TWISTING THE NARRATIVE

CHAPTER 3: TWISTING THE NARRATIVE

KIMBERLY:

I ignored the look on my father's face as I walked up to him.

“Hey Dad, Mum!”

His arms remained crossed, and his expression was as dark as the night sky.

His eyes seemed to burn with fury as he faced me. “Kimberly, what the hell were you thinking?”

I froze, confused. "Dad? What.."

He held up his phone, and my stomach twisted in shock. On the screen was a picture of me kissing Damien Carter.

Tess.

Of course.

"Flirting with Damien in front of Roland? Have you lost your damn mind?!" His voice was sharp, and he didn't bother to hide his anger.

My hands curled into fists. Of course, Tess made sure to twist the narrative. "Dad, let me explain—"

"Explain what? That you’re out there throwing yourself at another man like some cheap…"

"Don’t finish that sentence, Dad." I warned, my voice low and trembling with barely restrained anger. "You have no idea what happened."

"Tess told me everything and the proof is here. How could you embarrass Roland in that manner?"

I suddenly found myself laughing bitterly. "Oh, Tess told you, did she? And you just believed her without even asking me what happened?" I shook my head in disbelief. "You know, I shouldn’t be surprised. You’ve always believed her over me."

"Kim, stop spewing nonsense.." my mother said.

"No," I interrupted. "You didn’t even ask why I kissed Damien, did you? Because if you did, you’d know that your precious Tess was screwing my fiancé while I walked in with a gift for him."

My voice cracked a little, but I forced myself to keep going. "I saw them, Dad. With my own eyes. I have a video. But of course, you wouldn’t care about that, would you? Because no matter what Tess does, she’s always the golden child, and I’m just the unwanted child."

His face hardened, but for the first time, he looked uncertain. "Tess? Tess can never do that."

I put my hands on my waist and glared at my Dad. "Really? What if I showed you a video? Well, it doesn't even matter. You already picked a side. You always do."

My mother's gaze lowered to the ground. It's obvious she knew about Tess’s plan to snatch my future husband.

You see, I was conceived out of wedlock and my mother didn't want me. She and my Dad were teenagers at the time, just having fun. But I interrupted their fun and ruined everything.

She was planning to become a music star and she has still not forgiven me for ruining her plans.

She planned to dump me as soon as I was born but my grandmother stepped in and took care of me from when I was an infant until I became a teenager.

I gazed at my Dad in silent for a moment and thought he was going to apologize for misjudging me. But he didn't and that made me sad.

"You know what, I can’t do this anymore," I muttered, shaking my head as I turned on my heel. "I’m leaving. I don't belong here."

"Kim, don’t walk away from me!"

"You had a marriage agreement with the Carter's and luckily, you still have a daughter to offer them. I'm no longer interested. I'm out.”

“If you walk away from me now, don't ever bother to come back.” My Dad growled.

“Let her go, James. She will come begging in a matter of days. She can't survive without this family,” my Mum stated.

I ignored them and left.

I went into my room, took my car keys and began packing my stuff. I picked the most essential ones and headed to my car in the garage. I climbed in and drove off while my Dad stood looking at me.

My father had chosen his legimate daughter over his illegitimate one. Again.

I didn’t know where I was going, but I sure as hell knew where I wasn’t staying.

Thirty minutes later, I found myself knocking on the door of the only person who would understand.

"Oh, hell no," Jasmine said the moment she opened the door. "Why do you look like someone who's about to burst into tears? Get in here."

I let her pull me into a warm hug, and it made me feel better.

"Roland cheated on me with Tess," I mumbled into her shoulder.

Jasmine’s entire body went stiff. Then, she pulled back and stared at me. "Oh my gosh, Kim, I’m sorry. I've always known that Rolland is up to no good.”

I laughed bitterly. "I didn't see this coming, Jas. I've worked so hard to please him and this is what I get?"

Her eyes narrowed. "He's not worth your tears, Kim. Don't shed a single tear for him."

"I know."

“Tess is such a scumbag, screwing her sister's fiance.” Jasmine looked so pissed. “I wish I could lay my hands on her right now.”

Despite everything, I snorted. "Trust me, she’s not worth it."

Jasmine studied me for a long moment, then exhaled. "So, what are you planning to do?”

“I don't know, Jas.” I hesitated. "Jas, I did something stupid."

“You did? Tell me about it.”

I sighed. "I kissed Damien right in front of Roland.”

“You what? That's crazy, Kim.”

“It is. But I don't regret it. You should've seen how Roland's eyes almost popped out of its sockets.”

Jasmine burst into laughter. “Serves him right.”

“But Jas, there's a problem.”

“What problem?”

“The playboy Damien seems carried away by that kiss and he told me I've just made myself his next obsession.”

“Ugh this is getting interesting. I think you should just go ahead and marry Damien.”

I paused as I glared at Jasmine. “Are you out of your fucking mind?”

“No I'm not. Look at it this way, Kim. Your two families are in a marriage agreement. If you break that agreement now by refusing to marry Roland, your family won't be able to handle the consequences.”

“I told my Dad to replace me with his precious daughter, Tess, since she likes Roland so much.”

“No Kim. If you do that, you're the loser.” I don't know where Jasmine is getting these ideas but she seems pretty serious.

“Damien is the heir to the Carter's dynasty and he's way hotter than Roland. If you marry him, you'll become Roland’s sister-inlaw and he will live to regret the day he cheated on you.”

I gave it a thought and laughed, trying to imagine Roland's reaction when he finds out that I actually married his step brother.

“And there's no way Roland can get married to Tess when you're already married to Damien.” Jasmine continued. “So you better be a smart girl and act fast. Everyone knows you've been betrothed to the Carter's since you were sixteen. Don't let Tess outsmart you.”

This seems like a challenge. “You make it sound as if it's all up to me.”

“But it is. You just said Damien got carried away by a single kiss from you and he's already getting obsessed. Getting him to marry you won't be a problem at all.”

I continued to stare at Jasmine, trying to process what she had just said.

Just then, my phone buzzed and I glanced at the screen. It's a text from an unknown number.

“You're wanted at the Carter's mansion right now. The Matriarch wants to see you.”