CHAPTER TWO

AURELIA

He must be kidding me.

I threw my shoes at the edge of the door as I flopped on the bed, blinking rapidly. My chest hurt, like it had been pulled out recklessly from the cords holding it. Like I had just been pulled away from my life support. He had been, just a few hours ago, when I'd delicately pulled out a yellow dress and black Mary Jane shoes just to impress him. I'd spent hours trying to pin my hair in different styles before I got into the car and drove out, but still, he hadn't even noticed any of that. Instead, he had just-

The ringing of my phone cut me off. I stared at the single love emoji before picking it, and suddenly, I had the urge to cry.

"Aurelia, are you okay?" Her voice came cheerfully from the other line. Maybe this was why everyone loved her, including me. Even in crazy situations, Mireya remained just like Theron; she wouldn't budge. Neither would she break down.

"Mireya," my voice shook as I turned my head into my pillow, "Theron is breaking off the marriage." The words came out muffled and inaudible.

"Huh, I didn't get that," Mireya said.

I raised my head from the bed. "Theron is breaking up with me, and he wants me to say I did it, so he can get the sympathy of everyone and keep his image clean before them. He doesn't even care about the fact that I'm still trying to get on the good side of mom and dad. If I said I wanted the breakup, wouldn't my life be even more ruined? He doesn't love me a single bit!" I poured the words out in a single breath, and by the time I was done talking, tears had already started running out of my eyes. 

"Aurelia, are you crying?" Mireya asked, chuckling slightly.

"No, I'm not." I wiped my snort with the back of my hand. "And this is not funny."

"Who knows? Maybe Theron is just having cold feet. It's finally happening after dating for five years; he's probably scared."

I'd never seen Theron scared of anything, except for spiders. He had a phobia of them, but I didn't even know why. So why exactly would he get scared of walking down the aisle when he commanded board members?

"I know you, Aure. You have been in love with Theron since you were eight. Seventeen years down the line, and that hasn't changed. Are you seriously just going to let him go like that? You have been pursuing him all your life; what's one more race three days to your wedding, hmm?"

She was right. For seventeen years, I'd been consistent with loving Theron. I'd been shamelessly obsessed and chased after him. I knew he ate his steak medium-rare, no sauce, and salted only after cooking. He drank his coffee hot without sugar, ever. And that wasn't because he loved them. Grilled steak is fast and efficient for Theron, and coffee keeps him awake. 

I flattened my lips. I didn't want to look like a chaser who had no limits, but Mireya was right. She was always right. A day of Theron's foolishness wouldn't destroy what I had for him for seventeen years.

"Mireya, I'll call you back."

"Don't tell me you are going there right away."

"I am." 

I ended the call, wearing my flip-flop as I rushed down the stairs.

"Miss." The attendant lady, Madam Camila, called behind me, making me halt in my tracks.

"The new batch of cakes has been brought in for tasting."

I grabbed the cake from her hands, rushing out the front door. Theron's house was just right across mine, separated only by the tarred road of the estate. When we moved places years ago, Mom and Dad had thought it was a good thing we lived right next to Theron. It was a kind of connection that not anyone would get to live right next to one of the most powerful families in Los Angeles, and we had gotten it by luck.

My fingers paused on the doorbell for a second before I pressed it. A beautiful woman pulled the door open, her smile wide and elegant, Theron's mother.

"Mi querida," she called in Spanish, pulling me into a tight hug, "Come in."

"Mother," I stretched the hand holding the packet of cakes I'd just gotten from Madam Camila towards her, "Here, cakes."

"You are the only one who thinks fondly of me in this place. Theron and his father are the same, always busy with work. I can't wait for you both to get married." She said, pulling me to sit.

I smiled lightly, tilting my head towards the stairs. "Is Theron home yet?"

"Not yet, mi querida. But soon. I think in an hour. Why don't you talk with me as I make some pancakes?"

During the next hour, Mrs Draix and I made pancakes, which I made a mess of. Either the batter was too watery or I'd sprinkled too much salt. I couldn't simply concentrate, not until the front door opened. I rushed out of the kitchen, the rich sound of Mrs Draix's laughter accompanying me out.

Theron stood at the door, staring at me as if he had just seen a ghost. Shocking, right? It was, but I wouldn't believe a word of what he said about the breakup until he repeated it loud and clear.

"What are you doing here?" he raised his brows.

"Aurelia brought us some cakes," Mrs Draix's reply flowed out of the kitchen. Only if she knew it wasn't just about pancakes.

"Do you want to talk here," I summoned courage, "or in your room?" 

Theron's eyes shifted towards the kitchen and back at me, "Follow me."

"You both should do nothing until your wedding night. It's just a few days away!"

Neither of us responded, and Theron didn't say a word even as he shut the door behind me. His room was a rich layer of navy blue and black with simple things in it: a wardrobe, a desk with lots of drawers, and a chair. He didn't stay home much, but he always made sure to be available every Friday to Saturday morning. Just like today.

"Are you better now?"

"When have I not been better?" His face creased handsomely as his brows furrowed against each other, filled with quiet discomfort. "Why exactly are you at my house?"

"I wanted to see you. To talk. I didn't think you meant what you said at the-"

His phone rang, interrupting us. Theron pulled it out from his pocket, stared at it, and turned it face down on the desk. And that was when I saw it, the ticket slated for his journey. Toronto, Canada.

"You are really going on a vacation?" I gulped, my eyes moving back to his face. "It wasn't cold feet?"

"Cold feet?" he raised his brows. "Aurelia, don't get me mad. I already informed you of my decision to cancel the wedding, and yet, you had the effrontery to show up here?"

"I just wanted to confirm-"

"There's nothing to confirm," his phone rang again, but he ignored it. "I'm informing my parents tonight, so inform yours too," he said flatly.

"What are you informing me?" The door pulled open as his mother stared between the two of us. "Aurelia, what's going on?"

Tears bit the back of my eyes. I opened my mouth to speak, but a sob threatened to escape instead, so I shut it close. I should never have come here.

Theron's eyes locked with mine. "Aurelia wants a breakup," he announced.

Just like that, the love I had for seventeen years of my life was shattered.

AURELIA

"Are you out of your mind?" my mother shouted. "A breakup? Do you think...you have the right to break up with Theron? The marriage is just in three days, why exactly do you have to ruin things?"

I bit my lips, fisting my fingers into balls. My sister stood beside me, her eyes filled with all the warmth my parents had failed to give me. 

"Find a way to fix all of these by tomorrow," my father said simply, without mincing words. To them, my only job was to get married to Theron and to help them out in expanding the business. I had no other purpose.

I wasn't like Mireya, who knew how to speak and draw partnerships, whose smile made even the hardest of hearts crack. I didn't have all A's during high school and college, and I most definitely didn't have the brains to get into Yale University. But Mireya had, and at a young age of 26, she had raked in more money than mom and dad had ever. 

As for me, hope had been lost even before it began. I was the black sheep of my family, the one who ruined the beautiful family package. Maybe that was why I had chased after Theron religiously. The news of the marriage had at least made me feel some entitlement. If I wanted something, then marriage to Theron was proof that I could get it, but even that, I failed.

My fingers clenched and unclenched by my side. 

"Why can't you be like Mireya?" Mom said, like she always does. Comparing me, trying to make me a better person by my sister's standards. Trying to fit me into a box that wasn't mine. She was the constant voice in my head that reminded me of the failure I had and will become.

"What does Mireya have to do with this? This is my marriage with Theron we are talking about." My tongue finally came loose.

My mother scoffed. "If Mireya had been the one to get married to Theron, she wouldn't have been stupid enough to break it...three days to the wedding."

"Did you ask me why? If I really broke up with Theron, aren't you supposed to ask why first instead of comparing me?" My voice shook. "You always do this. You treat me like I'm an outsider instead of your daughter. Even at this time, you are more worried about your legacy, your image, than me. Have you ever stopped to think of how I have felt all these years?" 

I didn't know if it was sadness or anger...however, whatever emotion it was that was flowing through my veins was ruining me. By tomorrow, I would regret everything I said, so tonight, I wouldn't care. I'd spill it out. 

"Why didn't you give birth to a child like Mireya if you love her so much? I never asked to be given birth to...you could have just dumped me in the trash when you knew I wouldn't be up to your standards!"

My father's palm connected with my face the moment the words left my lips. He had never slapped me before, no matter how much he'd been angry. But this time around, I guessed neither of us was in our right senses.

Behind him, at the threshold of the dining room, Madam Camila flinched. But I didn't feel anything. Not now. I've exhausted all that emotion of anger and incompetence. After all, I'd lost the only thing that kept me important to Hales: the marriage to Theron. Truthfully, somewhere inside me, I knew. That if it was Mireya who had the marriage proposal, she would have somehow managed to steal Theron's heart, and maybe that fact...hurt more than my parents' lashing.

"Aurelia..." my father's voice came. But I didn't let him finish, I turned up the stairs and ran into my room, banging the door behind me.

"Aurelia," Mireya's voice came behind the door as she knocked quietly on it, "Open up."

"Leave..." I said, pressing my head on the pillow. "I don't want to see you."

"I just want to talk," she said again.

If we spoke, I would get madder. I would think about how calm she was in this situation, while my own feelings were all over the place. I would wonder why I wasn't like her but like...this. A bubbly, happy princess who never seemed to care or get anything right, but deep inside, I was just a broken girl. The one bullied at high school, the one who went for drawing and art, because I couldn't keep up with business or food nutrition, the one who did not know what went on in my father's company. It had always been like that; I was always the clueless and unserious one. And even though Mireya was adopted sixteen years ago, she had outshone me in a matter of time. Just like that, I'd stopped being my parents' favorite, the Hales heiress, and everything that I should have. Just that way, I started to fight for my own rights in my family.

I loved Mireya too much, but I didn't want to be irrelevant. I didn't want to be an angry living bird.

Pressing my forehead into the pillow, the tears rushed out, muffled. I shouldn't cry, but I couldn't keep it pent up inside. So I cried, pouring out everything into my pillow.

~~

My eyes lazily peeled open the next morning. I groaned, pulling the curtains close to the shelf to block the rays of the sunlight that spilled into the room. It was morning already, and the sun was up, which meant everyone in my family was already awake. Yet again, I was the one black sheep that would spoil their perfect aesthetic.

I walked into the bathroom, pouring water over my face, highlighting the slight headache that had accompanied me when I woke up earlier. That was the reason I shouldn't cry; it seemed to tear apart every layer I had in me.

The dining room was quiet and empty when I walked downstairs. 

I walked towards Madam Camila, "Where's mom and dad?" 

"They went to the Draix's mansion this morning. They said they would be back soon, but it has been an hour already."

I bit the inner part of my lip slightly. They were trying to mend the relationship when they didn't even know the source. I imagined them begging for Theron to accept me back, no matter what mistake I had made. Consequence of not listening to your own daughter.

I turned, walking back up the stairs. Mireya's room door was slightly open, and I walked towards it.

"Mireya?" I called, getting into the room. Her table was right next to the door and on it-

My heart shattered into a million pieces as I stared at it. The same ticket. Same flight. Same location.

I blinked. What was going on?

Her phone vibrated next to it, and I stared at the contact. Theron Draix. 

I slid green.

"I'll be leaving today, Mireya. The house is getting suffocating with mom pestering me about Aurelia. Your parents are here too, trying to shove her down my throat. I don't just understand why they keep crossing boundaries."

My throat burned. I tried to speak, but the words simply didn't form.

"The ticket is slated for Tuesday. Are you still coming? This is the time we have to explore the city."

I had thought Theron just didn't love me. Turns out, he was in love with my sister instead.

My lips parted. "Theron."

"Mireya, are you ok-" He paused. "Aurelia? Oh shit..."

The call ended, and the door pushed open. Mireya stared at me, her eyes shifting between me, her phone, and the ticket. "You found out."

"Yeah," I bit back a quiver, "I did."

CHAPTER FOUR

AURELIA

"Mireya..." My voice shook. "Do you like Theron?"

"It's probably the other way round," she said calmly, closing the door with a soft click. "Theron likes me, so I gave him the chance to date me."

"But...we were dating," a tremor rushed through my body.

"No, you weren't. You only started dating five years ago, and even that was because I told Theron to date you. You were so pathetic writing love letters and running around him all day long. I was trying to help you-"

"Help?" I asked, my voice a shadow of itself. I felt hot, and my chest tightened, knocking out my breath. "Mireya, you were mocking me."

"Be careful, Aurelia. You don't want to die from shortness of breath." 

"Shut up!" I fired, closing the gap between us. "I'm your sister. How could you do this?"

"Theron doesn't even like you."

"At least, I...should have known. You had the chance to tell me five years ago, did you think I would get angry about that? If he didn't like me, there was nothing I could have done...so why...why didn't you..." I sucked a deep breath as my palm tightened around my shirt, "let me know?"

"Let you know?" Mireya scoffed. "You have everything, Aurelia. You are a spoiled brat. How could I possibly let you know that Theron and I were dating? You would probably throw a tantrum and force our separation, that's how you are, Aurelia."

I had everything, said the same girl who'd crumbled my whole world from the moment she appeared in my life. Said the same girl who I gave everything I had without a single word.

Theron told me to make everyone think I had broken off the marriage. It wasn't really because of his reputation; they were solid enough to push things off like this. It was because of Mireya, because he didn't want her to get hurt.

"I'm letting everyone know what you and Theron have been up to," I said flatly and pulled the door open, rushing out.

"Aurelia," Mireya grabbed my arm, but I pushed her off, rushing out of the front door. Crossing right into our gates was Theron, panic on his face.

He stared at me for just a second before the door opened and Mireya came out.

"Mireya, " he called, running towards her. 

She turned to face him as his arms wrapped around her, hugging her tightly to his chest. "Are you okay?" 

A small smile plastered Mireya's face as she stared at me. "Aurelia is mad. I think she's going to tell them," her voice was ridiculously lower than usual. Theron turned to look at me, and in that instant, my lips trembled. I had loved him.

I had loved Theron.

The scar at my back...

A shaky breath escaped from my lips as I turned. I feared that if I stared at them for too long, I would falter.

"I begged you. You can't ruin Mireya's reputation over this, you know her situation," he muttered.

Situation? What situation? When did being adopted become a ticket for things like this?

"Sort it out," I forced my voice to be cold. "You should have thought about this before going ahead with it. It's crazy how you think I should be understanding, Theron, because you treated me like trash and even lied to me."

"Aurelia-"

"Did you ever mean it? The flowers, the attendance, the love?" 

Silence ensued for a moment, and somehow, before he said it...I knew the answers. In every one of those situations, Mireya was always there.

"Mireya asked me to do those things for you, so that you wouldn't feel sad,"

That was new.

A chuckle escaped from my lips as I finally turned to look at them. My imagination drew horns on her head. 

She was so good at this. Setting circumstances and making me fall in love with him for the longest time, before she finally snatched him away from my hands, and he was so gullible, trusting, and doing as she said. The man I thought was logical and didn't have emotions was actually so stupid when he truly loved.

I pulled off his ring from my fingers, throwing it on the floor as I walked out of the gates. I won't let myself be ridiculed any longer. The doors to Theron's house pulled open even before I got to the door.

Dad stared at me. "Prepare for the wedding with Theron."

They settled without involving either of us, it seemed.

"I'm not getting married to Theron," I said, my voice coming off cold. "He's already in love-"

"I will marry you, Aurelia." 

I blinked as a voice cut me off. "What?"

"I will marry you," Theron repeated.

Behind him, Mireya's face twisted, like she was sorry. But I knew Mireya better than everyone. If she were truly sorry, then she wouldn't show it on her face. Because that was how she was, calm and always composed.

To protect this woman, Theron would do everything, including getting married to me.

~~

I stood at the edge of the bridge, my hands tightening on the railings. The cold air slapped my face, unexpectedly making me clear-headed. The bridge was my go-to whenever I felt too sad, and things were overly complicated. Just like today, I was here again.

I knew what I wanted, and it didn't include getting married to Theron anymore. However, my parents could bundle me to those wedding grounds if that would make me agree to marry. How crazy it is...that my lifelong dreams suddenly became my worst nightmare.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket, staring into the dark waters below.

"This is Aurelia Hale," I introduced myself purposely with my surname. "I need a ticket for tomorrow night, to Sydney, Australia."

Mireya's call came in the moment I ended the former.

"What do you want?"

"Are you sulking at the bridge again?" she asked. I'd let her know every corner of my life, sadly. Once upon a time, we stood on this same bridge together, when I'd still loved her.

"Don't jump in yet," she said. I could hear the movement as her heels clinked against the ground in a controlled manner. "I've always been jealous of you, Aure. You were always bubbly and happy, living life to the fullest, but you had no idea that eyes were on you. People watched you every single time. You were so innocent, the kind that would jump into fire to save the boy she loved."

I clenched my teeth. "Mireya."

"If only you had waited behind that night, then maybe Theron would have loved you. Saving his life was the fastest way to get into his heart."

My eyes narrowed.

Mireya chuckled, "For the person who saved his life, Theron would do everything. That's how he is."

"What?" I gasped, "Did you lie to Theron-"

"Now that you know, Aurelia, I can't keep you safe. Besides, if you are alive, that means you would get married to him, which I do not agree to. Theron is mine."

"Mireya-"

"Good bye, Aurelia."

A car light flashed behind me, pulling me attention. I turned, my feet rooted to the ground.

I barely felt the impact of the hit. My eyes blurred as the rails gave way to the water underneath. My lungs seized as the water pulled me in. 

For a second...for a split second, Theron's face flashed in my memories.

But even that vanished as my eyes closed.

If I had a second chance, just one more chance...

I would not fall in love with Theron, and I would never trust Mireya.