Chapter 006 Heartbreak From The Grave

~Rosemary~

I felt sick to my stomach when I saw Max grab Amani's butt and squeeze it. The intense kiss seemed to last for eternity. When they finally stopped, some of the guests whistled and clapped.

Smiling mischievously, Amani wiped the red lipstick stain on Max’s lips and walked over to me slowly. At this moment, I couldn’t help but notice that her dazzled dress could have easily passed off for a wedding gown if it weren’t for the red color. Her blonde hair which was very similar to mine was curled and styled with tendrils falling over her cleavage. 

I felt she looked like a queen, but when she came closer to me and scowled, I held my breath.

“I told Mom not to invite you. Why did you come? Do you intend to spoil my happiness like you did before?”

Max came over and wrapped his arm around her waist. “Don’t worry, honey. She wouldn’t dare.”

Then he shot me a glare.

I shivered, feeling the lump in my throat return. Before I could come up with something to say, I heard the young women at the nearest table murmuring.

“So that’s Amani’s twin sister?”

I glanced over as one of the women in a revealing silver dress eyed me and said, “They look very much alike. But Amani is way hotter. Don’t know why Max hooked up with the worse one before.”

I looked away, my heart aching at those words. 

Worse twin? 

They didn’t even know a shit about me! But could I blame them? 

Max had gotten married to me in a lowkey wedding. He didn’t even throw a party this big, let alone announce that he was married. I had a striving fashion blog and a business analyst job before I married Max, but I gave them up when he insisted that we had a child.

“He-he! Did you hear that?” Amani chuckled, leaning over to whisper in my ear. “I’d always be better than you. Now that your stupid child is dead and I’m pregnant with Max’s heir, we are going to get married and live happily ever after.”

When she leaned away and rubbed her belly, I noticed the huge rock on her finger. My eyes widened immediately. It was a 15-20 carat white diamond ring that must be worth at least 15 million dollars.

I remembered the $500 cubic zirconia ring I had to wear during my two-year marriage to Max. He had practically thrown it to me, saying our love was more than just a piece of fancy jewelry. 

Now…

“Eyes off my man, bitch!” Amani suddenly snapped her fingers at my eye level. 

I blinked, realizing I had been staring at Max the whole time. Out of nowhere, someone bumped into me from the side. A glass of red wine toppled over my dress and fell to my feet. I gasped as the liquid seeped to my skin. 

“Oh no! Sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

I looked up, only to see one of Amani’s many friends. As I tried to wipe the stain off, I heard people laughing. I lowered my head and swallowed hard, trying to fight back tears. I quickly turned to go to the bathroom.  

But I froze when my mother, Ida Beckett, suddenly showed up dressed in an emerald gown. I saw her frown just like Amani as she looked at me from head to toe. “Is this the best you can do?”

At that question, I looked down at my blue dress.  I sobbed when I saw the wine stain was spreading fast. This was my favorite dress and it had cost a fortune.

I took a deep breath and looked at my mother. “Mom, I—“

“Save it! You arrived late, yet you’re dressed like a beggar.” She raised her hand. “Just know, I wouldn’t have invited you here if your father’s lawyer didn’t refuse to reveal your father’s instructions for the trusts without you.”

She turned to Amani. “Come, dearie. This would only take a few minutes.”

“Okay, Mom,” Amani said, locking arms with Max again.

As they led the way, I carefully picked my steps, fearing that I would step on Amani’s train and all hell would break loose.

“They are both here. Please, make it quick. My daughter has to return to her party,” Mom said, touching Amani’s shoulder after leading us to a table in the corner of the ballroom.

I craned my neck and saw a man sitting alone with a glass of wine in his hand. He looked at Amani before looking at me. I lowered my head, feeling very inferior.

“First of all, happy birthday to you girls.”

As soon as he said that, I looked up sharply. My eyes became misty when I saw the man smiling at me. Today was our twenty-first birthday. I had seen a huge birthday cake for Amani across the room, but there wasn’t any for me.

My mother hadn’t even wished me a happy birthday. It wasn’t the first time she was ignoring me, but it still hurt.

Barrister Steven pulled out two brown envelopes from his briefcase and held them out to us. “Here you go.”

Amani snatched hers and opened it. After reading through the documents, she shrugged. 

“How much do you yet?” Mom asked.

“Just 80 million. A condo in Hunters Point, Long Island City, and an office building near Times Square.”

Max nodded. “Not bad. Congratulations and happy birthday once again, my love.”

Suddenly, all three of them looked at me. I avoided their eyes and opened my own envelope which contained only two documents. As soon as I scanned through them, I looked at the lawyer. “Sir, what’s this? My father left me only 320 dollars?”

He nodded with a solemn expression. “That’s right. The investment he made for you only brought in that amount. He left you his childhood home in Elmont though.”

The documents in my hand trembled as I read through them again in disbelief. How could Dad do this to me? This wasn’t in any way fair!

“Hahaha!” Amani suddenly burst into laughter. “Poor you, sis. Now, you are broke, childless, and single. If I were you, I’d just put a bullet into my head.”

Max laughed too and I saw my mother covering her smile. She eyed me. “Fix your face! You should be grateful that you even got something.”

“Grateful? For a house that should have been demolished years ago? What did I ever do to deserve so much injustice?” I cried, squeezing the documents.

“Shut up!” she snapped. “You should have thought about that before you snatched your sister’s man. The way I see it, you are going to end up a lonely and wretched old woman.”

“No, she won’t!” A deep voice suddenly thundered.

I turned around slowly, my whole body trembling as tears streamed down my cheeks. Through my blurry vision, I saw Gerald walking over with his hands in his pockets. He put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me to his side.

As I looked up at him, he looked around the hall before glaring at Amani and my mom. “You two are Rosemary's twin sister and mother, aren't you? Doing such a terrible thing to her, ain’t you ashamed of yourselves?”