"Hello sis." Cindy smiled but it didn't quite reach her dark eyes as she gave Rella a once-over, her eyes taking her in from top to bottom slowly and then back to her face. "You look good." She sounded impressed but there was something about her tone that was cutting.
Rella was speechless. She stood there opening and shutting her mouth like a fish out of water. What? How? Why?
She was shaking her head in disbelief. "You came back. Where have you been?" She said at last.
"Looks like you're not very happy to see me Rella."
Rella bristled. " Of course I am."
" Liar." Cindy said. And Rella realised that a wretched part of her wished her twin would stay away for good and never come back Cindy knew that, she'd always been unable to hide anything from Cindy.
Cindy pinned her with a stare that made Rella recoil.
"How could you do this to me? How could you betray me like this?"
And that's when Rella snapped. "You betrayed me first." She bit back. "You betrayed me when you lied to my face and left me at that engagement party looking like a fool." How dare she pin this on her?
"I was scared, I didn't want to get married. I couldn't imagine tying myself down to just one man for the rest of my life. I was single and carefree one day and the next mom and dad decided I was to get married to Stefan Diamond to save the family and of course Rella mustn't know know about it." Cindy would've thrown up her hands if it wasn't for the crutches she was clutching with such a death grip her knuckles had turned white.
"I was scared too you know," Rella admitted. "You left me clueless after the lie you told me about Rose, I waited for you to come back I was counting the hours because I thought you'd keep your promise but you never came back. I had to keep up the ruse of being you till the very end while you were out there having the time of your life." She recalled her mom telling her Cindy was last seen at the French Riviera.
"You honestly think that I wanted to disappear for months without so much as a word? Sure I'd take off for a week or two but never months." Rella swallowed she had a point. "I was going to come back the next day, I just needed some air some space to sort myself out. I needed to to make sure that the decision that I was going to make won't be one that I would regret later on." She paused. "That when the accident happened."
Rella sucked in a breath. "What?"
"I was on my way back but I never made it. I fell into a coma for three months."
Rella went deathly pale." When I woke up I was told that no one came for me. " She looked Rella in the eyes then, those eyes that were full of anger and the sting of betrayal. Rella was shaking her head mutely. " Imagine how I felt when I realised that none of you cared enough to look for me, that none of you were the slightest bit worried about me. "
" No that's not true." That's not true.
" When I didn't show up all these months none of you wondered if anything had happened to me. " Cindy's eyes were shining with tears.
It was unfair to say that Rella never cared, even after she'd written off her disappearance to being her just off to an exotic island on vacation Rella never stopped pressuring her parents to look for her. But perhaps there was some truth to what Cindy said, she hadn't cared enough to look for her on her own because she'd been too selfish and too afraid that Stefan might find out about her lies. She was a horrible sister, a horrible human being even. Her sister could've died out there and she wouldn't have known.
"I'm sorry." She choked out.
She truly was. She wished she could've done things differently.
Cindy's breath came out ina tremulous whoosh. "When mom found me I asked her everything that happened after that night and when she told me that you'd married Stefan…you should've said no. "
" You think I didn't? Mom insisted that everything would work out once you came back we could switch places and nobody would ever know. I trusted her.. "
" And yet here we are. You're still married to Stefan and I'm sure you haven't told him the truth about who you are. "
Rella looked away, shame marring her features.
" I never would've expected this from my own twin. "
" What do you want me to do? Stefan and I have fallen in love with each other. "
" And yet he still thinks you're me. " Cindy shook her head. Rella couldn't stand that look of pity she had for her.
"He doesn't love you."
If Cindy had been hoping to hurt her for abandoning her then she was doing a pretty damn good job of it.
"You don't know that. I'm the one with him, I'm the one he married."
" Are you sure about that? " Cindy looked like she was enjoying tormenting her.
" You don't even love him. " She bit out.
" You don't know anything about my feelings Rella! Do you know what mom said to me, she said to forget about whatever feelings I might've had for Stefan, she told me to never show my face to you because you were happy. But what about me? Don't I deserve to be happy too?"
Rella was sobbing quietly.
"In the end she chose you, everything has to be about you." She said bitterly. "Afterall, I'm just the pain-in-ass party animal Cindy and you're the prim and proper Rella who could do no wrong."
Rella had no idea Cindy thought about her like that. Cindy went on. "For years I've always wanted mom and dad's approval but I never got it. When they told me to marry Stefan I thought this might finally be my chance to get that approval, I know I blew it when I told you to take my place but still…it hurts you know, especially when she kept me locked up in my room upstairs so I wouldn't see you much less talk to you. "
" What are you talking about? "
" Mom found me over a month ago. She didn't want me to see you so I wouldn't ruin your perfect life. When you came over that particular day I tried to get your attention but when you came upstairs you didn't bother to open my bedroom door and you just left. Mom was furious that day I thought she was going to hit me." Cindy laughed hoarsely.
A memory suddenly struck Rella. She had gone to see her parents for the first time after weeks of being angry and they had dinner. They'd discuss about the White Rose and her mom wouldn't stop telling her how important the organization was and then she'd asked. "How is the search for Cindy coming along?"
"It's promising." Her mom had vaguely replied.
" What do you mean?"
" I do believe that your doesn't want to found. You know how she is…"
" So you found nothing, not even a trace? "
"To tell you the truth, the private investigator we hired caught her trail in the French Riviera, it's the only lead we've had in weeks and even that's fine cold."
And Rella had believed her. Her mom had looked her in the eye and lied to her about her sister. Rella felt like she was going to be sick.
It was then that she'd heard the loud crash upstairs when Cindy was trying to get her attention. Evie Cortes had told her it was probably a cat but she went upstairs and Rella could hear her arguing with someone but she had insisted it was the neighbour's cat.
"I'm so stupid." She said so quietly Cindy almost didn't hear her. She glanced at the crutches and her heart broke all over again. He sister had been in that dark place all alone, she had suffered alone.
"I'm so sorry Cindy if I had known… "
"Tell Stefan the truth or I will." Rella was shaking her head but Cindy was already walking away.
"Cindy please… " Rella called after her. She'd only taken two steps forward when she came face to face with Stefan. Why was he home so early there was two days left?
His stricken looking face suggested he might've heard a part if not all their conversation and Rella's heart sank further into the pit of her stomach.
Cindy hadn't looked back until she left.
"Stefan…"
"Did you just call her Cindy?"
She thought of denying it, she thought of lying again but at what cost? And so she said. "Yes. Because I'm not Cindy I'm Rella."
Stefan sucked in a breath clenching his fists before he ground out, "explain."
And when Rella was done explaining the whole situation starting from the engagement night, she waited for him to to yell at her, to scream in her face, but Stefan turned back and left.
He didn't come back home that night.