Resisting Her (Moving On Duology Book 2)

by Catherine Edward

  “Old times’ sake,” I repeated.

  ***

  I tapped on the steering wheel nervously. After mulling over the idea of over a week, finally, I picked up the courage to come here. For the past hour, I just sat in the car, debating my decision to meet her.

  The mansion was decorated with festive lights. Guests kept coming. This sure wasn’t the place I should be right now. But I had to board the plane in less than four hours. If I didn’t do this today, I won’t get a chance.

  What if Orlando didn’t want her to meet me? What if Arianna refused to see me? When the door to the mansion opened again, music drifted through the doors. My brows creased. Perhaps, this was the best place to slip in and have a few words with her. Orlando might not able to turn me away with his guests present.

  When I went to the gate after a few minutes, the security narrowed his eyes at me.

  “I’m here to see Arianna.”

  A black suit walked out of the security building as soon as her name slipped out of my lips. He regarded me for a moment before announcing my presence to someone through Bluetooth. “Mr. Schultz is here to meet Mrs. Cortez.”

  Oh, these guys knew my name.

  He cocked his head to the side, his gaze falling on me again.

  “Yes, it is Brian Schultz,” he confirmed. He nodded as if the person on the other end could see him before turning to me. “Mr. Schultz, you may go inside. Take the first left and then right.”

  “Thank you.” A uniformed butler greeted me at the door and took me through a deserted corridor. Music drifted from somewhere. He led me to an office. A woman looked up from her computer and pinned me with her gaze. “Yes.”

  “Sheila, this man is here for Mrs. Cortez.”

  “Mrs. Cortez is busy,” she said, dismissing me. “You may leave your message with me.”

  “It’s something I have to talk to her in person. Please, it’s urgent.”

  “What kind of emergency, Mr. Schultz?”

  My spine stiffened at the sound of his voice. Orlando Cortez. I turned to face him. He appeared ruggedly handsome in his navy suit, a single rose tucked in his suit pocket. I expected to stumble on him, but now that I have, uneasiness washed over me.

  “I won’t be long,” I said, schooling my features. It was hard to look at him. “All I ask for is five minutes of her time.”

  “And why would I allow that?”

  “Please, Mr. Cortez. I…”

  “Orlando…”

  My head whipped toward her sound. Her heel clicked on the floor when she entered the room. “You promised you won’t work today.”

  “Arianna.” God, she was beautiful. Adorned in a custom-made gown that accentuated her now generous curves, it was easy to spot her small baby bump. Her gaze froze and the frown deepened when her hazel eyes flicked to me.

  “Oh, hey… ah, Brian?” Her gaze flicked to her husband and he was beside her in a moment, giving me a stink eye.

  “I… I came to see you.”

  “There’s nothing to talk.” She turned away.

  “Please… Just five minutes. I came to say I’m sorry.”

  Her shoulders went stiff. “Sorry,” she said as if she could taste the word. “That won’t be necessary.”

  “You have every right to be angry,” I said. “Hell, I hate myself for everything I did.”

  “Right. You should be.” She turned, walking to the door.

  I nodded, swallowing. “I’m leaving Linnesse today.” Arianna stopped. “I know you don’t want to do anything with me. But I’ll always have your best interest in my heart. I’m happy for you, Arianna,” I spoke faster. “Thought, I could tell you goodbye.”

  “Goodbye.”

  She walked, not looking back. With a sigh, I prepared to leave through the same door she came inside.

  Orlando blocked my path. “Don’t bother to come back. Sheila, instruct my staff not to let him in again.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  I nodded. “I won’t be trouble.” Shame flooded me, but I deserved this. I expected worse.

  “How’s she?” Her voice distracted me. With a hand on the doorknob, she looked at me.

  “I checked her into a rehabilitation center. They disowned her.”

  With a nod, she walked away, disappearing from my view. Orlando lurked behind as I exited the huge compound. After everything, I couldn’t bring myself to stay here any longer. Hence, I offered to move to Europe, needing time for myself. I heard cheers from the mansion as I climbed into my car. Arianna deserved all the happiness in this world. Wishing her the best, I drove away.

  Chapter – 29

  Arianna Swanson

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” Orlando asked for the seventh time that morning. We sat in our car, outside the rehabilitation center.

  “Yes.” I wanted to see her. It had been a week since Brian left and she was all I could think for the entire week.

  “You don’t have to see her, you know.”

  “I know.” I gave him a small smile. Orlando has been a doting husband with unconditional love for our unborn child. I understood and embraced his overprotective nature. But this boggled my mind ever since I discovered the truth.

  Despite what I told him, I’d been religiously following the news. I witnessed how they tore her apart in the past months. While Orlando acted normal, Benji spared no details from me. I looked at the forlorn building. Perhaps, I needed closure.

  “I don’t like this,” he said, pressing a feather-soft kiss on my knuckles. His lips lingered, spreading the warmth.

  “You don’t have to.” Grabbing his hands, I kissed his palm. “I’ll be back soon. I have to do this.”

  “Okay.” He sighed in defeat. “I’ll be right here when you come back.”

  “You don’t have to wait.”

  “I want to.”

  “Okay,” Leaning forward, I pressed a kiss on his lips and pulled away when he tried to deepen it. Not happening. A teasing smile lifted the corners of my mouth when I slipped out of the car.

  What am I doing here? I wondered, walking toward the concrete structure. My emotions conflicted. Alana was inside. Why did I want to talk to her? I walked away from all of them, vowing never to look back. Taking a deep breath, I went in, welcoming the cool breeze of the air conditioner.

  “Mrs. Cortez?” the receptionist asked with a warm smile.

  “Yes.”

  “Please take a seat there. We will inform your sister you’re here.”

  “Sure.”

  I occupied one of the empty chairs. Too late to back off. I didn’t remember the last time we talked more a few words. I sure don’t know how to approach her now. My thoughts raced.

  Our parents had visited me yesterday. Their crestfallen, tear-stained faces would’ve fooled me if I didn’t know better. They appeared beat. The bags underneath their weary eyes told about their sleepless nights. Mom dressed down to a simple shirt and pants. Even dad had dressed down from his usual suit to shirt and jeans. I wasn’t sure if I still have to mention them mom and dad, but old habits die hard.

  Mom had fidgeted with the hem of her shirt, not meeting my gaze. Dad had an arm around her shoulder as I sat there in Orlando’s office, waiting for them to say something.

  “We’re sorry for everything that happened,” Mom said after a while.

  The butler walked in, placing a tray on the table filled with refreshments. But they didn’t so much as looked at it. Having nothing to do and to avoid the awkwardness, I poured myself a cup of tea and sipped it.

  “The past few weeks had been hard on us. It devastated your mom. It devastated….us.” Dad rubbed mom’s back in a soothing gesture.

  “Hard? The lawyers didn’t do enough damage as I expected.” Orlando entered the office, his broad frame towered everyone. My parents stood as he walked toward me and perched one hip at the edge of the table.

  “You have every right to be angry,” dad said, averting his gaze to the floor. “We feel ashamed about
what happened.” He swallowed, pushing his hands deep into his pockets. “We lost one daughter. And we can’t afford to lose you too.” His gaze shifted toward me.

  “You talk as if Alana is dead.”

  “She is...to us,” mom said. “We are ashamed of housing her all these years. She fooled everyone. That slut.”

  “You called me a slut once.”

  Her head whipped toward me. “It’s a mistake I’ll regret forever.”

  “I wonder why you’re even here in the first place. Let me guess…” Orlando scratched his chin thoughtfully. “The banks are closing in on you.”

  “That has nothing to do with this meeting.” Dad’s response was quick. “We realize our mistake now. We came only because we wanted another chance with her.”

  “Where were you when I needed you the most?” I asked.

  They averted their gaze, hands fidgeting. “You said you were the one in the photos. Your mom came to talk to you and you shut her out.”

  “Right,” I scoffed. “If I remember correctly, she came to my room that night, slapped me and called me a slut before saying how ashamed she’s to have me as her daughter and walked out.”

  “I’m sorry about that.” She started crying. “I feel so horrible.”

  “You should.” I stood, ready to leave.

  “Please... Arianna. We messed up. Won’t you give us another chance to prove otherwise? All we ask... is for a chance.”

  “You didn’t give me a chance when I asked for one.” Mom was a good actress. I’ll give her that. They knew I was innocent three months ago. If I mattered so much they would’ve come sooner. Why wait till the banks closed in on them? That was news. With a frown, I turned toward my husband. “Orlando, I am exhausted. Do you mind showing them out?”

  “No. You must rest, sweetheart.” He pressed a kiss on my head.

  “Arianna... wait. Please.” Mom caught my hand when I tried to walk past them. “We can’t lose you again.”

  “You didn’t lose me or her. You threw us away.” I couldn’t bring myself to meet her gaze then. First, it was me, then her.

  “What were we supposed to do?”

  “Be the parents that you should’ve been. You had your chance, now I want nothing to do with your family. I cut ties when I walked away from Alana’s wedding. If I remember, you too said you didn’t want to see me again.”

  “I was furious. I hurt that my daughter was destroying herself.”

  I shook my head, glaring at her. “First, when the photos came up, you didn’t bother to verify if it was me. I get it there was a misunderstanding. But if you cared enough, you’d have made sure you knew. You never allowed me to explain. Now I’m sure you didn’t let her talk either. You may leave. I don’t want to see your faces again.”

  Shrugging her hands off, I exited the office. And I didn’t care what Orlando said to them. If they thought they could just walk back into my life, they thought wrong. What lessons would they teach my child? To ignore her sister or brother and be self-centered and rotten on the inside?

  My child was better off without her maternal grandparents.

  “Mrs. Cortez, this way, please.” One attendant pulled me out of my thoughts and led me to her room. My grip tightened on my purse. Alana stood facing the window, her brunette hair now cut short so that it now kissed her neck.

  “I didn’t think you would come,” she said when the door closed behind me. “Sit.” She pointed the chair beside the bed.

  I looked around the decent room with a single bed, table and chair. The only window in her room gave her a full view of the parking lot, so she must have seen me coming in.

  “Is this how you felt all these years?” she asked and went to sit on her bed.

  I sat, no words forming in my throat. Alana looked different. Her once vibrant eyes now appeared sunken. No smile adorned her lips. It held a permanent frown. It was awkward to be in the same room with her. She is my sister. My twin. It shouldn’t be like this between us.

  “Where are your friends?” I asked, expecting the obvious answer.

  Hazel eyes stared at me with sadness. “They left.” She gave a dry laugh. “We had a fall out after our wedding.” She simply stared at the far wall, not revealing the details and I didn’t bother asking. “I don’t know why I am here. I have nothing to go back to.” Her voice cracked a little. An odd quality. I rarely saw her breaking down.

  “I thought you were happy. You were their golden child. Everyone loved you.”

  Alana laughed again. The fake one which she often did. “You see, that is the problem. Everyone loves me and expects something I wasn’t ready to give.” She threw her hands in the air. “They expected me to wake early in the morning when I didn’t want to. I took beauty classes when I didn’t want to. I learned, how to speak, laugh and walk in the public. They always told how to dress. I had to keep up to date with the fashion trends. Someone always told me what’s expected of me.”

  She stood and paced while I sat, watching her as if seeing her for the first time. I never knew. Alana always kept to herself. Perhaps, that was the mask she wore perfectly.

  “It was everything I have done and I ever knew. They constantly bickered and forced things on me while you lived your life the way you wanted.” She turned to face me. Her voice held no anger, just sadness and pain. “I knew you were hosting a party for your seventeenth birthday, but I wasn’t allowed to party. Mom and dad weren’t home. And they promised they will host a party upon their return. And, you know how their parties were. I didn’t want that. I wanted none of that.”

  My throat constricted. I remembered poking my head in her room as she sat on the bed, saying happy birthday and telling her I was going to the party. She hadn’t responded then. I wondered for a brief moment if things would have gone different if I had invited her to go with me that day.

  “That night, I snuck away and partied with my friends. I drank for the first time and danced like no one watched me. It was fun. No one told me I shouldn’t dance the way I did or I shouldn’t drink. I made out with a random guy and woke the next morning realizing I slept with him.”

  Didn’t I do the same? If it wasn’t for Mike, I might have ended up with a random guy too. I pushed the loose strands of my hair behind my ears.

  She laughed again. “I don’t even remember my first time. Can you imagine? I always thought it’d be romantic.” She sighed. “Anyway, when I came home, it was pretty late. Too late to sneak in without someone noticing. I borrowed clothes from my friend and figured I’d just pass it on as returning from my morning run.”

  Oh, I perfectly remembered that morning. She’d entered the home, appearing out of breath. Our parents didn’t give her the time of the day because their focus was on me.

  “You were already there and I assumed you got caught. I was prepared to face the worst when they saw me and realized the clothes didn’t belong to me. Then, I saw the photos and realized they were yelling at you.”

  “Bad timing,” I scoffed.

  “Probably. I really felt bad when they scolded you for having a party while I did the same thing. But Mom looked at you with so much disgust and hatred that it scared me. And I knew if they ever found out I partied, they would shun me away. So, I snuck into my room and pretended as if nothing happened.”

  Alana silently climbing the stairs while I took their brunt that day washed over my memory. Did she look guilty though? I don’t remember.

  “I vowed to myself that was the last time I partied. Then, there was another party that week. I sneaked away once again. The guy I went with introduced me to his friends and we had a lot of fun drinking and playing games. The next morning I once again woke naked beside them.” She took a deep breath, staring at the ceiling. “There were parties every weekend and the guys introduced me to things. Things I never knew existed. With time, I grew addicted. I found I couldn’t stop even when I wanted. Sex with one man wasn’t pleasing anymore.”

  “When they photographed you thought it
was okay to frame me in?” I asked. It had been bugging my mind for so long, I realized. Deep down, I couldn’t digest she’d tarnish my image like that.

  “I didn’t know they followed me or they took my photographs. Dad called me in his office one day, a year later. He showed me photographs. That was when I knew. I thought they were going to throw me away. Then he insisted it’s time I talked to you and set you straight.” Guilt washed over her face. “I asked him again and he said that was you on the photos. I should’ve said something, but the blind rage and disgust I saw on his face, rendered me speechless. I knew he would hate me for it if he ever knew.”

  “So you kept pretending like me.”

  “Yes,” she admitted. “I tried to stop though and I tried to be careful. Disguised myself when I couldn’t control for longer periods. I didn’t know how those guys kept getting all those photos.” She swallowed. “Guess I wouldn’t know with all the amount of drugs in my system.” A stray tear slipped over her cheek. “When I found the photos had never stopped and they had proof for almost all of my encounters, it was too late. Mom and dad already thought it was you. And I couldn’t bring myself to claim otherwise. I feared the consequences. The mask became my necessity then.”

  “What about Brian?”

  Her tongue darted out, wetting her lips. “I met him first. We were sixteen and he attended our parent’s party. I liked him.” When her gaze locked with mine, I saw the truth in her eyes.

  “When mom introduced him again at another party, a few years later, I was smitten. He liked me too and our parents planned our wedding. I stopped partying and tried hard to change.” Alana reached out for the water on the table, gulping a generous amount as I waited for her to continue. “I enrolled in a therapy program. You know I stayed true to him when we dated. Sometimes it would get hard, but I used vibrators and sex toys, but never cheated on him. Then, one day, he broke up with me. Just like that. Said he liked you better.”

  Tears pricked my eyes and I turned my face to hide my eyes. “I didn’t know about you and him.” If I had known I wouldn’t have spared a glance at him.