Act like my wife

39. Meeting Her

I froze as I came face to face with this person who had kidnapped me and locked me up in this old church. There were a lot of similarities between her features and mine, yet, so many differences.

Flowing from her head down to her shoulders were curls of blonde hair. Those blue eyes were like the sharp edge of an icicle, piercing. But this was no time to observe her striking beauty, for she was the cause of my woes.

I said in a breathy voice; "You..."

Tessy spoke up from beside me. "Niks, who is she?"

Though I was still in shock, I answered Tess's question. "This is Mira, Patrizio's w-" I stopped myself from completing the sentence.

Mira chuckled darkly. "I believe the word you are looking for is 'Wife'"

I nodded, though a part of me wished this was all a nightmare that I would wake up from. "The wife whose death broke him and Gio... yet here she stands, alive."

"Shut up! Deep down, you know that I am the woman Patrizio truly loves. You were just a replacement, but I'm back to take what belongs to me." She stepped closer to me but I backed away.

She sneered. "Don't tell you're intimidated by me, Veronica."

"No, I'm not"

"Then stand and face me!" She challenged.

"Fine." I took a step closer to her too. "Everyone thinks you're dead, why is that?" I asked, a bit unnerved and breathing heavily.

A strange smile appeared on her face. Now watching her up close, I could see her features up close; She has a lighter skin tone than me, with tiny freckles splashed all over her nose and cheeks—giving her ethereal appearance. And as much as I hate to admit it, I can see why Patrizio fell for her beauty.

She shrugged nonchalantly, "Simple, I faked my own death."

I was taken aback by her honest response. "Why would you do that? Do you have any idea the bad state you left them in?" I still couldn't understand this sick woman.

She scoffed. "Don't pretend like you care about my husband and my son more than I do. You were just as excited to fill my shoes and steal my life, you stupid whore!"

My heart sunk in at her words, to say the least. "That is—that is so not true, I never knew you or Patrizio, I never asked for that life-"

"Well, now you are enjoying it. You're so shameless, taking on another woman's identity and lying to everyone."

I balled my fist as her words enraged me. "If you hadn't faked your own death, I would never have entered the picture, so it was all your fault!"

The next thing I felt on my left cheek was a slap, followed by a tingling sensation that caused me to cover that side of my face with my hand. Mira grabbed my arm with her nails digging into my skin. "Just shut your mouth! You know nothing about me, nothing!"

"Let go of me!" I pushed her hand off and swung my fist at her, but she was quick and dodged my punch. She moved back and shoved me with both her hands. I lost balance and fell to the tiled floor, but Tessy caught me just in time to break my fall. My waist hurt so bad as I sat on the floor with Tess supporting my shoulders. When Tess was sure that I was okay, she shot up to her feet.

"What is wrong with you Mira or whatever you call yourself?! Can't you see she is pregnant?!" Tessy barked.

Mira rolled her eyes. "Like I care about that little bastard."

Tess wasn't backing down, so she fired back at Mira. "You shut the fuck up! I won't let you insult my niece or nephew"

Mira smirked. "Oh really?"

I was starting to fear for Tessy's safety, Mira seemed to be off her hinges, if she could fake her own death and order my kidnapping, then she was capable of hurting Tessy too.

I grabbed Tessy's hand and tugged on it. "Leave her, she ain't worth it. Come on"

Stubborn as usual, Tessy didn't listen to me. She didn't budge. "I ain't scared of this crazy bitch!"

It took me a minute but I managed to get up. I stood between the two of them and faced Mira. "Ignore Tessy, she is young. Your anger is with me"

Mira scoffed. "You couldn't be more wrong, Veronica, my anger is with your entire family."

"Please, let Tessy and the kids go. They have nothing to do with this"

"Oh zip it!" She pointed her index finger in my face. "You think you're better than me, huh? You think you're luckier than me or prettier or smarter?!"

I was perplexed by her accusations. "Of course not, I don't even know you-"

"Rosario told you everything about me, so stop lying!" She continued... "You pretended to be me, but I know you always thought you were better than me."

It felt like I was talking to a seven-year-old, an insecure seven-year-old. "Mira, what are you talking about?"

She dipped her hand in her pocket and brought out a small rectangular photo. The photo seemed really old, like three decades ago kind of old, give or take. It had brown edges and a fading image. She handed it to me. "Look at it!"

I focused on the person in the picture. It was hard to see past the blur at first - but I could recognize my own family from a mile away.

I was able to make out my mother's face! She seemed quite young in this picture—I'm guessing in her teenage years. And she had on a dress that resonated with those times.

I looked back up at Mira. "Why do you have a photo of my mom?"

Her voice softened. "I've had this since I was little, I have despised the woman in that picture all my life. Don't tell me she never told you about me, you lying tramp."

"No, she didn't tell me anything." Everything was so overwhelming for me, I didn't understand any of the things she was saying. I can understand she hates me because of Patrizio, but why does she hate my mom?

I pushed back the fear of the truth and asked her the question that tugged at my heart. "Who are you?"

One side of her lips lifted in a half-smile. "You haven't figured it out, have you, twin sis?"

Author's note:
Please don't hate me, I'm having my final exams, need to focus. Sorry for the delay fam.