Margaret’s heart stopped. “My stepmother has already collected the money?”

Emmanuel laughed hysterically, “Face them, not me”

Margaret’s knee buckled, she hit the ground before she could stop herself. Emmanuel chuckled and walked into the house.

Her hands were shaking as she fumbled with her phone and dialed Bianca, but there was no response, and the same went for Odette and Bella.

She sat there in the wedding dress, feeling like a fool and remembering everything Bella said to her in the past.

She wasn’t as hostile as her mum and sister, always quiet and never seem to have any business with Margaret.

“No. I must get my money,” She sprang to her feet and ran after Emmanuel into the house.

The living room was deserted, but his suit was tossed on the couch.

She gulped hard and made her way upstairs, trying to find his room. Then she heard a giggle and a familiar voice. “I told you things would be easier. Margaret is very foolish”

Emmanuel’s voice seconded. “You have to see her face when I was telling her you’re my girlfriend. Did she really think she could be my wife?”

They both laughed, each echo of the laughter hitting like a slap.

This was true; she bolted through the room where the voices were coming from; pushed open the door, and the sight emptied her completely.

Bella was in his bed, Emanuel’s hand in her hair both of them mocking her.

Margaret’s breath caught in her. She wanted to close her eyes and look away, but the shock nailed her feet to the floor.

Bella laughed “All thanks to mum, I wouldn’t have thought of using her this easily”

Margaret’s leg trembled, grabbing the wall for support.

Bella giggled again and resumed her strokes, not aware of the frozen Margaret on the doorway. Her muscles screamed at her to run, but she couldn’t move.

For a moment, she felt like the third wheel, too shocked to react until the two of them changed positions and he got on top of her.

Even though Bella saw her when she turned, she ignored and continued her shameful act until Margaret couldn’t take it anymore.

“No..” she breathed. “No…” she gasped again. “No!!!!” Margaret finally yelled and Emmanuel stopped.

“Bella… How could you?” Margaret gasped again, tears welled up in her eyes. “I trusted you”

Bella giggled through her heavy breathing. “Trust is not in my dictionary sis”

Emmanuel was also breathing heavily, “What did you want?” he demanded.

Tears choked Margaret’s throat, and she was unable to speak for a while; then she remembered she had come back. “I… I came to ask for my payment. We have an agreement, Bella”

“Agreement?” Bella sneered. “Why should I waste precious money on paying you just to stand at the altar?”

“But I… I tried to please you” Margaret cried. “I tried my best to act natural even when Bianca hissed at me!”

Bella got up and grabbed a cup of water from the bedside… “Aw, don’t blame me. Blame your silly brain that kept obeying us as a repayment of some long dead debt”

Margaret turned to Emmanuel in a daze, “You knew that what I did deserved to be paid for! You also promised me!”

Emmanuel sighed, and ran his hand through his hair. “You annoy me to the core,” he bent over, pulling the drawer out to draw out a bale of dollars.

Margaret thought it was for her until Emmanuel picked out two 50-dollar bills and handed them to Margaret. “That should be enough to get you off my neck”

Margaret felt punched in the chest. The bills fluttered down landing at her feet like garbage.

“Did you really want to be my wife?” Emmanuel snickered. “Not even in my dreams will I think of having anything to do with an ex convict”

Her soul cracked.

She was really an outcast, a slave, and a mere tool in her stepfamily’s hands, and now, they’re using her for outsiders.

She realized that all this while trying to please her family was just her own delusion.

She never mattered to them, they only wanted to use her while she clung to the belief that she owed them.

She turned to leave. But she stopped before stepping out and looked at Emmanuel. “Remember the whole world knew me as your wife, not Bella?”

Then she left without picking his money, more tears dropping from her eyes.

“I hate you, Natasha Royce,” she cussed her mother, the woman she had never seen before, saw bitterly. ‘I hate you so much that it hurts me that I hate you’ she cried again, stepping out of the warm house on a cold night. ‘If you hadn’t abandoned me to these wolves… perhaps life would be better’

She was too hollowed out, shattered, broken, and defeated to care whether she was wearing a cardigan or not.

She flagged a cab with trembling hands, and glanced at her tear stained face and white-turned-brown wedding dress, but said nothing.

“Here,” the kind-hearted driver finally offered her a tissue, which she accepted with trembling hands.

Margaret pressed the thin sheet to her face and sobbed more bitterly until the cab arrived before their house.

“We are here,” the driver announced, jolting her out of her thoughts.

She took a deep breath and stepped out of the car.

At first, she was hesitant.

Then, with shaky hands she opened the door and met two pairs of eyes, staring at her with extreme hostility but never surprise.

“Good evening, mum,” she greeted, nodding at Bianca as if she were never therem making her way to her room.

"Stop! Why are you home? You should be consummating your marriage now?” Odette spat with malice, making Margaret stop.

“I’m divorcing him tomorrow mum” She replied confidently. “You said I’d be his wife until he got the company. He has it now and I’m done!”

“You should still be there, so what happened?” Bianca asked while the maid set cucumber to her face.

Tears choked Margaret’s throat again.

Their pretense as if they didn’t know about what Bella did made her sadder but she still managed to answer. “He… He sent me away”

Odette walked around her for a while, “Sent you away, huh?”

“Bella was there. They’re both… They’re both dating and….” Margaret stopped again, then looked at Odette. “You must have known what happened, so don’t ask me anything again”

As she said this, Bianca and her mum burst into sarcastic laughter.

Margaret felt foolish, still standing here with a tear stained face.

“M…Mum…?” She wanted to call but stopped and changed her tone. “Why did you do this after I suffered in prison for two years?”

Odette stopped, a sly and annoying tone reached out her hand to raise Margaret’s jaw. “My dear, blame Natasha for all these. She left you to me so she could elope with my husband. So I have no choice my dear”

“But that was Natasha!” Margaret cried. “I obeyed all your orders, just to show you I’m not Natasha!! I wanted to be good for you…”

“You can never be enough!” The woman asserted. “I will make sure you pass through the hell I passed because of your mother!”

The pain of those words stung like bee.

Now the truth is finally here.

‘I’ve been stupid. I’ve been too stupid!’ she scolded herself inwardly. ‘I thought they saw me as me, but they saw a guilty bird out to use…’

With this anger, Margaret lashed at her stepmom. “I refuse to pay for the sins I didn’t commit again!! I paid for everything already… Let it stay that way!”

Odette raised her hand and slapped Margaret, “How dare you talk back at me?”

The trace of the woman’s hand against her cheeks is now very visibly red. Bianca got up with agitation, “Margaret what has come over you?”

Margaret wasn’t taking it easy. “The biggest mistake I made in my life was believing your lies and going to prison”

“Margaret!” Odette yelled.

“You sent me to scholarship only school while your daughters attended private schools, yet I didn’t complain”

“Stop right there, Marg, or else—”

Her hands tore the hem of the wedding dress. The sound of it ripping was the most satisfying she’d heard all day.

“I will hate Natasha Royce till I die, but before then, if I have a chance to taste wealth, I will destroy you, Mum”

“Margaret!” Bianca screamed this time and raised her hand mid-air to slap, but Margaret caught the hand mid-air and looked her sister in the eyes.

“I am no longer yours and your sister’s pawn or stand in. I will make sure to tear each part of your body and feed it to the birds I have the chance to”

Margaret now stood on the doorstep in just her slip, her shredded wedding dress pooled at her feet like shredded skin.

Before leaving she reminded Odette, “I’ll be back, but stronger”

Odette laughed.

She heard Bianca’s mockery. “You’ll be back to where? You have nowhere to go, Ex-convict”

Margaret didn’t let that faze her, she closed the door after herself with hot tears. “It’s really over”

The cold night air reminded Margaret she was really homeless.

Her feet carried her wherever until she stopped on a bridge overlooking a large ocean.

“Why!!!?” she cried into the water as if she saw someone there. “Why did I have to pay for your sins, Natasha?” No answers, just the sound of distant cars and flapping of the water.

Margret knew nothing about her mother’s family or other relatives she could go to.

Her legs gave out, and she collapsed onto the snowy ground, her back against the cold metal railing before she could decide on anything.

Her teeth chattered painfully, while her hot tears didn’t help but make her eyelids grow heavier.

Perhaps… just perhaps, this is the end?

••••

“Find that woman Odette and her twins and bring them to my feet!”

Distant and muffled voices swirled around Margaret.

“…she must pay for….”

‘Who’s talking?’ She wondered. “….if my….”

Margaret tried to open her eyes but they felt glued shut.

‘What’s happening?’ Her body felt as if it were made of stone, and she couldn’t even lift a finger.

Panic crept in immediately. ‘Am I dead?’

She tried to scream, but no sound came out. Only her ears worked and she heard that grey voice again.

“Doctor, how is my granddaughter?”

‘Granddaughter. That word cut through the fog, she wanted to yell that she had no grandfather!

But it still felt difficult.

“My poor Natasha could….”

‘Natasha?’ Now this is where Margaret lost it all. Even if she was dead, didn’t want anything to do with Natasha, and while fighting with the darkness, her finger twitched.

She felt the doctor’s hand on her, then the cold stethoscope on her chest. “She’s coming back….get the drips”

“Chairman, she fainted from exhaustion and malnutrition, which mean she can’t wake up soon”

“Do anything to bring her back to life!” Margaret heard the old voice command again. “I will only be fine if I see her alive”

The doctor turned quietly and prepared a syringe and gently injected Margaret’s arm.

The moment the needle touched her skin, Margatet’s finger twitched, and her eyes snapped open.

“Urgh…” Came her slow grunt as she closed her eyes again before opening them again when it could adjust to the illuminated room.

“Marg, are you awake?” The doctor asked, tapping her. “Move a finger if you’re here with me”

Margaret obeyed, slowly turned her eyes, and found herself in the presence of a strange old man and the doctor.

“Doctor, Is she awake?” The old man asked. “Can I talk to her now?”

The doctor didn’t keep his hand off Margaret’s as he replied, “Let her adjust to the strange environment first, Chairman”

“How… How long was I asleep for?” Margaret asked slowly.

The doctor waved his hand over her face, “Can you see me clearly?”

Margaret’s vision was still struggling between life and death, she could only see the doctor’s outline, but she nodded. “Y.. Yes. Just a little”

The doctor rushed off again and came back with an optical touch-light, which he held to her eyes several times before Margaret confirmed that she could see him clearly.

She looked at the doctor and repeated her previous question and the doctor hurriedly replied. “You’ve been asleep for three days. I guess that’s why it’s so hard to adjust to the light.

Her heart sank. Fainted for three whole days? Margaret turned her head slowly, Thomas Royce, the richest man in Grimespring City, was watching her with guilt.

“Who are you?” She asked after staring at him even more.

The doctor helped her sit up on the bed, and bowed to the man. “I have other things to do, chairman”

Thomas nodded, and after the doctor was gone, he rushed to Margaret. “I’m so happy to see you my dear, I was so worried that you won’t wake up….”

“Who are you?’ she demanded, still doesn’t know who the old man was.

His expression changed to a sad one as he gulped, “All these are my fault. I should have accepted Natasha’s pregnancy and take care of it instead of making her live in a polygamous family”

Margaret was now getting out of hand. “What does Natasha have to do with you?”

“Natasha Royce, my daughter, your mum”

“What?” she arched her brow. “Don’t say her name to me!”

Thomas Royce sighed. “ I mean it. Natasha Royce, your mum was my daughter”

It took a while before she could accept the news. “You mean…..” Thomas nodded. “Yes, dear. I’m your grandfather”

Margaret stared at the old man. His face lined with age, but those eyes— awfully familiar to that of Natasha

“No!” She whispered. Her voice was hoarse, broken. “You’re lying”

But even as she said it, she knew he wasn’t.

She wanted to call the old man fake, but the words wouldn’t come. “N… Natasha Royce was your daughter?” Margaret’s hand gripped the hospital sheets. “The woman who destroyed my life, and left me to those monsters?”

Thomas flinched like she’d struck him. “She didn’t abandon dear.” His voice broke. “I… I pushed her out. I was too ashamed that a Royce got pregnant for a mere driver like your father and….”

“I don’t know you” Margaret cut into his old voice sharply. “I don’t have any family, so thank you for saving me from freezing to death”

She climbed down the bed prepared to leave, so far she wouldn’t get to hear anything about Natasha again.

“…blame me dear. Hate me forever, but don’t leave like she did”

“You…” Margaret’s voice shook. “You could have looked for me after her death”

The old man went silent. His head bowed in shame. Margaret continued regardless, “Your daughter brought me to this life to suffer for sins I never committed. Odette and her twins used me anyhow they wanted and I was even imprisoned!… you didn’t find me then, but only now?

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

Margaret turned around, angrily. “Don’t tell me sorry! You abandoned your own daughter because of some reputation till she died while eloping. You haven’t come for me since I was a kid, and you think I would just follow you?”

All the bottled up emotions came rushing in great currents as she cried even more.

“I… I thought you also died, “the man explained. “You were with your parents, during the accident but how come that wicked woman raised you until now is very heartbreaking”

Margaret stopped. “I was there during the accident?”

“Yes. She sent me a message before leaving, but I ignored it”

He rushed to her and hugged her. “I was foolish to believe that you were not alive. I was too focused on the company”

“Grandpa why….” Margaret cried on his shoulders and hugged him back slowly. “I went through hell”

Deep down, through her anger, Margaret is also happy that she finally found another family, even though it was through Natasha again!

The door burst open, causing Margaret to jump; a handsome and confident man strode in, holding a bouquet of lilies.

Before she could react, he pulled her into a hug.

“Where have you been all these while, sister”

Margaret’s jaw dropped. “S…Sister?”

The second one gave her the flower bouquet with a smile. “Thank you for making it back home”

She was confused by all these displays of affection, as she wasn’t used to them.

The last one came in, Looking all kept up and neat, in a white lab coat, professional but sinister.

He presented Margaret with flower bouquet before demanding with clenched jaws “Tell me their names”

“Whose names?”

“The ones who put you in that cell,” His tone was clinical. “I want to know the kind of accidents they’re prone to. Do they have heart conditions or weak bones that might snap under pressure?”

Margaret’s blood ran cold His eyes were fire— he wasn’t joking.

“Ken” the first brother’s warning was sharp “This is not your hospital”

Kenneth growled, “They threw her in prison, Enzo. They made my cousin endure all the dirty tortures of the prison and…”

“Guys!” The middle one yelled, “We can argue at home, please.” He looked more like the eldest, even though he wasn’t as tall or as lanky as Kenneth.

He faced Margaret again. “I’m Enzo”

Margaret gulped hard, unsure of what to say, but nodded her head. “Nice to meet you, Enzo”

Then Thomas came between them. “Marg. These are your cousins, Enzo, Jason and Kenneth. Feel free around them, we’re all responsible for not finding you earlier”

Margaret’s lips curved into a smile, feeling elated.

Jason patted her shoulder. “Now that you’re here, no one will ever raise a finger at you. I promise you that”

She smiled again as each promised her safety, adding to both her joy and her doubt.

'I can’t believe Natasha has a very good family like this’ She thought and remembered how Odette only talked about her relationship with Natasha and how Natasha stole her husband, but never where she was from.

The Royce Family are indeed popular, but never in her life would she have imagined that they were the same Royce family her mother was from.

She was moved to tears seeing these people before her.

Fenrir reached out and hugged her with one arm. “We tried to find you, after we heard Aunt Natasha's story. But we failed”

She sulked against his shoulder for a while, then the door was kicked open again. They all looked towards the door and CEO Brian Royce was there, accompanied by his wife.

Margaret was stunned once again.

Everyone knew Brian Royce— a billionaire.

“Look how lean you are,” he whined, pulling her into a hug. “I never imagined Natasha left us with a gift like this”

His voice shook, almost crying, but Margaret stopped him. “No. Natasha is gone. We should let her rest”

For the first time in her life, Margaret cried sincerely about Natasha’s death.

After the crying session, Margaret learned that Brian is Natasha’s elder brother, who controls all the Royce family's fortune.

Margaret was happy for all these and thought that was all not until Thomas stood up and cleared his throat, “Natasha was my only daughter which means half of my property which Brian controls now, belongs to her”

Margaret doesn’t see anything coming; she only listens as Thomas drops the banger. “So, now that we found her successfully, Margaret will now rule half of what belongs to me”

“What?” she squealed in shock. “That is too much, I don’t think I can….”

“No is never an option, Marg,” Fenrir smiled. “Whatever that belongs to Aunt Natasha belongs to you, and we will protect you no matter what”

Margaret beamed in a pleasing smile, but was shocked and bewildered.

Brian Royce gave her a file. “Check it”

Margaret looked at him strangely but still opened the folder. Then she saw the property transfer papers from Brian Royce’s name to hers, not as Margaret Clinton, but as Margaret Tasha.

“Margaret Tasha?” She frowned. “My name is Margaret Clinton”

Thomas took the papers and looked at them with a longing expression. “My Natasha is very good at everything she does and is always happy. She chose Tasha as her business name before giving it up I never thought…”

“So, you’re asking me to take on Natasha’s name and finish what she started?” A trace of hurt appeared on her face. “I refuse to live in another person’s shadow”

She got up, sad that she had to live in Natasha’s shadow yet again. The reason she didn’t want her family was that they kept making her stand in for someone else.

Margaret doesn’t want this kind of setting.

She had to leave, but Fenrir, who was standing close to the door, held her back.

She looked down, “Leave my hand and let me go”

“Will you let her die in vain?” His voice was slow and deliberate. “I heard you were in the car when the accident too. Don’t ever wonder why you’re alive, and she’s not?”

Margaret snatched her hand from him. “You don’t use that hook on me!”

“Then what about us!?” Kenneth growled. “How else can we protect you?”

“Making me live a life that was never mine is not how to protect me, Kenneth”

After saying that, the people in the room fell silent; she turned and meant to leave yet again but stopped at the door.

‘Will I leave like this?’ she wondered, her mind racing with panic. ‘Will I go back to being Bella and Bianca’s body double?’

These people are not actually asking her to live as someone else, just a name change.

“You know how many bikers owe me favors across the country?” Jason’s voice was casual, almost lazy. “One call, and I’ve got eyes in every road, every alley, every hiding spot that Clintons might use.” He pulled out his phone, showing her a map with dozens of red dots. “These are my routes and your other family, can never escape my radar”

Margaret bit her lips in perplexity, but turned to Brian “If I sign those papers, that means I will not be a Royce or a Clinton, but Tasha….?”

“It’s not a must, dear,” Thomas implored. “I just thought I could.…”

She took the papers from Thomas and snatched a pen from Brian’s chest pocket.

The name wasn’t a Royce, Clinton or ‘convict’

“I will be your responsibility from now on, brothers?” Then she signed the papers. “I will live my life and that of Natasha but, I want to complete my education”

Brian’s face lit up in glee. “That is not a problem, dear.” He picked up his phone and tapped the screen. It rang for a while before he spoke, “Yes, New York Business College?”

Silence.

Then he continued. “Make a reservation for the new heiress of the Royce family. She will be joining this school year”

Margaret’s heart was racing. ‘But I need this’ she thought, ‘I must take a leap of revenge and pay back all they did to me’

“Oh her name?” Brian paused for a while. “Margaret Tasha”

Margaret looked at him, the name still felt foreign. “And if a word of her enrollment leaks to anyone… I’ll pull every cent of Royce funding from your school. Understood?”

He hung up and smiled warmly at Margaret. “Welcome home dear”