"I do not believe this!" Mom's voice shattered the stillness that fall upon the room as she paced from one end to the other, hands on her hips.
Kareen ran away from her wedding, Realization sunk deep into my system. Why would she do that?!
Mom sharply reeled to dad. "Philip, call Kareen immediately!" She ordered and Dad didn't hesitate as he pulled out his phone and dialed Kareen's number but it immediately went into voicemail. "Keep trying till you get through!" She rasped, racking her hands through her hair, aggravated.
"Now listen..." The woman got up on her feet, arranging her glasses. "Today's rite is not about wedding two people together, Billions of dollars are involved, contracts are at risk, and believe me, I won't lose any of those because of some foolish girl who makes preposterous decisions!"
"We will have to postpone the wedding, something must have happened to Kareen!" Dad suggested and a peal of demeaning laughter erupted from the woman's throat.
"This wedding will not be postponed for whatever reasons. While you find your dumb daughter, she can take her place,"
I recoiled as the woman averted her gaze to where I stood.
"No!" Mom instantly declined, terror in her voice and I couldn't agree more. There was no way was I taking my sister's place in the aisle.
"Your choice. However, I expect to see one of your daughters at the altar within 30 minutes, If not, I will make your lives a living hell till you beg for death!"
Her tone was arcadian yet, her words were gutsy and fierce, crammed with malignancy. Taking a last glance at us, she roamed out, the girl immediately following after her as she slammed the door shut, leaving me and my family to pounder.
Seconds turned into minutes and 10 minutes had already passed since we remained tight-lipped and unmoving in that room. Mom pounding on the bed, dad pacing from one corner to the other, trying to get through Kareen's phone, Eloise beside mom, trying to comfort her while I occupied a chair at the corner, equally hushed up in thoughts.
The piercing silence went on till Mom stood up, picked up the wedding dress on the bed, and threw it at me. "Put it on, you are taking Kareen's place,"
"What!" I bolted to my feet.
"You heard what Mrs. Evans said, your sister has to be at the altar in 20 minutes,"
I shook my head. "I'm not doing it, am not marrying a stranger!" I declined.
Mom sharply glared at me, taking a threatening step forward. "You are not doing this for yourself, Kim. You are doing this for Kareen and our family! "
"That's wrong Mom!"
"Our lives are going to turn out wrong if you don't freaking show up at the altar as your twin sister!" Mom suddenly shouted, stymied veins socking on her forehead while her eyes blazed with wrath, drilling holes through my face. She stepped closer. "The Rodriguez are the most powerful and influential people in the US, do you want to get on their bad side?"
Everyone was cognizant and knew of the Rodriguez. That name made people spineless just at the mention of it. Getting on the Rodriguez's bad side was like a death wish you didn't want to have however, that didn't mean I would get married to some stranger, for my sister's or family's sake. I had my dreams and I refused to ruin them like this.
"We can still talk this out with Mrs. Evans or the groom, " I suggested.
"This issue is not going out from this room, it's going to be settled here, you are going in as Kareen till we find her!"
"You saw the note she left, Kareen ran away from her wedding, she doesn't wish to be married, what makes you think she is going to want her place back!" My voice rose higher than I intended, coming out a bit maddened.
"Then you remained married till we get to the bottom of this!"
I shook my head. "I refuse, I won't be part of this. If you are so afraid of the Rodriguez's, you can show up at the altar as Kareen because I won't!" I stood my ground, my green eyes blazing with equal anger till my cheek was struck. My face swiveled to the side at the sudden and unexpected impact. My hand slowly reached up to brush my burning cheek while my gaze locked with the harsh ones of mom, who breathed heavily in anger.
I scoffed. "I'm still not getting married to a stranger mom,"
"What have you done for our family Kim, you have been nothing but a disappointment!" Mom screeched, "We've never asked anything from you up till now and when we do, you become an ungrateful bitch!" She spat and pointed her index finger at me. "You are going to get married to Mr. Rodriguez, if you do not, you can forget that I'm your mother, you can forget you ever had a family!" She screamed at my face.
Staring at her, I felt a teardrop slip down my face as her words cut through my heart. My hand went up to my chest, squeezing it while tears stream down my face.
"You are so useless, if it had been Kareen, she wouldn't have hesitated to put her family first but look at you, so ungrateful and stupid!"
Where was Kareen now?! I nearly yelled out the words but left them hanging in my throat.
Mom grabbed the wedding dress and held it to my face. "Put on the dress, Kim. If Kareen never comes back, you will remain as Mrs. Rodriguez till they wish to get rid of you!"
I gaped. Was I that worthless in their eyes? Pretend to be Kareen till they wished to get rid of me...? A little laugh broke out of my throat as I slowly took the dress from her hand.
I shut my eyes and took a deep breath, calming my raging heartbeats. I opened my eyes and stared directly at my mom, then at my dad who had remained silent.
"I will do it and remember this, I'm your daughter too,"
As payback for putting up with my disappointment and failure for 23years.
To be continued...!
I gawked at my reflection in the mirror, smoothing my hand on the patterns of the wedding dress, realizing how it fitted my body. I sighed with my shoulders plunging while I took off my glasses and loosened my ponytail, letting my wavy hair fall on my shoulders.Picking up my dress, I stepped out of the bathroom, finding my parents and a make-up artist waiting for me, I was immediately rushed to a chair."We are a bit late but there's nothing wrong with the bride arriving late at her wedding, I will make sure you look perfect!" The make-up artist clamored in an energetic tone as she set her item's down and started working on my looks. I smiled at her. "By the time I'm with you, you won't be recognized, you will be more than perfect!"Again, I sent her a smile. I peeked a glance at my parents who stood in the corner watching me. I immediately averted my gaze.A few minutes later, my makeup and hair were done and a veil was placed over my head. I was ready to leave and seconds later, I
(Kim's Point of View)I remained placid, the words of the priest barely penetrating through my eardrums as I continued to gawk at Mr. Rodriguez, most might think it was from reverence but I was flabbergasted without a doubt.I have never met Kareen's fiance before and this wasn't who I thought he was.Through the veil, I met his eyes for the nth time but this time, I didn't try to look away.His eyes were the deepest and darkest shade of grey I have ever seen, they punctured through my face but what caught my attention more was the dreadful glint in his eyes that could not be unseen once it was discerned.Was he able to tell I wasn't Kareen and if he did, why was he pushing through with this?I felt anxious with those grey eyes staring up at me and when I couldn't take it anymore, I finally looked away till it was time for the rings and the vows.His best man came forward with the rings, my breath hitched and I flinched when he took hold of my hand. I gulped when he didn't do anything
(Kim's Point of View)The Rodriguez's mansion was an enormous one, especially the living room where I was crouched, however, the more I sit there with my hands held on my laps, the more the space got portable with the various pair of eyes gawking at me from the opposite.Under their gazes, I felt small, I had never been the type to strive for attention, I made sure to stay away from it till today and I felt like I had nowhere to hide, I felt jeopardized.Awkwardly, I reached out to adjust my glasses.Five more minutes passed with no one saying a word till a man in a suit hiked into the living room with a suitcase and a smile broke on Mrs. Evans's lips as she stood up and shook the man's hand. "Welcome Attorney Gilroy, we've been expecting you, please have a seat,"The tanned man sat beside me on the couch while Mrs. Evans went back to her seat."Attorney Gilroy, I want you to meet Kim Quant, the sister of Kareen Quant, I believe you must have met her before,"I attempted to make mysel
I strived to keep my focus on the task at hand which was serving the guest at the restaurant I worked in but I couldn't, finding myself zoning out, deriving to a horrendous headache."Are you alright?" My colleague queried and I bobbed, I was fine, I just needed to lay down, it was nothing grave.Dumping the tray into the washing sink, my gaze thwarted to the ring on my finger and sighed. What had I gotten myself into?"Are you sure you're alright you have been spacing out lately,"I held up my head, watching my colleague and only close friend Sam ambling in. She placed her hand on my forehead, "You don't have a fever,"I beamed. "I'm fine Sam, it's just a headache,"She shrugged and slept her back on the wall. "So...when were you going to tell me about that?" She motioned towards the wedding ring on my finger."Ah, this..." I snickered nervously. "It happened out of the blue,""It sure did, I had no idea you even had a boyfriend, the Kim I know would never conceal anything from me, w
I beamed as I waddled out of my bedroom, sliding through the photos in my professional camera, searching for the perfect ones to sell However, the smile on my face plunged when I discovered there was nothing good enough to barter.I sighed with my shoulders dropping. I seriously needed to scour more. I arrived at the living room, not finding the usually frigid man with wayfarer glasses, however, my gaze docked on one of the maids and my camera instantly clicked and she paused, ogling at me with a dumbfounded mood."Oh, I'm sorry, I normally take pictures of people doing everyday things and nature," I immediately clarified."Oh, there's a garden at the back,"My grin magnified at the information. "Thank you," I ducked thankfully and raced towards the back of the mansion. The sight that greeted me was wow as I abruptly thwarted and gawked.The sight before me was an immense oasis with many multi-colored flowers blossoming gloriously.With a satisfied smile, I too
Anxiously, I loitered outside at the company's lobby, adapting my glasses once in a while and nuzzling my hands. And soon enough, the company's secretary finally arrived and I stood up, the tiny smile on my face plunging as she handed over my folder."I'm sorry but we can't accept those photos,"I gaped, "What's wrong, this is how I normally bring my shots, and you guys used to accept them,""They are of lower quality, they are not technically sharp and polished. Perhaps the camera wasn't good enough. You can try some other company or come back with better photos next time, Thank you Mrs..." She paused, eyeing the ring on my finger."Mrs. Rodriguez," I resolved thoughtlessly and she gaped at me. "What?"She shook her head but inquired further. "Rodriguez, as in the Rodriguez Empire?" Hesitantly, I found myself nodding. "Is there something wrong?"She snickered. "Oh, there's nothing, can I please see the photos one more time, we might have made a misstep in acces
Being woken up again by the same farcical nightmare, I strolled out of my bedroom in the middle of the night, unable to catch my beauty sleep in an oversized shirt that chopped down to my mid-thigh.The hall was nearly murky and the living room was darker as I strode down the staircase and went to the kitchen, turning on the lights.I hiked toward the fridge, opened it, and peered at the food items. Should I make myself a midnight meal? But I didn't know how to cook, the last time I tried to, I nearly chopped my fingers off and burnt my parent's kitchen, I was banned from ever stepping into the kitchen, Kareen was a much better cook, she didn't spend her time being a nerd.Between Kareen and I, she was the life of the party, especially in college, she was the most popular girl while I was just the popular girl's sister, which I didn't care. I recalled being called a face thief one time. It was rather comical since I was a minute older than Kareen, didn't that mea
Arriving at Arthur's door, my hand reached up to knock. "Arthur, Mrs. Evans is here," I knocked again and announced. "She wants us to have breakfast together!"I stood there for a few seconds, waiting and expecting a reply but nothing. Perhaps he didn't want to answer, I was sure he received my message. I swerved to leave but paused, a wild thought traversing my mind and I sharp wiggled back to the door. What if he needed help?Suddenly, dazzled with apprehension, I knocked on the door again, "Arthur, are you in there?" What if he was stuck in the bathroom and couldn't wheel himself out?Hesitantly, I nudged the door open and slipped in, my gaze instantly docking on the large mattress but did not find the familiar stiff man in sight. I went towards the bathroom door, "Arthur, are you in there?" I knocked on the door, gasping lightly when it opened on its own but was welcomed with an empty space.I sighed in relief. He was not in here.I turned to leave, however