Chapter 3 THE PAYMENT

CELESTINE’s POV

I don’t know what time it is when I felt my eyelids becoming heavy. When I was just about to nod off, I heard my phone vibrate on top of the bedside table next to me, making me jolt awake. I slowly removed Arnold’s arm that was wrapped around me, reaching for my phone to check who texted me, and as I did so… my eyes briefly landed on the time which read seven more minutes before three in the morning.

‘‘Are you done?’’ It was a message from my sister.

Slowly, I got up… careful not to wake the man on the bed next to me. I hurriedly slipped into Leina’s clothes and before I walked out of the room, I stared at Arnold who was sleeping peacefully, my eyes filled with admiration for how perfect his face and body were.

I took a few deep breaths and gathered my belongings before forcing myself to drag out of the room, trying to ignore the ache I was feeling between my thighs due to what happened last night.

‘‘What took you so long?’’ Immediately after I quietly slammed the door behind me, I was greeted by Leina's irate voice. ‘‘Did you do it?’’

‘‘Yes…’’ I responded as I studied her from head to toe. She was wearing a black cap on her head, hiding her blonde hair in it with black sunglasses and a mask to cover her face. It’s her idea for the two of us to wear the same outfit so that when Arnold woke up, he wouldn't be confused about why I had changed into a different dress. ‘‘He’s still sleeping…’’

‘‘Good! You can leave now,’’ she commanded, straightening up from leaning against the wall and when she was just about to open the door, I moved to block her way.

‘‘Wait!’’ I grabbed her wrist to stop her. ‘‘Where’s the money?’’

She forcibly brushed away my hand that was holding her wrist and pushed me before removing the things covering her face and flinging them on me.

As I studied her face, I felt like I was staring at the reflection of myself. She looked exactly like me, and the only things that set her apart were her haughty posture and her mysterious air of superiority. Other than that… we were virtually identical.

Because her hair was blonde and mine was black, I had to wear a wig so that her boyfriend wouldn’t recognize me as a different person. Her eyes were brown while mine was amber so I had to wear contacts. I had to do all of these tasks, to look exactly like her… to copy her… to sleep with her boyfriend… for the sake of my mother who was in the hospital right now.

The girl standing in front of me was no other than Leina Wheeler, my identical twin sister who was older than me by only ten seconds. However, when we were just four years old… our parents got divorced and the court made a decision to also separate us from each other. My custody had been given to my mom, and she ended up taken away by dad.

My mother became ill… and I was forced to look for work in order to provide for our day-to-day needs and her medical expenses. Meanwhile… my father quickly remarried a wealthy woman, and he and my sister both enjoyed the lavish lifestyle they had always desired. From that point on… I had the impression that we would never have to see each other again, but maybe life was simply unfair to decent women like my mother and me.

‘‘It's not like I would fool you, dear sister...’’ she said in a sarcastic tone, making me pull my thoughts back to the present, and I almost rolled my eyes at her statement. ‘‘Get the money from dad, not from me! Now, get out of my way! If Arnold finds out about this, it would be game over for you and your mother!’’

I moved out of the way to make room for her, but before she could proceed, she kicked the sunglasses that were lying on the ground in my direction.

‘‘Put those on and get the hell out of here!’’ she finally entered the room and was about to shut it on my face when I pressed my palm on it. ‘‘What is it again?!’’

‘‘You really ought to pay a visit to mom in the hospital. She’s been really sick and is thinking about you a lot...’’ my voice was shaking when I remembered my mom always calling for her name when she was asleep.

‘‘I don't care!’’ She merely scoffed at me before slamming the door to my face.

I shook my head as I bent down to pick up the cap and sunglasses on the ground and put them on. I gave a brief glance at the door for a moment and smiled bitterly before finally walking off.

Finally stepping out of the hotel and into the heavy snow that blanketed the city, I wasted no time in flagging down a taxi.

‘‘Doctor Andrew… I’m begging you to please keep providing treatment for my mother...’’ As soon as I had made myself comfortable inside the taxi, I dialed the number of my mother's physician. ‘‘Please... I'll take care of the bill later…’’

After he assured me that they wouldn’t stop giving my mom the treatment she needed, that was the only time that I hung up the phone. I am hoping that my mother would finally recover after I got my money from my father. The payment for sleeping with my sister's boyfriend.