The Billionaire's Unauthentic Daughter

C H A P T E R 1 5

?It's scary what a smile can hide.?

Yes, it was a terrible ankle sprain. And me walking after that to track down Ethan only made the sprain ten times worse.

I groaned as I stared at the beautiful chandelier hanging right on top of me in my room.

It was evening and I had had my dinner before everybody else.

A doctor was called to attend to me. My mom had visited me twice to ask me about how I was and I replied that I was just fine.

Thank God she didn't ask me how I ended up with that ankle sprain yet.

I had already had my dinner. It was sweet of Samara to bring me my favourites for dinner and ice packs every two hours.

The pain was terrible but I was able to walk by myself if I didn't put much weight on my sprained ankle.

The doctor had told me to not move around much and my mom had literally ordered me to never get out of bed for this week and if it was urgent, like I need to pee or something then to call Samara to help me.

Currently I was on my bed as Samara nursed my sprained ankle with an ice pack.

It dulled the pain for a bit just for it to return as soon as the ice pack was pulled away.

My ankle was lightly bruised purple. I hit the tiled wall of the bathroom with my ankle real hard.

A small, barely visible bump was formed and I hissed in pain at a point when Samara pressed the ice cube a little too hard on the tender lump.

She apologized profusely for that. She was really sweet and helpful.

And already a great friend of mine, I could say.

Mrs. Jenson was a great lady. She loved her close ones deeply and cared about her family more than she cared about herself. She had decided to spend the entire day with me today, to take care of me and have a good talk with me.

After I had showered, which was a very uncomfortable thing when Samara was there to help me in and out of the tub when I was naked, and had my breakfast, Mrs. Jenson stepped into my room with a soft smile gracing her rosy red lips.

I wondered how she managed to look youthful all the time.

She looked more like an elder sister to me than an actual mother to someone who was nineteen years old.

I put the book which I had been reading down on my lap as I smiled back at her. "Good morning, mom," I greeted as I shifted a little in my bed, pulling the duvet up a little so my ankle was not tangled in it.

"Good morning, sweetie. How are you? How's the ankle?" She asked, propping herself on the edge of my bed as she eyed my bandaged ankle which was wrapped up in a compression band.

"I'm fine and so is my ankle," I replied, watching her as she nodded, her eyes still on my swollen ankle.

"I hope you get better soon," she said, shifting closer to me so she was sat right in front of me. "So...how are you finding things so far?" She asked, lifting her hand up as she brushed some hair out of my face.

"Uh...alright. It still feels new and unfamiliar," I spoke slowly, choosing my words carefully and eyeing her to see if I was speaking something not normal to Juliet.

"Hmm...don't worry. You'll get used to it pretty soon," She smiled at me.

I nodded.

"Why are you not working today?" I blurted out, not realizing that I was coming off as rude. Mrs. Jenson's brows furrowed together and I almost peed myself. "I-I mean, it's great that you're not working today. I was j-just wondering."

She let out a quiet chuckle as she slid closer to me and sat next to me, resting her back against the headrest of the bed. "I had never seen you like this. Nervous? Really, Juliet? What has happened to you? You were never like this before."

I relaxed at the thought that I had not offended her. "Is it bad?"

"No, of course not. You're much better a person now. I love how you've changed yourself. You've changed for the best, believe me."

"Oh. I'm glad."

"Now I really want to know what happened to you all these years.

And I deserve to know! I have missed two important years of your life.

I didn't watch you grow in these two years," mom said quietly, her voice breaking in the end as she tried to hold back her tears.

"I really want to know what happened to my baby.

You still very much look like the same. Just in some weird way, you look a bit different.

I actually had to look at you for a good five minutes at the party to be sure it was really you.

And indeed it was," she looked up at me with her hazel eyes sparkling as she sucked in a deep breath. Only I wasn't.

My words of comfort stuck in my throat as I became utterly clueless as to what I was supposed to say. There was fear. Fear of getting the lie spilled out somehow by some really stupid mistake. Fear that I would suddenly be pushed into the limelight. What would life become?

"You've got to tell me everything, Juliet," Mrs. Jenson's words distracted me from my train of though as she held my hands, drawing my attention into her eyes where I saw vulnerability and much worse, I saw how broken she was after her daughter left.

I could never understand the pain of a mother whose child had ran away.

I could never know how she had survived the uncertainty of her daughter's safety, spent two years in utter horrific suspense, not knowing if her daughter was even alive. Was she even in this world any more?

I felt my head lower in shame. How could I do this to her?

I was being so selfish, so inconsiderate and so horribly insensitive to her feelings.

I was worse than Olivia. I was worse than Ashley.

Ashley, she didn't even do anything that big and wrong.

She was just a normal college girl like me who was just living her life.

For the first time, I felt bad for slapping her and for ripping that purple dress of hers to pieces.

She didn't deserve it. I deserved to get the worst. Sure, Olivia kind of forced me to do it but in the end I was the one who went along with her ridiculous plan.

She was such a bitch. But more than her, I was such a bitch.

I didn't have the right to hurt someone like that, play with someone's feelings like that.

I was free to refuse. Yet I chose to lie.

"Come on, I'm your mother. You can tell me what happened," Mrs. Jenson urged, rubbing soothing circles on my back.

I fumbled for words as I racked my brain to come up with something good enough.

See, I was a bitch to still be going with this.

I could just blurt out the secret and try to prove it that I really wasn't who she was thinking I was.

But I couldn't bring myself to say that.

I was such a coward. I feared her reaction.

I didn't care if she made my life hell, but I just didn't want to see her face full of pain and heartbreak.

I didn't want to see if she would give up on ever finding her daughter.

I knew I was making her happy today. But for how long?

This would eventually come to an ugly end. Very soon. This was only temporary.

In midst of these conflicting thoughts, I didn't really pay any attention to how I was really looking on the outside. It wasn't until my mom spoke that I realized that I was probably looking like a constipated pig.

"Are you alright?" Mrs. Jenson's voice yet again cut through my train of thought and I looked up at her.

"Y-yes," I croaked out.

Mrs. Jenson continued to rub my back soothingly. "Are you ready to tell me?"

No. No. No. I can't. I can't do this. What was I going to say?

"Uh...I was just fine these two years," I said slowly.

"I felt really guilty from running away from you and dad.

But it was a snap decision. I didn't really think through the possibilities of something going wrong.

Um...I guess I was just so lost in my perfect world that I didn't see the possibility of the existence of any kind of imperfection in my plan," I paused, analyzing her reaction.

So far, she looked as if she was buying it.

Good. "But life was hard. I ran away to some small town down south and thankfully no one, r-recognized me.

I got a job in a café and was able to save money and take care of myself. "

"Oh honey, didn't you think about us at all? Didn't you think how much it would kill us to see our daughter gone?" She asked and I thought I heard a slight tone of anger in her voice which made me shrink back and stare at my lap.

"I did. Everyday. I missed you and dad and everyone else. I would try to convince myself to return back to you. But then I would think about my life here and could not help but want to learn something new. To live a different life than I had been living all these years."

"But how did you even blend in? I could say we searched the whole country but that would be a slight exaggeration. You were never found."

"Well, I changed my appearance. I got a different hair cut, dyed my hair and other stuff. I just kind of blended in really well that way."

"And where did you live?"

"I rented a small apartment near the café. And um...Olivia also worked with me in the café and so we became great friends," Going by that, I really wasn't blatantly lying. Half of what I told Mrs. Jenson was the truth.

"So...no one realized who you were? No one recognized you?" She asked in disbelief.

"No, no one realized it was me. And why would they? They wouldn't expect me to live anywhere around, or work in a café or live in a small apartment."

"Even after the news of your disappearance broke out?"

"Yeah, I didn't encounter anyone who recognized me. Most of the people there didn't really keep up with these things."

"You're pretty good at disguising yourself then.

" Oh, I'm pretty good at lying to your face too.

And I'm terribly sorry for that, Mrs.

Jenson. I swear I don't mean to hurt you or rob you.

I don't even know why I'm doing this.

But I can't back off now.

So I hope you forgive me when you finally get to know that I'm not your daughter.

"Well, that was quick. I expected it to be a long story, one that will take up all day."

"It isn't. That was pretty much all that happened to me these two years. You didn't miss out on much."

"I'm glad you're back. And don't you dare think of escaping again, young lady. Because somehow we'll be able to find you again."

I chuckled. "I wouldn't think of even trying.

" Except, for I was lying again because hopefully Olivia would soon come up with a brilliant escape plan and we would be out of here for good.

"Good," She said and got up to leave. "I should probably just leave you to rest," She said, running her hand through my hair and caressing my cheek. "Get well soon."

And just like that she rose up from the bed and turned around to leave after kissing my forehead. Just as she was about to exit the room, she turned around to look at me. "How did you end with an ankle sprain though?"

I opened my mouth to answer. Because Ethan thought it was funny to make me fall on my butt but it not only made me fall on my butt, but also gave me a stupid ankle sprain.

"I slipped in the shower," I answered not knowing why I didn't tell her the truth.

"Oh, be careful next time," She said before she finally left my room.

"Okay, I will."

Olivia came to my room next, just as Mrs. Jenson left.

I told her about what happened and what story I told the woman.

She just nodded and approved that it was a good story.

Oh, the guilt I was feeling was unbearable.

It felt as if a heavy weight was dropped onto my shoulders.

And I had no idea what to do to lighten it up.

Lying on a bed all day sucked. Especially when you could only get up to pee or take a shit.

I was sure that my ankle wasn't going to heal anytime soon.

At least not for another three days. Three freaking days.

What was I going to do all these days? Just lie on the bed?

I think not. All day long all I did was watch movies on the ridiculously huge flat screen in my room.

Olivia came to visit me twice but didn't stay long as she told me that she was having fun playing tennis with Dennis, a young helper in the kitchen.

And that only made me jealous of her. I wanted to have fun too and go out.

But instead I was lying in the bed, nursing my sprained ankle.

All because of Ethan. That scum didn't even visit me once to ask if I was okay. I was pretty sure he was lying when he said that he didn't mean to hurt me that much that would send me to an almost five day's bed rest.

Sorry for the short chapter.

I just didn't know what to write ahead.

I have been having a lot of writer's block lately.

It's been almost a month since I last wrote anything in this book.

So I just decided to end the chapter.

I know the overall plot of what will happen in the story.

I just don't know how I'm going to write things that will lead into those events.

Oh, and these absolutely gorgeous covers are by stansinceforever