*Slap*
Jasmine palmed her left cheek and let out a cry when she received a tight slap from her elder sister.
Rose lost her patience and again slapped Jasmine as she was beyond angry after hearing the whole story of how Jasmine tricked everyone to marry the future king of Heaven. Not only that, she was too mad to get Theodore that she didn’t even think twice before making a deal with Zachary who helped her in escaping.
Rose further threatened Jasmine to tell her about Theodore and his family’s behavior with her and having no choice, Jasmine told her everything in detail. How she spent her days and nights in this royal palace with tears and pain. Rose was enraged by Theodore and George but the fact that her sister whom she had raised with her own hands destroyed her whole life because of her selfishness hurt her more.
And that hurt only took the form of raw anger. She continued scolding Jasmine who took everything silently.
“I-I am sorry”
“SHUT UP!” Rose harshly cut her off making her flinch.
“Your efforts don’t mean a thing to Theodore. He doesn’t love you, why don’t you understand? How come my sister can be so miserable? Yes, we are poor but the thing which makes us different is our self-esteem, our dignity, and modesty. How come you’re letting him trample your feelings? Don’t you have self-respect Jasmine? I don’t even understand how can you love a man who leaves no chances to humiliate you?” she raged.
Jasmine looked at her with teary eyes, “Rose, there’s no one in this world who understands my love for him but at least you should-”
“Love you say?“, Rose cut her midway before she could defend herself.
“That’s not love, Jasmine. That’s called stubbornness, madness, and a psychotic obsession. Theodore isn’t a toy Jasmine for whom you’ll cry and I will give it to you. Do you know there are thousands of girls in Heaven who want to have Theodore, become his wife, spend their lives in luxury, and dream to become the queen of the Theo Dynasty? There was a time when I used to make fun of those girls, and laugh at their stupid fantasies. How these girls were ruining their precious times running after a thing that can never happen? But guess what, my sister is no better than them. I bet now the same girls whom I used to ridicule would be laughing at me. Your stupidity made me a laughing joke in front of the whole world, Jasmine.” She grated out and shook her head in disappointment. Jasmine lowered her head in shame.
Silence fell between them as no one spoke a word. After pondering for a while, Rose looked at Jasmine who not for once raised her head. Marching towards her, she grabbed her hand in a tight grip startling her.
“This is all because of my indulgence. Our current scenarios would have been different only if I hadn’t been blindsided by my love for you. But enough is enough. You will now do what I will say or else be ready to face the consequences.”
Jasmine panicked with her words, “No Rose. Who even brought you here? I am fine don’t worry. Nothing would happen to me.” She tried to change the topic but Rose completely ignored her.
Instead, she shot her a stern look and spoke with a clenched jaw, “You’re very fond of fooling everyone right? Now listen to me carefully. You’re gonna use your magical powers and teleport us to Azalea Village.”
Jasmine gulped in fear, “Azalea Village?”
“Yes, Azalea Village. It is our mother’s hometown. We will spend the rest of our lives there. And as far as Theodore is concerned, I doubt he would even come looking for you. He desperately wants to get away from you. So, by doing this we would only be doing a favor to him.” Rose chuckled but Jasmine remained silent.
Her words struck her as a whiplash. Rose wasn’t wrong though; she was only stating the bitter truth but Jasmine couldn’t bear to hear it. The fact that everyone knew how much she was unwanted and despised by Theodore tore her apart.
Jasmine slowly clutched Rose’s hands in her trembling ones and looked at her with pleading eyes, “I-I know I did wrong but don’t give me such a harsh punishment. You’re only thinking about me Rose but what about Diana? Do you know Theodore is still searching for her and if you separate me from him, you will remove the biggest hindrance in his path to get Diana?”
She spoke in an earnest tone. But this time her manipulation didn’t work as Rose had sensed her move beforehand. She slapped her hands away, “I don’t care about Diana anymore. You are my responsibility, not her. I regret helping her in the first place, at least we would have been saved.”
She spoke with clenched teeth and looked away in frustration.
Jasmine couldn’t believe her ears. Was the girl standing in front of her the same Rose whom she had known all her life? The Rose who could die for her friend Diana, who loves her more than anyone was today regretting helping her when she was in great trouble?
Noticing her silence, Rose shifted her eyes back to Jasmine who was staring at her incredulously.
“Don’t look at me like that. If I had known my boundaries beforehand and not befriended a Princess, neither of these would have happened. We are mediocre and we should always know our limits. Staying away from the lives of aristocrats is the best option. It will be good if you forget Theodore. Just come with me and turn a new leaf. Whatever Theodore does with Diana in the future, it has nothing to do with us.” She said but Jasmine was stunned by her impassive tone.
She immediately grabbed her right shoulder and shook her, “What’s wrong with you Rose? I get it that you are troubled because of me but why are you hating Diana? She is your friend.”
“SHE IS NOT MY FRIEND”
Rose screamed all of a sudden taking her off guard.
“WHERE WAS SHE WHEN I NEEDED HER THE MOST?? WHY DID SHE NEVER HELP ME WHEN CALIX USED TO FORCE ME AND HURT ME? She got the man of her dreams, cut off all her previous relationships, and embraced her new life not giving a damn about the people who loved her. She knew about you, about me, about our problems but did she even care to look for me? Did she ever try to talk to me? No. I was her friend. We grew up together. I always respected our relationship but did she ever show any effort to make me realize that she also respects me the same way as I do? No, Jasmine. She never did.” Rose shouted while sobbing hard. Her words rendered Jasmine speechless.
Wiping her tears, she took a deep sigh before looking at her sister who was staring at her ruefully, “I have always tried my best to help people. I never did anything wrong Jasmine but what did I get from all this? Pain, humiliation, and tears. Nothing else. But now no more.”
Her voice turned firm by the end. Jasmine panicked when she found the determination in her eyes. She knew nothing would work on her anymore so she pulled her last card.
“But what about George, Rose? What will you do about him? Even if we leave and Theodore gets Diana, George would come for you.” She spoke and this time it was Rose who turned speechless.
Jasmine slowly exhaled in relief. Her words which were true to some extent put Rose in a dilemma. The way she was crazy about Theodore, George was crazy for her.
Jasmine smirked in victory. Her one-sided love overpowered her sisterly love, once again.
‘I won’t leave Theodore at any costs. He is already looking for an opportunity to get rid of me. I am sorry Rose but I won’t let you ruin my years of hard work. Theodore is mine and will remain mine till eternity.’
Jasmine thought. Her eyes then landed on Rose who was staring at the floor with a defeated look. She felt a pang of guilt but thinking that she’ll understand her, she continued convincing her.
“Rose, don’t worry about me. At least he is my husband but George is a monster in human form. I won’t be able to tolerate it if he hurts you. Theodore isn’t that bad too. I know he doesn’t like me but I am trying to win his heart. You don’t worry about me and leave this place quickly.”
She spoke softly and squeezed her hands. Rose looked at her sadly but before she could speak, a deep voice reverberated in the room jarring every cell of their bodies.
“Won’t you greet me, sister-in-law?”