“Oh, you’re back...” Diana greeted me with a bright smile.
“You look better already,” I replied before returning her smile.
“Staying in bed is the best,” she said, and then her smile widened.
“I feel so tired...” I complained softly.
“Thanks for taking this on for me. I’m sure it must have been a boring day for you,” she said as she patted my back comfortingly.
“Let’s sit. I need to tell you all about it,” I said.
I took her hand and led her to the bed. Diana seemed much more energetic than before as she jumped up on the bed and patted the empty spot close to her for me to join her.
“So, tell me all about it,” she demanded with widened eyes.
I told Diana about what happened since the start of the day when I started acting in her place. In as much detail as possible, I described the dress that I had on and what happened before focusing on the conversation that I had with Anthony. I tried my best based on my memories to tell her what he had said word for word as we spoke. Then I told her about how I broke a teacup and how he bravely took the blame in my place so that I wouldn’t get into trouble.
One of the reasons why I spent so much time trying to tell her everything was so that she could feel like she had met her fiancé even though I was the one that was there. However, we both knew that this wasn’t truly an option but something that we needed to do. In order to ensure that both of us could go on with our lives smoothly after we switched back, we both had to tell each other a very detailed account of what happened during our switch.
“So, what’s your overall impression of my future husband?” she asked with a small giggle.
I wished that Diana would take this matter a little more seriously given that she would spend the rest of her life with him after they got married. Diana didn’t seem bothered by that fact and it might have been because she didn’t quite care about it. Her question made me pause to think a little.
What did I think about Anthony?
“Umm...I don’t know whether we got along or not but...” I began saying before drifting off.
“But?” my sister urged quite impatiently.
“I don’t know if he’s a good guy or not just yet but...I’m sure that if something were to happen to you, he’d do his best to protect you. He’ll help you somehow. I don’t think that he would abandon you,” I replied based on how I honestly felt.
“Is that so? He sounds too good to be true,” Diana replied before letting out a laugh.
I was probably more surprised at my own words than my sister was. It wasn’t until I heard myself say it that I realized how much I felt like I could rely on Anthony. If he married my sister, I was sure that he would stand up for her to just like he did to protect me. I stared at Diana before a smile came to my lips as I thought that she would probably be in very good hands.
“You should meet him and see for yourself next time,” I said.
“I’m sure that they’ll be plenty of opportunities for that,” she replied while not exactly sounding excited.
...
**Back to the Present**
It had been a few days since I locked myself up in my bedroom since that spat that I had with Brandon. It was around dinnertime when someone knocked softly on my bedroom door. Just like clockwork, Jenna came to deliver food to my room for all meals.
“My Lady! I’ve brought dinner for you...” Jenna called from the other side of my bedroom door.
“I’m not hungry...” I replied in barely above a whisper without caring whether or not she heard me.
“Lady Diana! Please open the door...” Jenna called again, louder this time.
Since that fight with Bradon, I haven’t taken a step outside of my bedroom. Locking myself up in my room felt boring but it didn’t feel much different than roaming around aimlessly in the large mansion. I felt like there was no point in me leaving the room if I couldn’t leave the house anyways. On top of that, there was always that slim chance of running into Bradon. After what happened, I didn’t quite know how to face him, and I didn’t want to.
“Just leave it there!” I called back so that she would hear me.
“Miss Diana, please try to eat something today...” she pleaded as she continued knocking on my door.
I wished that I could eat too but I truly didn’t have the appetite. It was true that for the first day, I felt too depressed and stressed to do anything. However, it didn’t take me long to recover enough to compose myself and use my brain to think about how I could solve my problems.
“Please just leave it there. Thank you!” I called back while trying to sound polite.
It wasn’t Jenna’s fault that things turned out this way for me, so I tried my best to treat her well. I also knew that I had become a big burden for her ever since the moment that I shut myself in my bedroom. The fact that she had to bring me my meals every day was proof of that.
“I’ll leave it here but please make sure that you eat something...” she said after clearly giving up.
The room returned to its usual state of silence after Jenna left. I took out my phone while wondering how I could get a hold of Anthony. Anthony was like the man of the people. He was liked by everyone, and he also felt relatable and reachable. The truth was far from what it appeared to be. Most of the things that the public saw, including in the news and social media were things that were set up, shared, and managed by his public relations team.
--To be continued...