Act like my wife

38. 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 strands 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 there was still doubt in my mind, I answered Tess's question... "She is Mira, Patrizio's—." 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 same wife whose death broke him and Gio... yet here she stands, alive."

"Shut up! No matter what you say, deep down, you know that I am the one 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. "Tsk tsk tsk, 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 that she has a lighter skin tone than me, with tiny freckles splashed all over her nose and cheeks. She had an ethereal appearance and as much as I hate to admit it, I can understand why Patrizio fell for her beauty.

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

Caught off guard by her immediate honesty, I was taken aback. "Why would you do that? Do you have any idea how badly you left them?" 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 holding my shoulders. When she 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."

Tessy wasn't backing down, 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 at 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-"

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

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 photograph. The photo was really old, about three decades ago give or take, it had brown edges. 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 her face, it was my mother! She was quite young in this picture, I'm guessing in her teenage years and she wore a dress that resonated with those times.

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

"I've had this since I was little, I have despised the woman in that picture so much all my life. Don't tell me she never told you about me, you lying tramp. See why I hate your entire family, you all are liars"

I shook my head in confusion. "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 Sister?"

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