Chapter 2

Ariana’s POV.

“I don’t understand what is going on,” I said, hurt enveloping my chest.

She stepped close to me with a smirk. “You’re about to understand soon enough. Did you think that you could steal my dad away from me and try to enter into my world easily?”

“What?” I whispered.

I was horrified. This wasn’t what I was expecting. This wasn’t the Blair I constantly stalked on the television. I couldn’t believe that she called me ghetto, and thought that I wanted to steal her life.

Besides, he was our father, not just hers. But I could understand her worries as she was used to being alone with him.

“Oh, don’t pretend,” she scoffed. “I know the likes of you. The moment you found out about your origin, you couldn’t wait to get your ghetto hands on my father’s money.”

I scoffed. “Do you know how long I’ve known about you guys? Since our ninth birthday. So, it doesn’t make sense that I would suddenly want to be in your lives.”

“Prove that by going back to the swamps you came from.”

I opened my mouth in bewilderment and closed it again. It all seemed like a dream to me. One minute, I was eager to meet my sister. The next, I was wishing I had never met her.

“I didn’t have a choice but to come here, Blair.”

“You did. You can easily tell my dad that you’re not comfortable here, and want to go back to the slums. Besides, who said that you could call my name?”

“I don’t know what to say. If you have a problem with me being here, our father is the person for you to face, not me.”

“My father,” she bit out through clenched teeth. “Not yours.”

“He’s our…”

“And who said you could eat the food meant for my friends?” she looked around.

My mouth dropped open again. “Your friends?”

“Mrs. Garcia!” she screeched.

The woman from earlier came rushing in like she had been summoned by the devil.

“Yes, miss Blair.”

“Why did I ask everyone to go on a leave today?”

Mrs. Garcia looked at me with a gulp. “I… I don’t know.”

“Mrs. Garcia!”

She flinched so hard that I felt pity for her. How could Blair treat her this way?

“Y…yes, miss Blair.”

“Why did I dismiss you all today?”

“So that we wouldn’t serve the new miss.”

Blair rolled her eyes. “There isn't a ‘new miss.’ There is only one miss in this house, and that is me!”

“Yes, miss Blair.”

I couldn’t believe my eyes. Here I was thinking that my sister was so kind to have given the workers a break. I never expected that there would be ugly intentions behind it.

“So,” Blair continued her interrogation. “Why did you serve her the food meant for my guests?”

“Mr. Sinclair called earlier to ask if Miss Ariana was here already, and told me to make sure that she felt comfortable. I’m sorry, I was only taking orders from the boss.”

Blair gave her a mean smile. “I’m sure you don’t want to lose your job as the housekeeper of this household. Just a word from me, and you’ll never be able to work anywhere else. What will you do then?”

Blood drained from my face at the event unfolding before me. Unfortunately, I was powerless and couldn’t do anything to save the poor woman.

“I’m sorry, miss Blair.”

“Since you’ve ruined everything, there will be no break for you anymore. Make sure to have everything tidy for my party tonight. Jake is going to be present. You must impress him.”

I could have sworn that I saw the housekeeper roll her eyes at her words. This made me wonder who Jake was, and why he seemed to get Blair on her toes.

“And one more thing,” she said. “Find my nanny and tell her to cancel the charity appointment I have with the orphanage today. Just have dad send the money to them. The way he insists on having me meet those poor people irritates me.”

And just like that, she went into the elevator without sparing a glance at me. So, all the philanthropic activities she performed for the world to see was all a sham? I was perplexed. As soon as the doors slid shut, the housekeeper clutched her chest and dropped into the seat in front of her. I rushed to meet her.

“Are you okay?”

She nodded. “Yes, I am.”

Just when I was about to speak to her, she scurried away, leaving me frustrated.

Just what was going on with the people in this house?

I had already lost my appetite, so I went back to my room to wait for our father. I had decided that I wouldn’t be staying here after seeing the kind of person that Blair was. In my room, I rang my gran, but there was no response, so I decided to lay in the lush bed and took a nap.

****

I woke up to the sound of very loud music. The house shook as the pop song echoed its bass. I yawned and blinked in confusion as I wondered the source of the noise. That was when I realized that Blair’s party must be holding now.

My stomach growled, and I clenched my teeth. If she hadn’t so rudely interrupted my meal earlier, I wouldn’t be hungry now. Thankfully, the housekeeper had shown me the kitchen earlier, so I decided to find something to eat in there.

I took the elevator and felt out of place once more. It was quite a stretch to have an elevator in a private residence. We didn’t even have one in my old school! I got to my destination and the doors slid open. To my surprise, I was dropped off right in the middle of the party.

Seeing this, I gasped and pressed the button quickly to escape, but it was too late. Blair had already seen me. To my surprise, she flashed me a pretty smile -like the ones I saw her do on TV- and walked towards me.

“Ari, you’re awake! Join us.”

Ari?

I blinked twice in further confusion. Why did she act like she was familiar with me in a good way? Also, did she just ask me to join her party? What changed? Could it be that word of how she treated me earlier got to our father, and he warned her about it?

At this point, I didn’t even have a choice but to take her hand and walk right into the crowd with her. I sighted a blonde who waved at us. Blair pulled me towards her.

“Elena, meet Ariana, my twin sister. Ari, meet Elena, my best friend.”

Elena stretched out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Ari. Blair has told me so much about you.”

I raised a brow. “She has?”

“Of course.”

Elena reached out and patted Blair's hair in place. “Fix your hair. We don't want Jake seeing you like this now, do we?”

For the first time, Blair looked like she didn't have control over a certain thing. Now, I had to know who this Jake guy was.

Gradually, my stiff shoulders began to relax a little. It seemed like she wasn’t so bad after all. But I had to be careful around her. Life in The Bronx had taught me not to trust people for their words.

Soon, everyone grew quiet and I turned to see who they were focused on. And when I did see him, I forgot to breathe for a moment. He was a beautiful boy! I had many expectations of him, but not this.

“Jake!” Blair ran to meet him and linked her arm with his. “You came!”

Jake turned to look around and his eyes settled on mine. I couldn’t pull away from those shiny blue eyes, so I held his gaze without breathing. I saw his Adam’s apple bob up and down. Blair noticed this and turned to look at me with jealousy. Then, she smiled at me before pulling Jake away.

What was this pull I felt towards this Jake?