Twinsequences
IVY
Written By: Jennifer Foor
Copyright © 2013 & 2015 Jennifer Foor
1st Edition
All Rights Reserved
Cover Art By : Wicked By Design – Robin Harper
This book is a written act of fiction. Any places, characters, or similarities are purely coincidence. If certain places or characters are referenced it is for entertainment purposes only. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. This book is not allowed to be offered for sale, discounted, or free on any sites other than Kobo, IBook’s, Amazon and Barnes and Noble. This book may only be distributed by Jennifer Foor, the owner and Author of this series.
Preface
Being a twin is supposed to have it’s perks. From a young age we’d learned to switch places and fool people. It used to be a game. It was fun.
As I sat in jail awaiting my trial, for multiple charges including attempted murder, I often wondered how things had gone so wrong. Why couldn’t I have the life I wanted – her life? Why didn’t Stoshua Wheeler love me instead of my sister Willow? Why was she born special, while I was the disappointment?
Willow wasn’t my best friend. We may have shared DNA, but she had everything I wanted, and I hated her.
I never expected her to come visit me. The first time was before I was sentenced. She came in looking content, fatter, and comfortable. I could see it in her eyes she was trying to hide her real emotions. She may have been naïve, but I knew deep down inside she felt guilty for me being locked away, while she was fucking the man I loved.
I didn’t flinch when she sat down across from me, as if being close to me was a daunting task. “I didn’t think you’d come.” It was true.
“I wasn’t going to,” she replied sarcastically.
I fidgeted with my hands, unable to keep looking her in the eyes without calling her out for being so fake. “I thought a lot about what I wanted to say to you.” I was prepared to bite my tongue and keep it cordial, or else I’d have to hear my parents badgering me before they decided to stop sending money to my commissary account. The cafeteria food was awful, and I liked being able to buy whatever I wanted with an unlimited amount to spend.
“Spill. I don’t have all day. Stoshua is taking me out to our favorite restaurant and I promised him I wouldn’t be late.” She was purposely bragging about her happy life to get a rise out of me. I had to keep my cool; to act appeased for her. In the long run it would pay off.
“It must be nice.”
“Oh, it is. Everything turned out perfectly. I’ve never been so happy.”
I wanted to gag. Part of me wanted to stand up and smack the shit out of her. “How’s he doing without legs?”
“Screw you!” She stood up and stared me in the eyes. I’d obviously gotten under her skin. Two could play mind games. “This was a mistake. You aren’t worth the time.”
When I tried to look away I saw a baby bump.
She interrupted my train of thought. “What’s wrong, Ivy? Cat got your tongue?”
This was where she knew she’d gotten to me. Her expression was cruel and practiced. “I didn’t believe it. I thought you were lying.”
“We kept it from you the whole time, Ivy. How does it feel to be lied to? How does it feel to know that I have everything you’ve ever wanted?”
I hated knowing hot tears were forming in my eyes. “Stop it!”
She leaned in so the guard couldn’t hear her taunting me. “How does it feel to know you will never have my life? You will never feel what it’s like to have someone love you and you will never, ever, know what having your own child is like. You reap what you sow, sis. This is where you belong.”
When she began to leave the room, I grabbed her by the wrist. “Will, wait!”
She pulled away. “What do you want? Did you think I was going to come here and just forgive you? You’re insane! You took everything from me and then tried to end the lives of everyone that ever gave a damn about you. I hope you rot in Hell.”
“I’m sorry.” I wasn’t, but now more than ever I had to be the better person. My sister had just awakened an evil part of me I was trying to keep from letting out. This was war, and she would pay.
She seemed pissed, but nothing compared to the way I wanted to rip out her throat and dance around in a puddle of her blood.
She kept scorning me like I was a child. “You’re not sorry, Ivy. You did it on purpose. Apologies are for something you didn’t mean to happen. You planned all this. Are you happy with yourself? How does it make you feel to know Stoshua and I bought a house together? We wake up in our bed and make love whenever we want. You think just because he can’t walk that we can’t make love? My name is the only one he says when he sleeps. It’s our baby’s room that he’s helping decorate. I hope you like your little ten-by-ten cell. Was that in your plan too?”
I had to look away before I hauled off and decked her.
Willow kept running her mouth. “I loved you more than anyone for our whole lives. I would have done anything for you. It’s a shame you didn’t feel that way about me. We could have been a family. You could have been an aunt to my children. I really do hope you’re happy with yourself.”
When she left the room, I wiped my tears away, gritting my teeth and coming up with a way to get my revenge.
She visited me once more two years later, after begging my parents to help me see her again. I knew if everyone was convinced I’d changed, they’d begin to see me as the victim. I’d pleaded with my parents to get her to visit, in hopes of making her believe I wanted her back in my life. I needed her to feel comfortable so she’d start making mistakes; she’d come out of hiding and leave me breadcrumbs I could use for later. Once I had her trust, I’d be able to put the next step of my master plan into motion. I’d be able to take what I wanted with little effort, because she would lead me right to them.
This time she brought Stoshua with her. I should have known she’d include him to rub it in some more, how they were living the perfect life. I knew the moment I saw him walk in the room I was about to feel unimaginable pain. Just seeing them together was like a punch in the gut. I remembered all our nights together – the time we spent as a married couple. As much as I could have looked at him the whole time, I had to bring my focus back to Willow. It was crucial to make her think I was sincere. “Hi, sis.”
I could tell from how close they were sitting Willow was uncomfortable. “Hello, Ivy.”
It was important to make myself look uneasy. They had to buy how sympathetic I was. “Thanks for coming. I didn’t think it was going to happen,” I replied sadly.
She wasn’t buying it. “What do you want?” Even her tone seemed annoyed.
I peered down and stared at their wedding rings. He’d gotten her a new one; a bigger and better design than I’d had. I clenched my jaw and tried to keep a convincing smile on my face, even though I could picture cutting off their limbs and feeding them to starving dogs. While I was rotting away in the loony bin they were off basking in happiness. “It’s weird seeing you with that on. I used to have to fight with you to get you to wear it.”
My bitch sister replied in a way to get under my skin more. “He never takes it off. Now, explain why we’re here, because we have a daughter to take care of.”
I tried to use the child as my in. “You only have her because of what I did. Can’t you appreciate how something good came out of it?”
Willow stood up, so she was above me as she spoke.
“Don’t you dare say that. Whether or not you planned for things to happen, she was made out of love. Stoshua made love to me on that boat and you know it.” Willow was ready to leave. She’d had enough of me already. I wanted to laugh at her inability to withstand the inevitable truth, but refrained.
“Wait! Please!” I covered my face to keep her from seeing how amused I’d become. “I’m sorry. Please don’t go. It’s lonely here. All I do is read and sit by myself. Nobody wants to be friends in here, and the ones that do are too crazy to communicate with. Don’t you miss the way things used to be? Don’t you miss how it was when we were kids?”
The table scraped the hard floor as she sat back down. “I do miss it, but everything changed when you started deceiving me.”
I finally glanced up at both of them. “Look at you two now, though. You’re together. Will we ever be able to get past all this?”
I could tell she was torn. “I don’t know, Ivy. Too much has happened. You tried to kill us. No matter how much I miss the old you, I can never trust the one that’s looking at me right now. Trust is earned and all you’ve done is stab me in the back. We’re happy, Ivy, but we would have been sooner had you not kept us apart in high school. You seem to be forgetting this wasn’t just about what got you in trouble. For years you’d been planning to destroy my life. Yes, it worked out in the end, but that also includes you being locked up.”
I was forcing myself to cry, simply imagining them curling up together with their beautiful child. “I won’t be in here forever. Do you think one day I’ll get to meet my niece?”
Stoshua answered fast, as if nothing would change his mind. “I don’t think that’s possible. I don’t want you near my kids or my wife. If we have to leave the country, we will.”
As they began to leave, Willow said one last thing to me. “I hope you get better, Ivy. I wish things were different. You could have been an amazing aunt. We could have grown old together. This isn’t how I would of wanted to say goodbye to you.”
It was then when I knew I’d have to step up my game. I didn’t care how long it took, or what I’d have to go through, I’d ruin that bitch, and take everything she ever loved. I wouldn’t stop until she was dead, and that little family of hers was all mine.
Chapter 1
The room was a dingy hue of tan. Mismatched furniture had been arranged on every wall. The desk placed in the center was facing a long sofa and two matching chairs. Sometimes during our sessions we would sit facing each other, but when I was in the mood to chat, I’d lie down and remain focused. I didn’t enjoy this type of therapy, in fact, I didn’t very much like expressing my emotional state to people who didn’t actually give a damn, except this person was different. He cared too much.
It was necessary to abide by the rules of the institution – part of my reduced sentence. I’d been convicted of attempted murder, and conspiring to commit it.
The doctors say there is something broken inside me. They think with medication and weekly chats they’ll be able to fix what’s wrong. I say they have a degree in bullshit with a prescription pad to make people forget who they are.
The only thing wrong with me, was being forced to share who I was with another person. My twin sister took it all from me, and my plan to seek revenge had backfired. Now, she was living with my ex-husband – married to him, with a little girl I was supposed to be raising.
The plan was to take her away, because I’d never be able to carry a child myself. With the same DNA running through our veins, I’d be able to convince the world she was mine. I’d even met a man who was willing to jump through hoops to help me make it happen. Rafe – rest his soul, was not only sexy and Italian, but a genuine all around great man. It was a shame he had to die because of me.
My sister Willow had ruined everything. Together, with the help of Stoshua, my ex, they went behind my back and destroyed my hopes of being happy. For close to four years I’d been trying to wrap my head around how they’d figured me out, and destroyed my life - again.
People think I’m insane. They said I shouldn’t ever be let out of the institution; that I’m a danger to myself and others around me.
Perhaps there are parts of me they can’t begin to understand, yet crazy isn’t what I would call it. I’d been cast out, malnourished of love and favoritism.
I’d been pushed aside for a better rendition. My twin sister Willow was preferred, getting all the attention from our well-off parents. At a young age it was obvious who they were more proud of. No matter how hard I tried, I knew I’d never be the one they gloated about.
I suppose there was a time when we were close, back when we didn’t know what possessions meant. Since we’d been born on the same day, we’d learned from an early age to share our belongings. Middle school changed that. We started having different tastes. I wanted long hair, while she kept hers shoulder length. We wore styles of clothes to suit our personalities. While I was spunky and fun, Willow preferred to dress conservative. She enjoyed nestling in a corner and getting lost in a book. I was a big television guru, getting most of my keen fashion know-how from reality shows. Even our tastes in boys seemed to be opposite.
It wasn’t until high school, when I saw a spark ignite in my sister - one I felt threatened by. She was gorgeous to a fault – obviously, since we shared a face. Except, Willow didn’t know it. She saw herself as plain, and I enjoyed being in the limelight. I joined the cheerleading squad and became captain after my second year. Guys fell over me, and I accepted the attention. I liked how when I was at school, or socializing, Willow wasn’t the favorite twin. In fact, most people ignored her like the plague.
It wasn’t until a new guy showed up our senior year when I noticed a change. They hung out every day, and the way they fawned over each other was almost sickening.
Suddenly I became jealous. In all my endeavors and experiences with the opposite sex, I’d never had a guy look at me the way he did her. It was obvious it was mutual, even though neither would admit it.
When my sister fell in love with Stoshua I saw an opportunity. Aside from my issues with my sister, I happened to sleep with someone I didn’t exactly favor spending long amounts of time with. I’d taken a pregnancy test and realized that a one-night-stand had resulted in irreparable consequences. Knowing the guy had nothing going for him, I needed a way to break it to my parents where they would at least support me.
It was my turn to make a change. I devised a long-term plan; one that seemed fail proof. I’d take what was hers and make it mine. I’d force Stoshua to love me. Willow would eventually go away and never come back, and I’d have the guy every girl dreamed of being with. I’d finally have my parents to myself, where they’d praise me for being mature and determined.
I thought my life was planned out. Never in a million years did I think I’d lose the baby, and any hope of convincing Stoshua I was the woman he should have been with. The doctors said I’d never conceive again. It broke me, causing Stoshua to wonder why he’d given up everything to marry someone he never truly loved.
My plan was to give him a child, and figure out a way to make him love me again. I thought I’d get away with it. I believed we had something special.
It may have taken them four years to get back together, but in that time I’d actually fallen hard for him. Willow took it all from me in a matter of days; my future with Stosh, and all hopes of becoming a mother again.
“Ivy, did you hear me?” Doctor Simmons asked. “Do you want to talk about your last visitation?”
I snapped out of my daydream and back to reality. “No. There was no visitation. No one showed up. I haven’t seen my parents in a while, and my sister hasn’t visited me for over a year.”
“That’s why I’m inquiring. How did it make you feel?”
My parents used to visit a lot, but after a while they came less frequent. Now I was lucky to see them every few months. I knew it was because they were with my sister and her perfect little family, while I was stuck in thi
s hell-hole, forced to eat shit food and pretend life was rainbows and sunshine. “I’m used to it.” I looked across the desk at the dark-haired man in his early forties. His brown eyes were focused on my body language, while I studied his attributes. Full lips made it impossible not to notice them, and his round nose complimented his chiseled jaw-line. What I like most about the good doctor was his long eyelashes that I’d kill to have for myself. Sometimes he looked like he had on eye makeup when I knew he didn’t.
He parted his lips and leaned back in his reclining office chair, tapping his pen between his fingers. “I didn’t ask you if you were used to it. I want to know how it makes you feel.”
I thought for a few more seconds, causing him to wait for my answer on purpose. He squinted his eyes, focused on figuring me out. It was what I hated about him. He was always trying to solve problems. When he wasn’t badgering patients for their deepest thoughts, one could find him with his head stuck in a crossword. “How would it make you feel?”
He sighed and let out an air-filled laugh. This was the game we played during our sessions. He’d try his hardest to get me to spill, while I’d do my damndest to piss him off. We all have to be good at something.
“Honestly, I’d feel abandoned. I’d feel like no matter how hard you try to appease them they’ll never recognize it, because they no longer care.”
Okay, it was true he hit the nail on the head, but I wouldn’t crack. “I’d say you live a sad life.”
“Ivy, you know I’m here to help you, and if you don’t cooperate you’re wasting your opportunity for treatment. Let me help you. If you keep withdrawing, I’ll have to contact another psychiatrist for you to meet with.”
I looked down at my little patient uniform, similar to medical scrubs. There wasn’t anything attractive at all. Still, I used body language to get what I wanted by leaning over his desk and directing his attention to my eyes. “Don’t threaten me, Mikael.” I took my fingers and reached over to trace the platinum band on his ring finger. “I know you’re going to write how cooperative I am in your little file, because you don’t want to mess with me. You know if I wanted I could destroy your precious marriage. How many years has it been now, three, two? I lost count. Tell me, does she know you’re thinking of me when you’re inside of her?”
Twinsequences Ivy Page 1