C H A P T E R 1 2
?Life is short.
Take the trip.
Buy the shoes.
Eat the cake.?
"Only one word; beautiful. This is beautiful," I whispered, my voice barely leaving my lips as I took in the sight in front of me, where I would be living for the duration of my stay at the mansion.
"So, you like it?" Mrs. Jenson asked and I could almost hear the hesitation and nervousness in her voice. It almost made me want to cry seeing the old lady nervous and anxious to know if I liked it or not.
I shook my head at her. "I don't like it, I love it," I corrected, beaming at her, "Mom," I added.
I love how the word sounded when I spoke it.
I miss my mom.
Mrs. Jenson surprised me by stepping towards me and taking me in a tight hug.
"I'm so glad you're back," she whispered, sighing into my hair.
"I missed you so much," she said, pulling back and cupping my cheeks before kissing my forehead.
My heart warmed at her motherly affection and although she wasn't my real mother, I was happy.
I hugged her back and we stayed like that for a very long time before Olivia walked into the room, coughing to get our attention and we pulled away to see her standing at the doorway awkwardly.
"Hey, come on in," my mom beckoned to Olivia and she stepped into the room, her eyes flying wide open and her mouth almost forming an 'o'. "How is her room?"
"This is so beautiful," Olivia whispered, saying exactly what I had said. Because my room was just that. Beautiful.
My room was big. Bigger than the room I had been staying in.
About two times bigger than my old apartment.
It was done up in a white and baby pink color combination with smooth white marble tiles and a purple-white design on one of the walls.
Pink was not my color, but I wasn't complaining.
I didn't have the right to complain either, seeing as I didn't own anything of this.
I preferred blue and black. Black, if I had to choose between the two.
But the colors wouldn't look cheerful for the room, if any, it would be depressing to look at.
There was a big walk-in closet in my bedroom which was bigger than my bedroom at my old apartment.
It had all those big compartments to keep clothes in with a full length mirror with a table on the side.
It had a big wall mounted shoe rack, which I was sure would fit more than hundred pairs of shoes.
The whole closet interior was also done up in baby pink, which I thought was slightly extreme.
Too much pink but okay, I had no right to complain, I reminded myself.
There was a big, queen sized bed with white pillow covers and a large baby pink duvet back in the spacious bedroom.
Right on top was a huge chandelier dangling and the wall behind my bed had a simple pink flowers and green branches design.
Numerous books were stacked in the shelves and when I asked Mrs. Jenson about it, she told me that she remembered how I loved to read.
Seemed like Juliet and I do had a thing in common. I thought we were complete opposites.
On the right was a table with drawers. A sleek black and gold Luvaglio laptop, an iPhone Black Diamond and headphones were resting on it.
Seeing the iPhone reminded me of my own phone.
I instantly felt relieved that I was smart enough to put a password on my phone.
On asking, Mrs. Jenson told me that my phone was safely placed in one of the drawers and although she told me that now I have an iPhone Black Diamond, I still wanted to use my small smartphone.
It was the first thing I had bought with my own money and I was pretty proud of myself.
I couldn't just throw away the phone which I bought with my own hard earned money.
It held a lot of sentimental value for me.
It reminded me of how independent I had become and no way would I ever give it up.
It was one of my priceless possession, besides my mom's necklace and my dad's watch which were safe in my closet, locked in a black box back at my small and old apartment.
I sighed. I hoped I can get that someday.
I didn't know how long I'd be here among this elegance and finesse.
"That's great! I'm so glad you both like it! I wanted everything perfect for my baby princess," Mrs. Jenson said lovingly.
I smiled widely at her and Olivia.
"I've got a lot planned for today. We're going clothes shopping for you and Olivia and it's going to take a lot of time as we have to shop for shoes, dresses, make up, bags, perfumes and a lot of things.
All of your choice, Juliet!" Mrs. Jenson exclaimed.
"We better start early. I have made the mall private for eight hours and the public has being restrained from entering the mall for today.
I did it all for you so you wouldn't be uncomfortable.
"Couldthis even be possible?
A mall private for us for eight hours?
I just stared at her as she explained what we were going to do.
This woman, right in front of me, was the most amazing mother to Juliet.
She did so much for her daughter. I was shocked.
She really treated her daughter like a baby princess.
That was natural. She had been away from Juliet for two years.
And she still hadn't met her. I was just someone she thought was Juliet.
"And what about the paparazzi, Mrs. Jenson?" Olivia's question brought me back to the present and I looked over at her.
"Don't worry about it, dear. I've already taken care of it.
I can understand that after two long years, Juliet must not be ready to face the cameras.
So I've ensured that the entrance and exits of the store are heavily guarded," she said with an enthusiastic smile.
"Nobody even knows that we have found Juliet. "
"Oh, that's great," Olivia replied.
"Well then, we must get going. I was ready to let my personal shopper pick clothes for you, but you wanted to pick it out for yourself so we should not waste time," she said.
"Yeah, let's go," Olivia said before linking my arm with hers and dragging me out the door.
We were already ready, bathed, changed into clothes and had a heavy breakfast before I was shown to my room and now we were all going shopping for Olivia and I.
"Where are we going shopping though?" I heard Olivia ask my mom as she excitedly slipped in a pair of light blue converses. I was handed the same. "I mean where is your mall?"
"Aventura mall," Mrs. Jenson answered with a smile. "A nearly twenty minute ride from here."
"Oh my gosh!" Olivia exclaimed, barely able to hold her excitement. "Aventura?! As in Aventura?!" Olivia asked.
My mom looked over at her in amusement. "Yes. Exactly as in Aventura."
"I had been there," Olivia gushed. "But left as soon as I came when I saw the price tags," she muttered in the end, not meaning for Mrs. Jenson to hear, and thankfully she didn't. But I did and so I chuckled.
We made our way out of the mansion where three beautiful cars were waiting for us. I gasped at the sight.
One was a black Mercedes-Benz Maybach Exelero, another was a silver Aston Martin One-77 and the third one was a Bugatti Veyron.
"Do we need all the three?" I asked. Will we get our own car to drive in?!
"Well, of course. We are three and so we obviously need three cars. Now come on you girls. Haven't you seen these cars ever?" No.
We skipped towards the car, Olivia and I wanting to sit in the same car, the black beauty, Mercedes-Benz.
I reached first and so I hopped into the backseat of the car, giggling as I heard Olivia groan.
"Juliet, will you use the Aston Martin car?" She asked me sweetly.
"Absolutely not, Olivia," I said, grinning up at her. She looked at me sourly.
"Oh come on, Julie," she whispered. "Let me sit in this car!"
"No can do, miss. And have you forgotten? I am Juliet Jenson, the billionaire's daughter," I said, squaring my shoulders and fake glaring at her.
"Huh? More like the billionaire's unauthentic daughter," she scoffed before walking away after giving me a glare. I laughed at her.
A man in black shades and a black suit with a white shirt underneath came up to me and shut the door for me before walking around the car and getting into the driver's seat.
I rolled up the heavily tinted windows, catching the sight of Olivia getting into the Aston Martin and Mrs. Jenson in the Bugatti Veyron. I smiled to myself. My life had taken a crazy, yet beautiful turn.
We reached the mall in about thirty minutes.
As promised, the entrance was heavily guarded.
I saw a throng of reporters crowding the entrance.
As our cars drove into the mall's parking lot, I saw their attention shift to us.
They were held back from entering and we got out of the cars, not really visible to the people outside, at the entrance.
Apparently they had heard that the mall was going private for a few hours and that had never occurred in two years so they were curious as to what was going on.
"Juliet, dear. This way," I heard Mrs. Jenson say to me and I whipped around to see her. She beckoned for me to follow her and I did with Olivia. As we entered the mall, the first thing I noticed was the bright and cheerful interior.
Aventura was one of the most expensive fashion malls in New York with refined de la Renta furniture and coral stone walls.
It was a nearly one hundred thousand square feet mall.
It had a magnificent catwalk like shoe display, luxurious VIP dressing areas and outstanding jewelry exhibitions.
I had never set foot in the mall ever in my life.
This was the first time and I was amazed at being in there, the whole place screaming money and elegance, all of which I was not.
"Just take whatever you want, Juliet and Olivia.
I'll be in the other section looking for clothes for myself," Mrs. Jenson said.
"This feels so odd. Usually, my personal shopper shops for me.
The last time I shopped for myself was probably a few year ago," she mused.
I saw a couple of women approaching us. They greeted us with charming smiles.
"What would you like to buy? We have an awesome latest women's summer collection and an equally amazing range of shoes, bags and jewelry to choose from," one of them said.
"Show me some beautiful and expensive party gowns.
There are a lot of events coming up," Mrs. Jenson ordered.
"As for these young ladies," she said, gesturing to us, "Just give them whatever they want.
The fashion choices for young ladies have changed so much," she said, shaking her head, "I don't know what they prefer nowadays. "
"Okay, ma'am. We'll show you some gowns. If you would please follow me," one of them stepped forward. Mrs. Jenson nodded.
"Mrs. Jenson," Olivia called out suddenly. Mrs. Jenson turned around to look at her. "Um...how many dresses are we supposed to pick out for ourselves?"
"As many as you like," she replied. "Thirty, forty...whatever number of dresses, shoes or bags you want. Don't care about the price. Don't even look at it. Juliet surely doesn't and ends up picking about fifty gowns in one go."
My mouth popped open. Damn, such a rich brat!
Who would leave a life like this for as silly a reason as refusal to buy your love interest?
Stupid, stupid Juliet.
"Uh-uhm...al-alright," Olivia stammered, certainly not expecting the answer Mrs. Jenson gave her.
When we two used to go shopping, we rarely bought more than two dresses each.
And Mrs. Jenson, so very coolly, as if she told us we can buy fifty candies, told us that we can buy fifty freaking dresses, shoes and bags. This was so crazy.
Mrs. Jenson left us alone with the two women working in the mall.
They asked us to follow them and we did.
They led us to the first floor of the mall which was the clothing section.
I looked around. No one was there. I had never seen a mall this empty of life.
It was as if a zombie apocalypse had wiped out the human population on Earth and we were the ones alive.
I chuckled to myself. I had always imagined what I would do if I was a sole survivor on Earth.
I'd probably rob malls, wear all those expensive clothes I couldn't afford, eat all of the food in the malls.
Probably play paintball with Olivia if she was also alive with me. It would be so much fun.
My imagination was cut short when I realized we had stopped walking.
I looked around to see we had entered a store.
"I'm Farah, this is Diana and Lucy," Farah said, gesturing to the other two women by her side.
"Mrs. Jenson told me to show you everything that is in our store, and we're sure you'd love everything.
After all, these are all sourced from top brands, right off the runway for parties, events and much more.
I think we should start off with party wear because Mrs. Jenson had earlier called us up and updated us with your visit and your schedule for the day.
We're here to help you get everything you'll need, from casual wear, party gowns, bags and shoes to make up, skin care products and much more," She said in one breath.
"Okay," I said, getting impatient to see all those dresses. I can't believe this was happening.
"Here is our party wear collection from Jovani, Ralph Lauren, Faviana, Terani Couture, Versace, Prada, Giorgio Armani, Gucci and many more.
I'll be at the counter if you need me," Farah said, pointing to the big counter at the entrance of the store labeled 'Party in Style'.
"I'll be free to help you out anytime. Diana and Lucy will show you some of our most beautiful gowns.
Have fun!" With that, Farah gave us a huge smile before walking off to the counter where she settled herself amongst the posh counter and immersed herself into work.
I stared at her for a while, not knowing what to do.
"Juliet! How is this gown?" I heard Olivia say and I turned my head to look at her pointing to a black strapless evening gown hanging on a hanger, with beautiful pattern work around the neckline and a thigh high slit, which Lucy was holding up for us to look at.
"It's beautiful," I said honestly, staring at it like a kid would would stare at candy.
"I know, right?" She said excitedly. "Why don't you choose some gowns for yourself?" She said.
"Uhm...okay," I said. Diana smiled at me as she held up two more equally amazing gowns for me.
"I think this will look beautiful on you," she said and I stepped closer to examine the piece of clothing. One was a red wine colored halter dress and the other was a white sleeveless metallic gown.
"I like these," I said as I examined closely. My fingers ran around the fabric of the wine colored dress before freezing around the price tag.
$5,700?!
What the hell?! This absolutely gorgeous and sexy metallic gown which looked like it was straight off the runway is for freaking $5,700?! Oh God!
Just one party dress costs this much! And Juliet used to buy loads of them. That means...oh my God, she must be spending like nearly a million dollars on shopping?
My attention snapped to Olivia who was checking out some dresses but I saw her eyes widen and she looked at me instantly.
Holy fuck! I saw her mouth the words to me. $2,200?!
What did you expect? $22? I
scoff-mouthed at her. The woman is a billionaire!
Shit! I understood what she mouthed. And that was why we were best friends. We understood each other in a way no one could. If someone happened to see our silent conversations, they would think we weren't right in the head.
Olivia shrugged. It's not like we're going to pay for it.
She mouthed, to which I just gave her a glare.
What?! It's not like they care about it anyways.
They wouldn't even notice a million or two gone among their hundreds of billions worth of wealth.
She defended. Just think about it as concession from their side for kidnapping us.
And it's not like we're going to take these with us when they come to know about the truth, although I would have loved to keep a few dresses. .. She trailed off.
Olivia! I scolded her.
Gosh, I was just kidding, you saint. She said, muttering something at the end which I couldn't quite catch.
Shaking my head, I turned back to the dresses. Guess I had some, well actually a lot of shopping to do, from gowns to bags to shoes to accessories to make up to underwear to bikinis to casual wear to pajamas. At least that was what I was told to shop for.
I flopped on the bed, resurfacing and dipping down again slightly on it because it was just so bouncy, and so comfortable that the moment my head touched the pillow and my body hugged the soft duvet, I just wanted nothing more than to curl up into a ball with the covers wound tightly around me and sleep as if there was no tomorrow. I was that exhausted.
I never really thought that shopping would be this energy and time consuming until today.
We had been at the mall for more than four hours.
It was as if I was shopping for my wedding, or shopping as if I had no clothes at all at home.
The life of a billionaire's daughter was sure frustrating and tiring.
I could not help but sympathize with Juliet.
Doing this every now and then would be the death of me.
I would literally go mad if I was in Juliet's place.
Or get angry at the slightest provocation.
Juliet didn't seem that bitchy after all.
If any, she was strong to cope up with the stress of being the daughter of someone so famous and rich.
And she was barely eighteen when she ran away.
She was so young and she dealt with this pretty well.
I didn't know her much, heck I didn't even know how she looked, but I hoped she would come back to her parents soon.
Even if that meant that our lie would get discovered and we would be kicked out.
Nothing was worse than having to live through the experience of being without their own child.
And nothing was more heartbreaking than living without their own parents. I related with that so much.
I sighed, covering my face with my hands. I was dressed in a comfortable pair of short shorts and a tank top. The clothing was minimal but appropriate for bed. Besides, it was not like anyone was going to see me in these clothes here. As I stared at the ceiling, I ran through today's events.
Together, we had nearly picked about thirty dresses, all very costly, may I add; and beautiful of course.
Then we had moved to the casuals section where we had bought a lot of jeans, tops and shorts.
After that we had moved to the make up section where Mrs. Jenson was also present, trying out a new eyeliner from some make up brand.
We almost bought the whole store. Then we moved to the bags, going through every brand of bags and clutches to go with our clothes.
Olivia's favorite was the shoe store where we bought loads of converses, stilettoes, which were extremely hard to walk into, may I add, and flats and flip flops too.
We had had enough for the day and were so tired, I wanted nothing more than a bed right now.
At dinner we had a great meal laid out before us.
Thankfully, I wasn't given cow food again.
Although my happiness was short lived when Mr. Jenson announced that Ethan was going to return back from Marseille late tonight or probably tomorrow morning if he missed a flight because he was late for some of the meetings which took up hours of time.
Secretly, I wished he would miss every single flight back to New York and stay there in Marseille for as long as I was here.
After that I was shown my walk-in closet which was now fully and completely stacked with clothes, shoes and bags we shopped for, today.
The walk in closet was huge and I looked at the long line of clothes neatly stacked on the hangers in amazement.
The shoes all fit in the big shoe rack, surprisingly because I was doubting it will even fit half of the shoes we bought.
The make up products and creams were in the dresser which had an oval shaped mirror.
Now I was here, at 11:34 at night, completely drained of my energy, after having a warm shower and a long, tiring day.
I was already in my bed, flopped down with my arms and legs spread as wide as possible.
I flailed my arms and legs around on the bed, like one would do on snow, enjoying the silky, soft fabric beneath me.
Everyone was asleep and I wanted to do the same badly. Just one problem, I was too tired to even switch the light off and take the duvet over me, and I didn't want to call Samara to do that for me. I was feeling that lazy.
Nonetheless, I reluctantly got up after a ton of effort.
I went downstairs, peed, drank some water, went back upstairs, kicking the door of the room behind me.
I switched off the lights, pulling the rubber band off and running a hand through it, while slightly massaging my head.
I quickly dove into my bed, pulling the covers over me while sticking my toes out from the duvet because I just liked to do that for some reason.
The moment my head touched the pillow, sleep engulfed me and my eyes closed of their own accord almost immediately.
It felt as if hours had passed. I was dead tired but I wasn't able to sleep as deeply as usual.
I was half asleep. At the back of my mind, I was aware of my surroundings.
I could here the faint, almost inaudible sound of the second hand tick by, of the alarm clock resting on the nightstand.
It was quiet. Too quiet, as if I awake in the middle of the night but was asleep at the same time.
I snuggled my face deeper into something soft.
I found myself trying to recollect some event.
Something that didn't happen but I saw it happening.
Suddenly, a few hazy images flashed at the back of my eyes.
Someone was crying. In an instant, I knew it was me.
I tried to make some sense of what I just saw.
It felt unreal. After a while of trying, I gave up on recollecting those images in my head.
Wherever they came from, it didn't feel like it happened at all.
A few minutes must had passed by. I was still aware of how my eyes were tightly shut, as if I was not able to open them, or better, didn't want to open them. I heard a faint voice of a dog's bark somewhere outside.
Somewhere in the background, I heard something screech quietly against the floor.
I brushed it off as some sort of sound made by the wind.
Then I heard even quieter thuds. They were getting nearer, a pause, and I felt something dip beside me, pulling me slightly down with it.
I felt a weight around my waist, something warm snaking itself around me.
I didn't have enough time to think about it, because as soon as I felt something drape around the exposed skin of my waist, I was jerked back in an instant.
I felt my back hit something hard and equally as warm as the thing that had settled on my waist. My eyes shot open in fright, causing me to completely wake up by then.
I froze as warm air flushed on my neck, giving me goosebumps. Something moved behind me as I felt something cold lightly graze the back of my neck. The weight around my waist tightened and I gave out a low gasp.
Someone was in my bed, right behind me, breathing down my neck and I was two seconds away from screaming my lungs out and shitting bricks.
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