Nicole woke up sad again, the sadness she was feeling became her new companion, every day it got even worst, every moment without Rafael, she couldn’t stop thinking about him even after knowing why he had married her or rather Natalie, it was all for what he wanted to gain from them, two weeks after their last meeting, she hasn’t heard anything from him, she missed him so much and everyday she just wanted to go back and beg him to take her back but she had her pride she couldn’t do that not even with how she loves him, he did so bad approaching her sister for the wrong reasons and both her and Natalie did too by playing him, she just wished none of this happened, he had called her two days ago, she picked up said hello and he had hung up without saying anything to her, she felt it was a mistake and he had dialed her number before realizing, when she had saw his number flash on her screen she had been both scared and shocked, when he didn’t say anything disappointment joined, not like she had a right to be, still she still felt it, she wondered how the media weren’t talking about it just yet, she had thought when he got back he would straight up expose her and her sister but over two weeks now still nothing, there wasn’t even any news of him except the one involving the man he had exposed who has been sentenced to jail, he hadn’t even made a statement about it even though he played a major role in bring the man’s dirty deeds to light.
“Till when do you plan on hiding in your sister’s room Natalie?”
Her mom asked as she walked in, they still didn’t know the truth as she hadn’t told them anything, just that she and Rafael had a fight and she wanted to be left alone, they had respected her but they always come in to check on her, she knew she ought to tell them but she couldn’t bring herself to, they should know, why are they so slow?
“I don’t know,”
“Wanna talk about it? What happened with your husband? You guys were so happy and in love when you left for the vacation. Now you come home and he isn’t here and you are sad, what kind of a fight did you guys have that can’t be resolved? Did you catch him cheating or something?”
Her mom asked her, coming to sit on her bed.
“Is that the only thing you can think of? woman?”
“Yes, that’s it, men are cheats, and I have one here with me,”
Her mom responded to her dad, they seemed to have their own issue.
“I didn’t cheat, I just said hi, you are just too possessive.”
“Yeah right, I am not talking about you but Natalie’s husband, what happened Nat? Did he really cheat on you?”
“No, he didn’t,”
“Then why?”
There was no use keeping it from them, they were her parents and they were going to find out soon anyway.
“I am not Natalie,”
She blurted out.
“What?”
Her mom asked, she clearly wasn’t understanding or chose not to understand.
“I said, I am not Natalie, Rafael found out about it and that’s why we fought, I am not Natalie, I am Nicole, Natalie is the one away, she left on her wedding day and I had to fill in for her,”
Nicole revealed. her parents both stood rooted to one spot, honestly, she didn’t even know what their reaction would be like and right now, she doesn’t care.
“You are lying, right? You are just pulling our legs, right? Right, Natalie?”
“I am not Natalie, mom, think about it, think about it really well, do I behave and act as Natalie would? We are totally different, you should know that,”
She stared at both of her parents, they were still too shocked to say other words, her father was the one to gain back his speech first, she braced herself ready for the backslash.
“Why did you guys choose to do this, what kind of shame did you guys want to bring to our family?”
Her dad yelled fuming, she couldn’t blame him, he was right to be angry, her mom just sat there, not saying a word, she looked too shocked for words, Nicole wished she would yell at her too rather than sitting quietly and not saying a word.
“I am sorry dad, we are both sorry, we didn’t want it to get this far but,”
“You are not the one to be explaining, Natalie should be the one to, this is not the first time she has talked you into cleaning up her mess, but this time she went too far, and why did you accept it? Just why? It would have been better if no bride showed up than this, this is a crime,”
Her dad responded.
“I don’t even know what to say, oh God, I should have known, I should have known, I am your mother and I didn’t know, I feel so ashamed of myself right now, how could I not tell the difference again, how could I not know that Nicole wasn’t someone who left without goodbyes, that was Natalie, God, why does Natalie always do something like this and drag you into it?”
Her mom let out, she was in tears, Nicole felt so bad for making her cry.
“I am so sorry mom, I didn’t mean for it to come this far, but then Nat stopped taking my calls and wasn’t coming back, I couldn’t tell anyone so I just had to continue, now Rafael hates me,”
She cried.
“It’s not your fault, you were only helping your sister, she should have kept to the promise, she should have, she hasn’t been taking our calls either, I know she can’t stay away forever, she will come back and face the consequences of her actions,”
Her mom said. Nicole couldn’t believe that her parents were not mad at her, they weren’t saying hurtful things to her, rather they were consoling her.
“You are going to be fine my dear, I know we haven’t been the best parent to you, we know you don’t feel loved by us but we do, we love you and want you to have the best only, we don’t want to see you sad,”