The Double Life Of Cleopatra Banks ✓

prologue

Isabella Jones glared at the figure staring back at her though the dressing mirror. This is what she had become.
Was she proud of it? Certainly not, but it sure was necessary for her survival. She was keeping a secret and maybe soon, she might just die with it.

She looked at the bottle of antidepressants on the table that she had to take every morning and contemplated an overdose. Maybe this time it wouldn't just land her in the hospital again...this time it might just take her life away.

Maybe she'll love me if I were gone.

With a shake of her head, she removed that thought the minute it entered her mind. She wasn't going to entertain it any longer.

She stepped away from her vanity and made her way to her giant walk in closet. One of the perks of having a billionaire father right?
A smile dawned on her face at the thought of her dad. He was always on the move, making business trips, getting new clients, investing...making money. But when he was home, he always made time for all three of his kids.

The last time he was home, there were talks of the future.
And maybe that's what had kept her going all this while, the thought of becoming completely independent from her mother and living the life she had always envisioned for herself. Her father wasn't planning on grooming her to take over the family empire, exerting unnecessary pressure on her like most businessmen would do, much to her mother's disapproval.

Her real passions ran far beyond signing deals and negotiating, checking stock prices, investing in various business ventures and break even points and she was glad he understood this.

She had been contemplating what to wear for a while when her eyes landed on one of her little black dresses. It was plain and simple but that price tag told a different story.

It was an off shoulder dress with a sweetheart neckline that hugged her chest and waist area then flared out until mid thigh where it ended. Her hair was straightened out and the new Ombre color complemented her light caramel skin tone well. She wore enough makeup to conceal her near puffy eyes, bringing in the smoky eye as well as some nude lipstick for her lips. Her jewelry of choice was a pair of gold studded earrings and a matching bracelet. To complete the outfit, she wore black peep toe red bottom heels that showed off the red color of her toes.

An array of handbags to choose from was the next big issue. A while later, she finally decided on a nude designer handbag big enough for her school supplies and tablet. She looked herself in the full length mirror. The girl looking back at her now was different from the one she had seen only minutes prior.

This one oozed wealth, confidence, fierceness and had a no nonsense attitude.

Perfect.

"I am beautiful. I am powerful. I am in charge and I am dangerous." She chanted out her daily mantra.

"Izzy, come get breakfast!"
The annoying voice yelled from somewhere in the house, cutting her mantra short.
Isabella rolled her eyes at the sound of her mother's voice.

"I'm coming!" You old hag she wanted to add but decided against it. There was no need for drama so early in the morning.
Once she had checked that she had everything she would need for the day, she left the room and made the short journey to the stairs.

And that's when it happened.

Someone should have seriously put more emphasis on the importance of not walking around while doing anything on your phone even if it were in your own home.

Neil watched in horror as his older sister slipped on the water he had accidentally spilled.  He had only been gone for a split second to fetch a mop from the nearest pantry and when he returned it was too late to do anything about it.
Isabella had let out a yelp before tumbling down the stairs, her heels proving incapable of keeping her balanced.

Was it too cliché to say that she saw her life flash before her eyes? Was karma finally catching up to her because of all her misdeeds?

Her rather violent descent was accompanied by a number of contents flying out of her handbag, a phone slipping out of her grasp along with the grunts that escaped her mouth as her body took the hits from each and every individual stair she came across. The journey down was quite long considering how monumental the house was and how the stairs curved all the way down. Her head had made contact with something hard and metallic and after hearing the sound of something breaking, a deep pitch black darkness enveloped her.

Neil was in too much shock to move and stayed rooted to the same spot in front of the pantry, his mouth wide open. His brother Henry had approached the scene way too late in an attempt to grab his sister before she fell but he never reached her.

Mrs. Jones left her position at the breakfast table to go find out why it was taking Isabella so long to come down for breakfast. Henry and Neil had already had theirs and as usual Isabella was the only one who wasn't done getting ready for school yet, talk of having eaten. "She's doing it to punish me. I'm going to get grey hair before my time because of her," Mrs. Jones mumbled to herself, making her way to the stairs.

The ghastly sight that awaited her at the foot of the staircase nearly sent her breakfast back to her mouth.
Lying there, was none other than Isabella.
Bloody, bruised and her body twisted at an awkward angle.

Was she...

"No! Isabella! You, what are doing just standing there? Call an ambulance Henry!" Mrs. Jones screamed, panic, fear and worry all etched into her face.

Henry made a motion to pass by Isabella in order to reach the nearest telephone since he didn't have his cellphone on him. "No!" Mrs. Jones screamed again. "Don't touch her...I'll call them, stay put! Don't move!" She ordered, finally finding the ability to move her legs again.

And in that moment, Sage Jones felt her entire world begin to crumble.
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And that was the prologue, make sure to read on for chapter one