The Unfortunate Peace Treaty

Chapter 9

Hera had her phone screen opened as she made starry eyes at the heartthrob of ZRU. The elusive and mysterious Mirsab Furaat. She had clicked the pictures from the university the year before.

Hera Rasan had always been in Adiva's shadow. Everything she did fell short to Adiva. Her own father seemed to love her cousin more than her. She had always been pushed aside so Adiva could take the centre stage. But Hera was just as good, if not more, as Adiva (according to herself). So she had been fed up.

Last year, she had finally been away from Adiva at the university and she had been glad that her cousin hadn't been there to overshadow her. She had been free of Adiva's light. She had been free of her family's partiality and she had thoroughly enjoyed it. In fact she had been given the 'queen bee' status in her house, 'The house of Rasans', also called as 'Muharibs'. She had paraded around like a princess all the time last year. And now, Adiva was not just going to join ZRU, but also going to be married to the one guy every girl dreamt of in the lands of Naia. Hera was going crazy with rage and she didn't care what madness she needed to do to stop this wedding, because she had had enough of this partial world where the sun rose and set for Adiva. She was going to put a stop to it, whatever the cost might be. She was ready. She was more than ready. She huffed and then kissed the screen of her iPhone.

"What can I do to sabotage this wedding Mirsab?" She asked his picture. "They say you are brilliant. Why don't you give me an idea on how to out a stop to this?" She crooned to the unresponsive, unmoving image and wished she had clicked it live so his little heart stopping movements could be captured on her device and then flipped on the bed, facing the canopy of lace and feathers as she sighed. "Why do they love her so much? Why is she so special? Do you know how much partiality I have witnessed in this house? In this family? I have lost counts! And when I was finally setting myself up to woo you and get out of this hell hole, again Adiva had to rise! She took even you away from me! Ah Mirsab..." She sniffled. "Even Cinderella got Prince Charming in the end! But in my story, the step sister, or rather, cousin... gets every single thing. I am fed up of this. You will be mine! And I will not allow any single reason to take you away from me. By hook or crook you will be mine and when that happens I will look into her eyes and smirk in victory. You will be mine and I do not care what heights of insanity I need to cross for that. I do not care for any treaty and any family honor. I am done with all that!"

Hera was in midst of her monologue when Adiva arrived outside her room stealthily. Adiva and Yamin had quite a lot of practice in sneaking around and that's exactly how Adiva entered Hera's bedroom and crawled beneath her bed. For almost twelve minutes, she had to listen to her cousin's complaints about how unfair the treatment in their house was. She rolled her eyes. This wasn't the first time she had been hearing this. She knew the special treatment she got was always a sore spot for many of them, but she didn't have any hand in that.

Adiva had always been demanding and stubborn. She didn't bend for anyone and lived her life according to her whims. She was never a goody two shoes who flattered anyone for being in their good books. She was as she was. She didn't hide behind a mask and talked sweet while being bitter from within. What she felt in her heart usually erupted from her mouth. She had no control over her tongue. And even after all that if somebody loved her then it was their choice. She didn't change for anyone. And she didn't push the people who loved her away for anyone. Love was precious and she treasured it. But if that was partial of the people then it wasn't her fault, was it?

Adiva listened to Hera croon (gag!) to her supposed fiancé (gag!) and then proceed to kiss the screen of her phone countless of times loudly. Adiva gaged soundlessly again. Why couldn't she just do something about it instead of speaking half an hour monologues to herself?

Hera then proceeded towards the attached bathroom with a towel and Adiva sighed in relief. God! She thought Hera would never leave or sleep, either was okay with her. The moment Hera closed the bathroom door, Adiva crawled out from under the bed and snatched Hera's phone from the bed. From inside the bathroom, she could hear Hera's iPod blaring some tune loudly. Adiva shook her head and pressed Hera's password in the phone. And when the phone clicked open, Adiva smirked. Bingo! The password was Mirsab. Adiva shook her head at Hera's predictability and proceeded to air drop the edited video to Hera's phone before locking the phone and placing it right where it was on the bed and rushed out of her cousin's room. She tried her best to keep far away from Hera unless needed or when all of them had to attend functions together.