Our Mischievous Lie

Chapter Three "The Titanic Sinks Twice Again"

It took all my self-control not to shut the door in his face. He looked surprised, as if he hadn't expected seeing me there. Had the asshole forgotten that this was, in fact, my  house that he was intruding?

I looked over his shoulder and my gaze fell upon my mother's best friend. But she looked so different...so sad. She was staring into nothingness, but when she noticed I was looking at her, she offered me a quick smile. Of course, it never actually reached her eyes.

What's wrong with her? What happened?

I directed my gaze to the left and saw Stephanie looking as stunningly beautiful as always. She was tall and blonde, with a body I envied and a pair of blue eyes that sent daggers wherever they looked at. If looks could kill...

At last, my eyes fell upon the girl standing beside Christopher, who I hadn't seen moments before. I was taken aback by her awkward resemblance to Stephanie, both of them being tall and with a body that not even after twelve years of being a ballerina I had been able to get.

The only difference between them was their hair and eye color. While Stephanie was a blonde and had ice blue eyes, the other girl had a pair of striking green orbs and a black mane. Stephanie Two's features weren't as fine as the former's and her nose looked too fake, but overall, they looked pretty much alike.

Right when it began to feel like the Titanic had crashed and sunk twice, Anna spoke.

"Jessica, darling! Look at you, you're so beautiful!"

"Thanks, Anna. It's nice to see you too." I said, trying to make my voice sound nice.

"Where's your mother? We thought she was gonna be the one who'd open the door. Just a while ago I was talking to her on the phone and she sounded pretty excited. Right guys?"

All members of the Perfect Club looked at her, but Christopher gave me a look that reeked of disgust as he answered.

"Yes, we were all expecting her to open the door."

And with that, he walked past me and stepped into my house. Hadn't his parents taught him what respect was?

Then realization hit me. Something was wrong. I counted again, one, two, three, and four with the beast that had already entered the house. Yes, there were four people, but I had counted Stephanie Two, who didn't have to be here in the first place, which left only three known people coming into my house.

Where was Francesco?

I was about to ask (which was something completely inappropriate, I know, but I was curious), when my mom appeared behind me and put her hand on my shoulder. I turned around and looked at her. She looked fresh and stunning, as always.

In the blink of an eye, she took a step forward and hugged the woman who had been her best friend since kindergarten.

"Darling, it's such a pleasure to have you here!"

"Blanca, you know I have nowhere else to go."

What?

The Veltronis' house was enormous. Christopher's grandparents were loaded and,after having accumulated a generous fortune over the years, they gifted the house to their son. However, when Christian Saenz died abruptly of a horrible heart condition, months before his son was born, his parents decided to transfer the rights of the property to his girlfriend, Anna.

The fact that Christian died before their son was born and before he even got to marry Anna must have been really hard for her. But my mother and Francesco Veltroni —Anna's best friend back then— had been there for her every step of the way. 

As time went by, Francesco and Anna became closer than ever and by the day little Christopher was born, they had fallen deeply in love. Francesco knew that every boy had to have a father figure, so he vowed to be exactly that for Christopher and gave him his last name. With his actions, Anna's admiration towards Francesco grew even more, as well as her love for him. A year later, she agreed to marry her best friend and Franeisco was able to give her his last name too.

Mr. Veltroni had also a little fortune of his own— heritage from his father, a very successful Italian businessman in the textile industry, so it wasn't difficult for the family to lead a comfortable life.

After a year of beautiful marriage, Anna got pregnant with Stephanie. And the rest of the story is pretty normal. In fact, I had always thought the Veltronis were a very close family (even closer than mine), so the words that had come out of Anna's mouth moments before made no sense to me.

When I was able to get rid of my thoughts, which were desperately looking for an explanation, I could notice that the scene in front of me had changed a little. What had begun as a friendly hug, had turned into one of those comforting hugs you give someone when you see they're a total mess. Anna was crying softly.

"Anna, please, don't cry. Everything's going to be okay."

"It's just...I don't get it! How could he do this to me?!"

I saw that Stephanie fidgeted uncomfortably in her place. After a moment of doubt, she decided to grab Stephanie Two's hand and they both entered the house, just like her stupid brother had done moments before: as if it were theirs.

"You know what? Let's forget about this. Now. What do you think about going to the karaoke tonight?" My mom said, giving her friend a playful nudge.

Anna smiled lightly before she nodded.

"That's it! It's gonna be just like our high school nights! I'll help you guys settle first."

***

There were only a few things that I knew for sure and they would not stop spinning through my head.

First, I had absolutely no idea why Anna had come three months before the wedding to stay with us, let alone why in the world she hadn't rented an apartment or stayed at a hotel. She could've easily afforded either of them. It was three months, for God's sake!

Second, I knew nothing about her emotional situation, or why Francesco wasn't here with us.

Third, I still didn't know the true identity of Stephanie Two.

And fourth... If my mother went out with Anna tonight, I would be forced to stay at home and wait for my brother to arrive, meanwhile having to endure the presence of the Perfect Club.

Once every one of our guests entered the house (Anna being the only one who politely asked for permission to do so), I ran upstairs and locked myself inside my room. I did not want to have to deal with them at the moment, since so many questions were making my head hurt. Even more than in these past few days.

I was in there for a long time, until I felt a little hungry and decided to go downstairs and into the kitchen, knowing there would be no one there. 

I was surprised to find my brother halfway up the stairs. He was dirty, his football jersey ripped in various places, but what really caught my attention was the look on his face. He had a big bruise on his right cheek and his eyes were too glassy. 

Alex Bellendier was...crying?