lisa!"

I chuckled. His eyes softened. Not only did he mistakenly call me Lisa, he has sealed my opinion about him. " Don't fool yourself. I know when a man is in love."

" Wait!" He says, eyes lowered and lips pursed. " Your sister is pregnant."