C H A P T E R 5 4
?A suspicious mind will see evidence of poison wherever it looks.?
I tossed and turned all night, not getting a wink of sleep and that was mostly because I had slept for the whole day.
Every time I replayed what had happened, I'd feel bad and guilty. I tried distracting myself by watching a couple of episodes of a show but then I soon got bored of it as it didn't really catch my attention.
It felt like a long night. It was really weird how you could sleep for eight hours on an average and still think that you just slept for a minute but when you're awake for the same eight hours at night it feels long and unending.
Once it was six in the morning, I trudged downstairs feeling much better now. Although I still had a little bit of cold it was still better than what I was feeling the other day.
No one was awake at this time, probably except for Ethan. He must be getting ready for the day.
As expected the kitchen was empty as well. Everyone was sleeping and I tried to be as quiet as possible as I tried to get myself a cup of hot coffee.
Taking the tray with my coffee and a few cookies with me to my room, I set up a chair in the balcony.
Wrapped in a warm blanket and watching a sunrise on a cold morning in a dead silent surrounding with a hot cup of coffee and delicious cookies was my favorite thing.
After I was finished with eating, I didn't even realize when I fell asleep to the astounding sight of the sun gracing us with its warmth and reassurance that there was a next day although I had had coffee which was supposed to do the opposite.
I was woken up when the warmth was too much to bear. That was my cue to shower and get dressed.
At the breakfast table, it was quiet as usual. Olivia, Ethan and I didn't talk at all. All the talking was done by my parents. It was as awkward as it had been these few days.
My parents were talking about my upcoming college plan.
When Juliet ran away, she had just graduated from high school and had applied to some colleges.
Those were good colleges that she had applied to and got accepted in some, not some ivy leagues but definitely better than the one I was currently in.
To my surprise, Juliet was actually better in academics than I was.
She was also active in sports, had been the girls basketball team captain in high school and had won quite a few tournaments.
But then she ran away and then two years later they found me.
Now they're deciding to send me off to college from the month of January.
I couldn't do anything about it because that meant more questions.
I couldn't tell them that I was already in a medical college in my second year because I was sure they'd investigate into it and chances were high that they'd come across a girl who looks exactly like me and of the same age as their beloved daughter, not knowing that both were the same person.
But it wasn't that hard to guess. They could easily put two and two together and then I'd be busted which would land me in big trouble.
I was tempted to abandon my old life and live my new one here.
That way I wouldn't even have to worry about money and I'd get to go to a good college, have a fresh start.
I knew I was just building up my own world in the air and that nothing like that would actually happen because two people here already knew about me and when Juliet returned, I would've to return to my old life too.
So all I could do as my dad droned on about college was to nod along to it and later try to figure out what to actually do about it, preferably with Heather and Amelia so that I didn't panic and would make a right decision.
The thought of Heather filled me up with more guilt than was anymore possible. I didn't know how I was going to face her when I'd betrayed her trust. Now she'd definitely think I was a gold digger and was after her soon-to-be fiancé. She herself might even reveal things about me to the family.
No matter how things would go, I could see that I was slowly getting into trouble. Every way from here on presented a threat to my secret. Everything was slowly starting to fall apart. I could feel it.
After breakfast, two cars drove into the mansion. They stopped at the entrance and two women stepped out from their own cars.
"Heather? Amelia?" I said in surprise. I hadn't expected them at the mansion in the morning right after breakfast.
"Hi," Amelia said and grinned at me. Heather just gave me a small smile. We all walked in and sat on the couch.
"What're you guys doing here this early?"
"Get ready. We're going to hang out together." Amelia answered.
"What? All of a sudden? Why? Is everything all right?" We had just hung out at the stables the other day albeit without Heather.
"Of course, what could be wrong? We're just going to catch up on everything." Once again, it was Amelia who spoke.
Heather seemed strange to me today. She looked impatient and a little troubled. She was furiously texting someone.
"Are you okay, Heather?" I was almost scared to ask. Her behavior was making my heart beat fast in the fear that somehow she got to know about Ethan and I.
She shifted her eyes to me. "Yes, I am." She gave me a tight lipped smile. It wasn't even a smile, just a tiny twitch of both side of her lips. "Change quickly."
"Okay," I said in a small voice and rose up to go change in my room.
By the time I changed and went downstairs, the two girls were ready to leave.
"Is Olivia not coming with us?" I asked.
"She's already in the car." Amelia said and then quickly diverted the topic and started talking about where we should go.
I could see Olivia in the car. She had her head down. She wasn't looking at me. She had worn a loose hoodie although it was a little too warm for that.
After I was done talking to Amelia I made my way to the car in which Olivia was sitting. I went to open the car door but Heather suddenly intercepted me.
She smiled widely at me. "Go into the other car."
"Uh...can I sit with Olivia? I actually want to talk to her about something."
"No." Heather said without hesitation.
"Okay...but why?"
"Just go with Amelia."
She didn't give me any reason as to why I couldn't sit with Olivia. She just turned around and slipped inside the car. Olivia was on the other side of her. I ducked to get a look at her. She was wearing sunglasses and had the hoodie up. She was facing away from me so I couldn't see her face.
Heather ordered the driver to drive away and so he did. I was just left there standing, staring at the car as it drove away.
What was up with them?
It was times like this that I assumed the worst of situations. Right now I felt as if Olivia was been taken far away from me and I would never see her again.
"Julie." Amelia called from behind me. I turned to look back at her, to search in her eyes for signs that would indicate that something was wrong. But she just smiled at me, giving nothing away. "Come on, get in."
And so I did. Because I didn't know what else to do. Maybe I was thinking too much into this. Maybe Heather and Olivia just wanted to sit with each other and I'd see them again at the place where Amelia was taking me to.
After some time, we arrive at the beach.
I wasn't really in the mood for this but complied nonetheless.
We changed into our bikinis and just had fun in the water.
I thought Heather and Olivia would have already arrived but they were nowhere to be seen so I just thought that they might be stuck in a little traffic.
I waited for about twenty minutes during which Amelia taught me the basics of surfing after which they still hadn't showed up.
When I asked Amelia she just said that they'd be here soon enough and then we went back to our surfing lessons.
Amelia was a pretty good surfer and she even taught well. I was having so much fun with her. She was teaching me how to surf and every time I tried to I would fail and fall into the water.
Time flew away like this that by the time I told that I didn't want to surf anymore, it had already been an hour since we came here. And I realized that Olivia and Heather were still not here.
"Amelia, why are Heather and Olivia still not here? Where are they?"
"I'll call Heather and ask." She pulled out her phone and dialed her number.
After a few seconds she pulled the phone away from her ear.
"The call is not connecting. Don't worry she'll be here.
Let's not surf anymore. Do you want to make sand castles with those kids there?
" She asked, pointing at a bunch of little kids who were attempting to make one.
"Okay."
I was a little worried about the two girls who still hadn't gotten here.
We helped the little kids in building the sand castles.
Our castles weren't big but they looked cute and small.
We had tried a lot of time to make bigger ones but we never succeeded mainly because my efforts were halfhearted and my mind was constantly filled with thoughts of Heather and Amelia.
Once all the kids had gone back to their parents we also decided to leave.
"Amelia, seriously tell me what's up with those two girls? Why didn't they come to the beach?"
Amelia who was looking at her phone showed me the screen.
"They didn't want to come to the beach. They had gone to the amusement park.
" She showed me her WhatsApp where she was chatting with Heather.
Heather had texted saying that she wasn't in the mood for going to the beach.
But the thing that caught my eye was that there were a series of deleted messages before that.
Amelia must have sensed my eyes on it as she quickly stuffed her phone in her pocket.
"Why didn't they tell us?"
"Come on now, we aren't kids. Let them do whatever they want."
"I want to go to the amusement park. The one where they are at." I said pointing at her pocket which had her phone in it.
Amelia groaned but it felt as if she was faking it. "I don't really want to go to the amusement park."
"Amelia. Amusement park. Right now."
She sighed. "Fine, let's go."
When we arrived at the said amusement park I instantly told Amelia to call Heather and ask where they were right now.
She called Heather and walked a few steps away to talk to her.
I couldn't really hear what they were talking about so I just waited for her to hang up.
I should've brought my own phone so that I could've called her myself but I forgot it at home.
"They are in the maze." Amelia said after the call.
I was intending to wait at the exit of the maze so that when the girls came out, we could talk about what was going on but my plans were spoiled when Amelia showed enthusiasm in the maze and dragged me in it.
I could've stopped her but Amelia was so fast and I didn't even realize when she dragged us into the deep maze.
I couldn't even keep track of which turns she took.
"Amelia! How are we going to get out?!" I screeched. Not only did I not like the maze, I was even feeling a little claustrophobic in it.
She giggled nervously. "Sorry I was just really excited to go into the maze but don't worry we'll figure it out."
We kept taking turns and going back again. We were just aimlessly wandering inside. At one point we did find the border of the maze and I was tempted to break through the two meter high shrubby barriers.
"Let's split." Amelia said from behind me. "And see who gets out of here first."
"No, that's not a good idea. We have to stick-" I turned back to see her gone, "...together." I groaned. "Amelia!" I called out but no one answered. There were a few people in the maze just as lost as I was in it.
I had no choice but to search for the exit on my own. It felt like I was in there for hours. It was quite a big maze making me feel like I was a part of the Triwizard tournament minus the magical stuff.
When I finally did make out of the maze the same day, I spotted Amelia sitting under a tree with her phone in her hands, furiously typing away.
I stormed towards her. "Amelia, we need to talk." I said sternly.
She was startled by my voice. "Oh, you came out. Took you only twenty minutes from the time I left you."
I grabbed her hand and dragged her away from the crowd and to a quiet corner.
"What is going on?"
"What do you mean?" She looked so confused, it would've almost fooled me if not for her avoiding my gaze.
"Look, I'm not that stupid. I know something's up. I know that you're keeping me from meeting Heather and Olivia. You can tell me what it is. Where are those two?"
She grabbed my shoulders. "Julie, everything's fine. I don't know why you think that I'm doing something but it's really not like that."
"But then why aren't we meeting the two girls?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. They left after they completed the maze. I'm also really confused as to what they are really doing. Don't worry, I'm sure they are just playing hide and seek with us."
"Are you telling the truth?"
"Yeah." I searched her eyes for any sign of her lying but she stared straight back at me without blinking.
"Why don't we spoil their fun and not chase them? Yeah? We should go watch a movie."
I was still feeling a little unsettled but said yes to her. We located a nearby mall and under disguises went and sat to watch an action movie that we decided on.
By the time the movie ended it was almost dinner time. Amelia and I stopped for a quick snack at a burger joint and then we were off to the mansion.
During the car ride Amelia started asking me about how everything was going back home.
I told her about the college plan that my dad had made for me and Amelia told me that she'd talk to Heather about it.
I wondered if I should tell her about the thing with Ethan but then quickly decided against it.
I didn't know how Amelia would react and I was sure she'd tell Heather without listening properly to me.
I couldn't even tell Olivia about it. If anything, she'd just rebuke me for being a hypocrite which I knew I was. I had told her to keep her distance from Tristan and that I didn't want anything to happen between the two and yet here I was, doing exactly what I told her not to do.
"Has Olivia already arrived?" I asked as Amelia pulled into the driveway of the house.
"I don't know. See for yourself."
I nodded. "Drive safely. Text me when you get home."
"Yeah, bye."
I bid her goodbye and went inside. I first checked for Olivia and to add to my nerves she wasn't there.
I was just in time for dinner. The table was about to be laid out so I went to my room to take a quick shower.
Dinner without Olivia wasn't any less awkward.
The only thing I found a little strange was that Ethan kept glancing at me every now and then.
It wasn't as if he hadn't done that before but this time it was way many times than what was normal.
I didn't spot Keith in the kitchen. I hadn't seen him for two days. Today I had spent the day with Amelia and yesterday I was sick so I couldn't see him.
After dinner when everyone went about their own business, I sneaked into the kitchen to have a little talk with Keith.
I found Samara doing the dishes. I looked around but still didn't see Keith.
It was silly of me to expect him to always be in the kitchen.
He had a life outside of it but I was so used to see him in the kitchen that I was starting to believe that he lived there.
I decided to check his room but when I got there, it was locked.
I went back to the kitchen and Samara was still there. "Samara, hey, have you seen Keith?"
Her eyebrows knitted in confusion. "He's not here."
"I know and his room is locked too. Where is he?"
"I mean he doesn't work here anymore." She answered.
"What?!" I screeched so loudly that I was sure the entire mansion heard me.
Samara blinked at me with wide eyes. "Yeah, he left last night. We had a little farewell for him."
"What're you talking about? Why would he leave? He didn't tell me that he was leaving. He was here just two days ago." I said frantically, unable to believe that he just left.
"I don't know much. He just told me he landed a job in a five star restaurant as the main chef with a higher pay than what he was getting here and he also got a contract with the restaurant where it stated that he would work for its different outlets in different countries for a period of two years in each.
" She explained, giving me a glass of water to calm me down but it wasn't what I wanted right now.
"This doesn't make sense. Why didn't he tell me about such a big thing. Where is he right now? Which restaurant is this?"
"Forgive me, Juliet but I really don't know which restaurant it is. But I do know he had an afternoon flight to Tokyo today. He will be landing in another six hours, I suppose."
I shook my head, not able to digest the news.
"D-did he tell you how he landed the contract and the job?"
"He did mention that Mr. Ethan had scheduled the interview for him but he got the job based purely on his talent." She sounded proud of him but I felt sick.
Ethan. Of course.
Everything was clear to me now. Ethan sent Keith away.
I was boiling with anger. I closed my eyes, fisted my hair and tried to control my breathing. When I opened my eyes, Samara was staring at me with concern.
"Juliet, are you alright?"
Without answering her, because I was afraid I'd take my anger out on her, I stormed up the stairs with my feet making loud thudding noises against the hard floor. I was sure Ethan heard me coming.
I stood outside and banged loudly on his door. Instantly his door flew open.
I was intending on looking scary and extremely angry at him but I didn't realize when I turned teary eyed. It was so annoying. I wasn't crying. It was just angry tears.
"Juliet," he whispered softly, stepping closer and cupping my face delicately in his hands. "Why are you crying?"
And whenever I was in a situation where I was crying angry tears, I found it hard to speak.
He gently rubbed under my eyes to wipe off my tears. I wanted to push him away and say a lot of mean things to him. I wanted to curse at him and yet I couldn't bring myself to do it.
"Keith...w-why did you...d-do it?" I managed to blubber out.
"You found out," He said.
I wanted to retort with a 'no shit Sherlock' but held back because I was sure I wouldn't be able to form a coherent enough sentence.
He dug into his pockets and took out a neat folded piece of paper. "He told me to give it to you as he couldn't do it himself because you were sick that day."
I looked at the paper, my eyes clouded with unshed tears. I took it from his hand.
He was about to hug me but I shoved him back with my hands. With great difficulty I swallowed the lump in my throat and furiously wiped at my eyes to the point where they started to burn a little.
"Who the fuck do you think you are to do that?
All because of jealousy. I fucking hate you for this Ethan.
What do you think was going to happen after you did this?
Did you think I was going to come to you?
Newsflash, that's not going to happen. You sending away Keith just made me hate you.
I'm not even sure why I liked you in the first place. "
"Juliet, calm down. Please." He put his hands on my shoulders but I slapped it away.
"Don't tell me what to do. After you took away my friend from me, how can you expect me to calm down? I don't know if I'll ever be able to meet him again. He's so important to me. And you took him away."
"This was for his own good. Let me explain-"
"No! I don't want to hear any explanation. And who do you think you are to decide what's good for him? Did he ask you to look for another job for him? Did he say he wanted to quit and start working at a restaurant?"
"No, he didn't. I looked into a job for him myself. He didn't say that he wanted to quit working here." He was looking down, avoiding my eyes.
I grabbed him by his shirt collar and pulled him close.
"You think you can just do anything and get away with it.
You decide for other people without asking if they want that for themselves.
Just because you were born in a stinking rich family does not give you the right to make decisions for others. "
He grabbed my hands and detached them from his collar. "I'd appreciate it if you stopped yelling at me and we have a civilized conversation without trying to trying to wake up the whole neighborhood."
I knew I was yelling at him at the top of my voice this whole time but I couldn't stop. What he did made me very angry at him and I wanted him to know just how much.
"I hate you. And I want you to know that. I hate you, Ethan. You are a bad person. You are a cheater. I hope you and Heather break up soon because she deserves so much better than a scum like you." At this point I was beating my fisted hands on his chest.
"Stop it." He wrapped his fingers around my wrists effectively putting a stop to my violence. "Don't say that you hate me. Because I hate those words from you." He looked hurt, more hurt than he had that night when I was sick and called him a cheater.
I should stop. My heart was telling me this was enough, that I was crossing a line. I should take back what I said. But instead I find myself responding with, "Why? That's the truth."
"Please don't say that. I know that you're just really mad at me right now and what you're saying is not what you mean. You like me. You said that yourself." He said quietly.
"And now I'm saying that I hate you." I stated firmly.
"Don't say that again. I might do something you're not ready for."
I shoved him back by his shoulder which caused him to hit his back on his door.
"What're you going to do? Huh? Are you going to throw me away from my own house as well?
You think you have so much power and treat others like shit.
The truth is you're a really shitty person. And. I. Hate. Y-"
My lips were sealed shut before I could get the 'you' out. It happened so quickly. I didn't realize when he grabbed my face with his hands, tilted his head and placed his lips on mine.
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