Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

Amelia's POV

After the drama that went down yesterday night, one would think that I would stay at home tonight.

One would be wrong, because by ten that night I was already back on the streets of the city. I had something very important to do.

I walked for a while, drinking in the liveliness of the place from beneath my hood, before flagging down a taxi.

"Where to?" the driver said.

"Downtown," I replied, tugging my hood further down.

I didn't miss the look he shot at me through the rearview mirror. He probably thought I was crazy. Nobody from this city willingly went downtown, where I used to live.

Thankfully, he didn't ask any questions.

I leaned back as the car took off, letting the cold wind rushing in through the window wash over me. Just as well, since nervousness was making me sweat.

When he dropped me off at Nancy's neighborhood, I paid with my head down and hurried over to her apartment.

It was hard to believe that I hadn't called my best friend to let her know everything that had happened. I really should have, especially since I disappeared from a party we attended together and hadn't contacted her since. If not for damn Jeremy bugging my room like some creep…

I sighed, knocking on the door. There was a beat of silence, then Nancy spoke.

"Who is that?" she asked.

Her voice washed over me in a tide of homesickness, and for a moment, I couldn't speak. Before she could start getting wary, I hurried to say something.

"Nancy," I said. "It's me."

Immediately, the door flew open and she rushed out, throwing her arms around me.

"Where the hell have you been?!" she demanded. "You just vanished into thin air and you haven't been picking your calls. At first I thought you went home with some guy that caught your fancy, but I was going to go to the police tomorrow morning if I didn't get in contact with you—"

She was babbling. Nancy always babbled whenever she was trying not to cry.

I wrapped my arms around her and tightly hugged her back, glad to be back with the one thing that made sense in my upside down world. After what felt like forever and was still too soon, she released me and stepped back, wiping her eyes.

"Well, come in," she said.

We went inside, and I sat on a sofa. Nancy hovered anxiously over me, as if she expected me to vanish again if she looked away.

"Do you… want dinner?" she asked.

"No, I'm okay," I replied. "I already had dinner."

I could see a million questions swimming in her eyes. I took a deep breath, trying to gather my thoughts.

"Okay," I said, "the craziest thing happened."

"I expect it did," she replied with a small smile.

I waited till she was seated beside me before I continued.

"The night of that party," I said, "after I went after that guy, I ran into Isabella Domitia."

"Isn't that… like this celebrity or something?" she said.

"Yup," I replied. "She's an heiress. And it turned out that she looks exactly like me."

"Omigosh, really?" she exclaimed with wide eyes.

"Yeah…" I said. "One thing led to another, and now I have to be Isabella Domitia while she runs off to happily ever after with her boyfriend."

'Actually, I doubt it's going to be happily ever after,' I thought, thinking of how untrustworthy Elijah was.

"But that's where it gets crazy," I added.

"What do you mean?" Nancy asked.

"Isabella has such terrible parents! And her foster brother is crazy. Dude literally bugged my room so he could listen to whatever I say. Only for me to find out that he does it all the time and his parents don't do anything about it," I complained.

"What the…" Nancy muttered in shock.

"Worst of all, they're not even as rich as Isabella made me believe, and now I can't reach her, and her parents want me to win Julian Lake's heart and marry him to save their business!"

"What? The Julian Lake?" she gaped.

"The one and only," I sighed.

"Are they crazy?" she exclaimed.

"My question exactly," I replied with another sigh.

Nancy hesitated.

"So…" she said, "do you want to keep staying there, or…?"

I had not asked myself that. Now that I thought of it, I could leave the Domitia mansion if I wanted to. I could return downtown, leave the tracker behind, and continue to figure out life like I had been doing before Isabella Domitia found me.

But did I want to?

Being Isabella Domitia, even for a short time, had given me opportunities I never had as Amelia Dawn. I would actually have the chance to make something of myself if I remained in the city.

"I want to stay," I said. "I never fit into downtown, anyway."

"You're right," Nancy replied with a smile. "The heiress life looks better on you."

"I know, right?" I grinned.

"So, are you going to make Julian Lake fall for you?" Nancy asked mischievously.

"How about I just go rock climbing without equipment," I laughed, rising to my feet.

"I should get back, by the way. Let me give you my new number."

"Sure," Nancy replied, reaching for her phone. "Are you going to visit again?"

"Of course," I replied. "I'll visit as often as I can."

……

My steps were lighter as I walked out of the neighborhood, and there was a smile on my face. After a forever of insanity, I felt like I had finally returned home.

By the time I took a taxi back to the city, it was almost midnight. I half-walked, half-ran, as I made for the Domitia mansion. I was so focused on this task that I didn't realize that the man walking behind me was actually following me.

That is until he stepped in front of me, blocking my way. His smile made my skin crawl.

"Going somewhere, princess?"