AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He glances down at his watch, then back to me. “It’s four thirty p.m. now, so go grab what you need, and we can both get ready at my house. Your mom can keep me entertained while you grab your stuff.”
I stare at him, slack-jawed. “I can get ready here,” I say, reaching for the bags he’s still holding onto.
“Yes, of course, but it’ll be easier if you get ready at my house, plus then your dress will be a surprise for your family when they get there,” he says conspiratorially, like I’m in on the joke.
I open my mouth to argue.
“Izzy, get going. I need to go and pick a few things up on the way home,” he says, shooing me away, an annoyingly smug smile plastered across his perfect lips.
I should argue, insist that I need to stay and listen while he explains away the clusterfuck that today has been to my mom, but honestly, the thought of him taking the brunt of my parents’ anger is too tempting to refuse. Sometimes I think my parents forget that I don’t want my sister’s life. I don’t want the money or the obligation or anything that comes with the Rhodes name and legacy. Maybe before the inheritance I did, but now even pretending to be my sister makes me sick.
So, I walk away and let him deal with her. Today has shown me what an accomplished actor he is. I’m sure he’ll spin his antics into nothing more than teenage tomfoolery. Climbing the stairs, I can hear them chatting, but I don’t linger to listen to what’s being said. I just head for my room.
“Izabella,” my sister says as I reach the top of the stairs and find her waiting for me.
“Jesus, Penelope, just stop. He’s downstairs, explaining it all to Mom. I don’t know why he did it, I don’t know him, so if you want answers, you need to talk to him,” I say wearily, ignoring her poisonous glare and brushing past her as I walk into my room, closing the door on her outraged face before she has a chance to say anything more.
I can practically feel her spluttering indignation through the wood of my door, but I ignore her, turning my lock as I step further into my room and start to collect my makeup and hair supplies. I’m not sure I actually agreed to get ready at his place, but right now I’ll do anything that gets me out of this house.
I have a suspicion that this dinner is his way of apologizing for all of the shit he’s pulled today, and that’s why he’s gone to the effort to help get me a dress and why he’s dealing with my parents and sheltering me from their residual anger.
Tomorrow we’ll go back to being strangers, and this weird alliance will be over. I’ll go back to being a ghost, and he’ll be the prankster who proposed to one twin as a joke, just to piss off the other.
My thoughts go back to the way he behaved on Friday night when he believed I was my sister. His anger and bitter hatred didn’t seem like an act, and I believe now that he had no idea I wasn’t Penelope. He really, truly hates her, and despite my parents’ aspirations of having him as a son-in-law, I think it’s obvious that isn’t going to be happening.
Pulling my overnight bag from a shelf in my closet, I start to stack all of the products that I wear every day into the bag. Pausing, I stare down at the makeup and then take it all back out again. All of this stuff is what Penelope wears. It’s the makeup I wear to look like her, and tonight I don’t have to do that.
Excitement rushes through me as I replace the makeup with the things I use when I want to look in the mirror and see me. For the first time in so long, I get to show the world who I am. Call this a dry run for my life after high school, or maybe just a “fuck you” to sharing a face, but as I reach for my hair accessories, I’m actually looking forward to this dinner.
It might only be one night, but even if it’s fleeting, tonight, I’m no one’s clone, no one’s useless spare. I’m Izabella Cordelia Rhodes, and everyone will know it.
14
GULLIVER
Sometimes in life, you do things that you know are stupid ideas and that you know will end up blowing up in your face, but you do them anyway.
I think this is one of those moments.
When I started this thing with Izabella, it was to prove a point, to make sure everyone knew I was never going to marry Penelope Rhodes. Izabella was just a convenient, albeit unaware, accomplice. But now I don’t know what my aim is anymore.
Common sense should be telling me to stop this, but I’m a runaway train, a boulder racing downhill, gaining momentum on a collision course, skirting with disaster. But fuck if I’m not going to do it anyway.
“Gulliver, darling, can I get you a drink?” Mrs. Rhodes purrs, her hand on my arm, her fingers stroking up and down the fabric of my uniform blazer.
“Actually, a coffee would be wonderful. Thank you, Mrs. Rhodes.”
“Really, Gulliver, Mrs. Rhodes is my mother-in-law, I insist you call me Trudy. Now, why don’t you come on into the living room? Penelope is just getting changed, but she’ll be down shortly. I know she’s looking forward to speaking with you.”
I nod coldly, then glance over my shoulder at Izzy’s retreating back as she climbs the stairs. “Let me just go and put Izabella’s dress in the car.”
Trudy’s eyes drop to the bags that are still clutched tightly in my hands, and I see her lips part when she sees the Van De Burg logo on the side. “Are those…?” She trails off, reaching for the bags.
“Izabella’s dress and accessories for tonight, yes,” I confirm a little smugly.
“But that’s the Van De Burg logo.”
“I know. Fitzy is an old friend, and when I realized Izabella didn’t have anything suitable to wear tonight, I took her to his offices. He took one look at her and gifted her this outfit with a promise to send more things in the next couple of days.”
