Seraphina
"What do you mean I'm not allowed to go into my own party?!" I demanded in a contained voice as I blinked up at the bulky men blocking the doorway of the hall I rented myself when planning my birthday party, a party I began to put together three months ago. I had a very horrible day today and wasn't in a good spirit before arriving here tonight, cause my husband of five years was yet to wish me a happy birthday today and it's presently eight p.m.
"Ma'am, we're so sorry, but we received strict orders to not let you in. We could lose our jobs if we do that." The bulky security guard spoke, and I let out a choked sound, unable to comprehend what was happening right now. This is my freaking birthday party, one which I reluctantly put together because my husband kept urging me to, insisting that I celebrate it this time and that I deserved it. I wasn't a fan of parties, but because for once, my husband seemed interested in something concerning me, I ended up giving in. That was what made me get my hopes up that he'd remember my birthday today and do something sweet for me.
"What the hell? Who gave that fucking order?!" I cried out in utter confusion and anger, my voice rising, alerting a few people standing around out here but I didn't care cause they've already been regarding me like I was a freak since I arrived, thanks to my vitiligo skin condition.
"I did." My husband's cool voice filled the air before I spotted him striding towards me from the curve of the building. His long legs ate up the distance till he was in front of me, dressed in a beautiful channel suit I remember gifting him, and his brown hair slicked back to reveal his sharp jaw and handsome face.
"I don't understand, Heathen. Why would you give such a ridiculous order? And you've been here since but didn't bother wishing me a happy birthday since morning?" I felt bewildered as I stared up at him, watching as he sighed long and hard before glancing around, then after waving the security guards off and smiling at a few curious people, he took my hand and led me to the side of the building. I could feel anger mixing with confusion within me at this point.
"Sweetheart, something happened…" he was still speaking in a soothing voice when I wrenched my hand from his grip and glared at him.
"Heathen, this isn't a joke. Why am I not being allowed into my own freaking party?" I demanded in a steady voice.
"This party is no longer yours, Sera. It's now Alina's." He revealed and my mouth fell open, unable to close from shock and disbelief.
"What?" I whispered, feeling the world slowly spin around me. I watched my husband as he dragged a hand across his face before staring at me again.
"She doesn't have a party because her sickness didn't allow her to plan one, so I decided to step in and hand over your party to her." He explained and I let out a choked sound, my head spinning and my ears unable to grasp what I was listening to right now.
"What the… how could you do that?!" I whispered as a wave of anger slammed through me. "It's my party, why did you think you could just step in and do this??" I continued, my voice growing louder and my heart completely shattered on the inside.
"You kept insisting I plan this party, you kept saying I deserved to have one. Please don't tell me this whole time, it was actually because you planned to do this?" I whispered in a broken voice, then when he remained silent, I felt my eyes well up with tears. Angry, hot tears, and a painful reminder searing through my chest that even to my husband, my twin would always come first.
He cupped my face and brushed his lips over my forehead. Usually, I'd have melted, but right now, I was too angry and hurt. "Sera, you know your sister is sick, don't you? We're all just trying to make her happy. Don't you want her to be happy?" He asked and I barked out a bitter laugh as I pulled away from his grip.
"I do want that, but not at my own expense! I've always had to sacrifice my own happiness every damn time because of her. Every. Damn. Thing, Heathen. Why do I have to give up my party to make her happy too? This is so unfair, and as my husband, you should see where I'm coming from." I hurled at him in an accusatory voice which shook underneath from how I was trying to hold my tears back.
He sighed and raked a hand through his hair. "You know how it is, Sera. I understand you but as Alina's best friend, I understand her too. Why are you making this so hard? It's just a party which you never wanted anyway. Your sister loves parties, and she's so grateful you're willing to let her have this party." He reasoned when he faced me again and I didn't bother pointing out to him that my sister was never grateful for anything, because she believes she is entitled to everything that belongs to me since I could remember.
Heathen wasn't just Alina's best friend, I knew he was in love with her. With my twin sister.
He might deny it all he wanted, but it was undoubtedly the truth.
That made my eyes sting and I whirled around, not wanting him to see me cry. However, I noticed my parents walking towards me right now, their designer clothes dripping in diamonds. My mother clasped my hands and I felt my skin crawl.
"Darling, I believe your husband already explained things to you. Don't make this hard, okay? Let your sister have this. You'll have a lot of birthdays to celebrate in the future." My mother cooed in a cajoling voice, her nose wrinkling as she looked me up and down, and I felt my stomach twist with nausea.
"Of course, mother." I muttered with a forced smile on. It was pointless reasoning with my parents at this point, cause they were completely blind to any argument that didn't benefit my twin.
Her smile widened and she quickly dropped my hand, wiping it on her dress. "That's good, darling. You're leaving now, right?" She asked and I shook my head.
"I guess I could just hang around so I could at least thank my guests who showed up for me…" I began when my parents shook their heads firmly.
"Oh no. You can't stay, your presence is gonna unsettle Alina, you know you always embarrass her… you'll just humiliate us all if you stick around." My father pointed out and I forced a scowl back, while wondering if it was my fault that I was born this way. If it was my fault that I was born with vertigo.
Heathen was nodding when I glanced at him. "That's correct, Sera. That's why you should go home instead. I'll be home soon."
Another shrug of disbelief swept through me as I looked between the three of them, swallowing down a ball of protest. "But what about my guests…"
"We sent most of them off a while ago." My mother supplied, grinning at me like she did me a favor.
"Oh." I whispered awkwardly, unsure of what to say right now.
So they've planned to do this for how long? And there I was already looking for this party like a damned fool.
I wonder what all my guests think of me right now, most of them more acquaintances than friends anyway.
As I drove myself back home, I forced back tears throughout the drive, constantly reminding myself that crying wouldn't change a thing.
It never used to be like this.
It was once perfect for me. I once had a perfect life, and my parents once used to love me and promise me that I was the most beautiful girl in the world despite my skin condition. But all of that came to an end when my twin came into the picture.
A new girl that suddenly came to class looked so much like me, minus the skin condition, and we quickly became friends. After I brought her home with me one day, my parents noticed the eerie resemblance and decided to carry out a DNA test. Turns out she was my lost twin that I never knew existed. Apparently my parents were told she died at birth, but she ended up being mixed up with another person's kid. After that got rectified, Alina moved into our house officially, and that was when my downfall started.
Alina was perfect in my parents eyes, and she could do no wrong. Whatever she wanted, she got, starting from my favorite teddy bear when I was six.
Gradually, she replaced me in my parents' hearts, and they began to forget about me. In no time, she was their pride, their jewel and I was… nothing.
When Alina fell sick and needed a kidney transplant, I was forced to give her one of mine. I never wanted to, cause at that point, Alina and I were more like enemies than twins, but my parents threatened to disown me, so I had to.
When I met Heathen, I thought he loved me for me for the first time, till a particular slip up many years ago when he mistakenly called out her name instead of mine while we were making love one night. Of course, he denied it vehemently, but when I kept insisting, he revealed that he did love Alina and had married me with hopes of me being able to replace Alina in his heart. He assured me that I succeeded and that he was no longer in love with her, but I never believed that. Since that moment, I began to notice a pattern, how he always defended her over me, and how he'd always pick her over me. I've brought this up with him multiple times, and each time, he'd always assure me that I was just being paranoid.
Right now, I was being reminded again that he was in love with my twin sister.
I've once tried divorcing him. Even though I was in love with him, I couldn't bear to live with someone in love with my twin. However, my parents forbade me from divorcing him no matter what, because their company was now merged with the new gaming company I started with Heathen's after we got married, now named VANDEN GAMING COMPANY. Basically, I was trapped in this sad life, and I hated it so much.
Right after I got home, after texting a few friends to apologize for the failed party I invited them to, I broke down, soaking my cold pillows with my tears. No one could hear me right now and it was fine. I liked it like this.
I ended up falling asleep with a heavy broken heart, all alone on my birthday.
When I woke up the next morning, I was still alone in bed, and my phone was blowing up. I frowned in confusion as I reached for it, then what greeted me after I unlocked my phone almost had me fainting from shock.
Staring right back at me was a picture of my husband and twin, and a bunch of other people in the background as they grinned brightly at the camera. Alina and heathen were sharing a kiss, and Alina was holding her hand up, which revealed a large engagement ring— my engagement ring.
With the caption: just got engaged to my sweetheart! ;)