Silence crept in on us as time slowly ticked by. I could no longer hear the commotion caused by his mother and assumed that she had made her way safely out of the mansion. Her safety and how she was doing couldn’t be furthest from my concern considering that I had my own situation and complex little problem at hand that I still had to deal with. I wondered if I should just come up and admit to my wrong doings and apologize or if I should remain defiant in the stance that I had decided to take. “It must have been hard…” I mumbled the first thing that came to my mind. The regretful and sorrowful way that my voice sounded along with the persistent aching pain in my chest told me beyond words just how much I could relate to what Bradon had probably had to deal with all his life. If his mother had always been like that, then I could pretty much imagine what Bradon had to go through as a child growing up. It also made me realize that there was always that possibility that he was still bea
It was all because I didn’t want to hurt her or see her abused anymore. She was just another victim because she couldn’t let go of the man that she loves although he probably never loved her back in return. When I was younger, there were times when I wondered why my mother couldn’t see my father for who and what he was. The period where I was also blinded by my mother’s hopeful words that that man would one day accept us truly as a part of his family was very short-lived. Unlike me, my mother never lost faith in the man that she loves. Sooner or later, I came to realize that there was no way that she could go on living if she ever accepted the truth that she had been used by him all along. I remember watching over her as she cried and grew weaker and weaker in both spirit and body. I remember thinking that I wouldn’t be surprised if she were to snap one day and then pass away if reality really hit her. Perhaps it was from my fear of losing my mother that I somehow became an active co
Her eyes widened before she quickly averted her eyes from mine. Seeing her meek and vulnerable side was quite a rare sight and that made me want to spend my time savoring it. At the same time, I felt an overwhelming urge to protect her. She would probably get very mad at me if she were to find out that I was acting this way just to tease her. She was right that my mother was mentally unstable, but her tantrums would have gone on regardless of what Dahlia did or didn’t do. “I already said that I’m sorry…” she muttered. “I don’t want your words of apology,” I replied coldly.Dahlia eye’s returned to meet mine and I could sense the frustration in her gaze as she glared at me. She let out a sigh after a moment of silence as if she had made up her mind to give in. “Then, what is it that you want?” she asked, although without much interest. “Not much. I’ll let everything slide, if you tell me why you said those things,” I replied. My words must have shocked her even more than before. A
**Many years before** Bradon’s point of viewI didn't want to believe in the common stereotypical belief that rainy days would turn out to be bad days; however, that rainy day truly felt like one of the worst days of my life at that time. Apparently there was an important party Alfred Vulkan hosted and Anthony needed to be in attendance as heir of the host family. The problem was that Anthony had caught a very bad cold, and not surprisingly I was the only one who could take his place and attend the party. At least, that was the short story that my father came up with when he informed me of what I needed to do. What would have felt like nothing in the present was actually quite a difficult task for me back in the days when I first started impersonating my younger brother. At that point I have only had a few successful experiences of taking my brother's place and all of them were in private family gatherings or in pretty safe environments. Our father made it very clear that I needed to
To her side was her younger twin sister with wide round eyes filled with anticipation and excitement. Looking at her felt like a breath of fresh air and suddenly the warm weather didn't seem to bother me as much. Although the two sisters looked extremely identical and were dressed very similarly, I could tell right away which one of them was Dahlia. “Thank you for gathering here today. It is an honor for our family to host this party for all of you. To thank your precious time, I figured that my son could put on a little show to provide some entertainment to all of you. Your time is undoubtedly precious and I would like to make sure that this party is well worth your time. Of course, I am eternally thankful for your continuous support of our various family businesses,” my father announced to the crowd in his booming loud voice. I tried to remain calm as I looked straight ahead into the crowd. I had no idea what my father had in mind but it was clear that he didn't care what I though
The instructor helped lead the horse outside as I walked by its side. So far, Anthony's horse appeared calm but I wondered how long that was going to last. Alfred was waiting for us outside and we found him chatting with a few of his guests. His apparent bright mood seemed to vanish when his eyes landed on me. I could tell that he was displeased that I was not yet sitting atop the horse. “Sir, if I may…this might be a bad idea. Are you sure that we need to use this horse when there are so many others available?” the instructor asked my father with a pleading tone. Although I appreciated the instructor speaking up for me, I didn't dare have any hope that my father would change his mind. Keeping up appearances for the family was more important than the safety of my life.“We will use this horse. It was gifted to Anthony by the royal family. How could we use some other horse? That would be highly disrespectful,” My father replied curtly.That was that. Without a word, my father led t
Just like that, and with countless pairs of eyes watching our every move, Dahlia's legs gave out from under her and she collapsed onto the ground. My body moved instinctively as I rushed to hold her in my arms to break her fall. I almost cried out her real name in the midst of my panic. Dahlia's eyes were closed and her face did look slightly pale. Her small body felt so fragile in my arms and she also felt so light. At first it felt like time had stopped, and I could not see or hear anything except for Dahlia. It took me a short moment to figure out that she was probably just faking it. After all, what are the odds that she would mention fainting and then actually faint just a few seconds later? When that thought occurred to me, I finally managed to calm down enough to pay attention to the situation around us. Dahlia had managed to capture everyone's attention again and the sounds of their murmurs and chatters as they discussed and commented on what was going on filled my ears. Sud
“Why are you here?” I asked before I could stop myself.I glanced nervously in Dahlia's direction just to find that she had already closed her eyes. Because I knew that she was just awake not so long ago, I knew that she was just pretending to be asleep and that was probably because she didn't want to deal with the unknown visitor. Other people might have thought that what Dahlia did was completely rude; however, it worked well in my favor. I stared at the woman who just entered the room and felt thankful that Dahlia had decided not to pay her any attention.Why is my mother here of all people?It was rare for my mother to attend any kind of parties or events hosted by the Vulkan family and that was because she wasn’t allowed to do so without explicit permission from Alfred. However, there must have been a good reason why she was standing in the same room with me while I was still actively acting as Anthony. The grim looked on her face and the cold way that she was staring at me told