Without any hesitation, I turned and quickly ran as fast as my legs could carry me toward the door. My mind and my emotions were both a mess and the journey back to the comfort of my bedroom felt blurry. The peaceful quiet of my bedroom felt suffocating in a strange way. Just like it had always been the case in my life, there was no one there to comfort me. Diana was no longer there, and I wasn’t even sure where she was. Hopefully, unlike me, she was living a happy life full of smiles with the man that she loved.
Thinking about Diana and the happiness that she was probably experiencing seemed to be the only saving grace that could help me believe that the pain that I was going through wasn’t for naught. As I dived onto the bed and pulled the covers over my head, I realized just how much I missed my twin sister.
Wallowing in my own sorrows and frustrations was the only thing that I could do. Once again, I was reminded of how hurtful my own disappointments could feel. I gave up on having any form of hope a long time ago because having expectations only came back to bite me with disappointment in the bitter end. Although I should have known that better than anyone, when the opportunity arose that I could marry Anthony, I didn’t stop myself from jumping at it.
I could still remember all the optimistic thoughts that ran through my head even when so many alarm bells were going off. I saw all the signs, but I just ignored them for the sake of that short moment of happiness so that I could fool myself that things might just turn out the way that I always dreamt that they would. I remember telling myself that everything would turn out fine and that Anthony would be fine with taking me as his wife in the place of my sister. It might be difficult at first, but surely as time went by, he could fall in love with me too.
“I’m such a fool...” I whispered under the blanket before letting out a long sigh.
Anthony, where are you right now?
...
**Around 13 years ago**
I remember that it was a gloomy and rainy day. It had been drizzling all day and Diana was suffering from her usual weather allergies. The family’s doctor attributed her symptoms to the pollen floating around in the air that was somehow related to windy days and rainy days. I wasn’t quite sure how that worked but the result was Diana having a runny nose and sneezing all day. Although we are twins, I didn’t suffer from the same condition.
Our parents’ mood on that day was a stark contrast to the gloomy and dark weather. I didn’t know what was going on but since the morning, everyone in the house seemed extraordinarily busy. The maids busied themselves running around the house carrying boxes and rearranging things with mother giving them curt instructions. Father was also in the house for almost the whole day, which was somewhat of a rare occurrence.
It was during dinner time that I finally found out what the big deal was about. With bright smiles and widened eyes, our parents sat opposite us at the large dining table in their usual seats. It looked like they could hardly contain their excitement and that made me wonder if something good had happened.
“Before dinner tonight, I have a very important announcement to make,” father declared before rubbing his hands together.
I watched with slight confusion as my parents turned to look at each other before their smiles widened. Glancing to my side, I could tell that Diana was having a difficult time trying to keep herself from sneezing. I doubted that our parents realized that the way that I did, so I reached my hand and held hers under the table before giving it a comforting squeeze.
“Our Alnault family will rise to even greater heights. As of today, we’ve finally agreed to partner with the Vulkan family. By uniting our two families and promising to work together for a better future for this country and its people. Now is really the time for us to celebrate this big step forward,” father announced while sounding extremely proud.
Even though I was still young, I understood well enough the relationship that my family had with the Vulkans. They were our enemies and my father had always treated them as such as much as was allowed in the modern world and within the constraints of our society. His announcement didn’t quite make sense because of the sudden change.
I glanced over at Diana who had a blank expression on her face. Either she didn’t quite understand what it meant, or she didn’t care about it, I wasn’t sure which it was. However, there was a high possibility that it was a bit of both. She probably didn’t care enough to even try to bother understanding it. We were both under the impression at the time that it would have absolutely nothing to do with us because we were just children.
We were wrong. Very wrong.
“Well, we should get to the real good part of this. Diana, we have found the greatest opportunity for you,” mother said before beaming a smile full of adoration at Diana.
Diana did not respond but she did return mother’s smile just as it was expected of her. At that point, something made me feel uneasy inside. It was a strange feeling that told me that something unexpected was about to happen to my sister. Instinctively, I gave her hand a squeeze under the table as I started to feel anxious in her place.
“Do you remember Anthony Vulkan? I’m sure that you’ve met him, at least in passing, a few times at a couple of events,” father asked.
“Yes...” Diana replied.
We had both ‘met’ this Anthony Vulkan person in the sense that we have been introduced to him, said ‘hi’ to him politely, and then walked past him a couple of times at a distance while attending a few events with our parents.
--To be continued...