Chapter 2

• “Fine, I will just take the other car,”
• Karina let out as she ran back into the house to get the keys to the spare car that everyone could share. She couldn’t take Ava’s car because even though Ava took hers, if she dared to take Ava’s car, all hell would break loose and she wasn’t ready to deal with that right now. She really didn’t want any trouble.
• “Fucking late,”
• She said when she checked the time again. she wasted ten minutes looking for her car and also walking back to the main house and now she just has twenty minutes to meet up with the client. Her biggest client since she started working for the company five years ago at twenty-three. She grabbed the key and turned to leave but her stepmother stood in her way.
• “Sorry, Mom, I have to leave, I have just twenty minutes to meet up with a very important client,”
• Karina explained while trying to pass by her step mom who kept blocking her way.
• “Give me the keys,”
• She said and stretched her hand out.
• “I can’t I need the car to get to where I am going to,”
• Karina told her.
• “Take your car then.
• “Mom, I was going to take my car but Ava already took it so I have to use the spare car,”
• Karina explained to her, trying to walk by her again, but still got blocked. She was running out of time.
• “I need the spare car, if your car isn’t in the park then use a cab or something, just give me those keys while I am still asking you nicely,”
• Her stepmother barked.
• “I can’t take a cab. You have two cars and they are both in the park. The spare car is for when your car is bad or someone else took your car, in my case, Ava took my car so I need to use the spare car. Please, Mom, this client is important to me and the company,”
• Karina pleaded but her stepmom stubbornly refused to step out of the way, Karina checked the time again. Now she had just fifteen minutes left. She had no choice but to drop the keys in her stepmom’s hands. She got out of the way and Karina ran out of the house. willing herself not to cry. It was too early to be sad.
• It took her five minutes to get to the gate and thankfully, she got a cab as soon as she stepped out of the mansion. There wasn’t much traffic so she was able to get to the hotel in about eight minutes. Thank God the client had picked a hotel close to their estate so it was easy for her to get there. She practically ran into the hotel lobby and rushed to the receptionist who directed her to where she would be meeting her client.
• She was happy when she arrived and saw that the client wasn’t there yet. She checked her phone for any message and saw that the client had sent a message that they would be about ten to fifteen minutes late which gave her enough time to calm down because her mind had been all over the place because of what happened earlier with her car and her stepmom refusing to let her use the spare car.
• Karina was used to it. used to getting her stuff taken from her by Ava, she has done it so many times already that it doesn’t shock her anymore.
• “Soon it will end,”
• Karina voiced under her voice as she flipped through her gallery, smiling at the beautiful pre-wedding photos that she had taken with Nick. She just needs to look at Nick’s photo and her saddest day will become bright. When he calls her or tells her he loves her, it always lifts her mood no matter what. When he is not available, she reads their messages and gets a confidence boost. Nick was good for her. He was her prince charming and she couldn’t wait to experience living with him. She knew it would be better than anything that she has had for the past twenty years of her life.
• The seven years before her dad had married Ava’s mom was the only time of her life that she had a happy childhood. Everything changed after her stepmom and Ava arrived. Even though they were not blood-related, her dad fully adopted Ava as his daughter and favored her more than Karina even though she was his biological daughter.
• “No bad thoughts,”
• Karina said as she closed her phone and checked the time, only ten minutes more before her client arrived. She looked around the huge hotel waiting area. People were checking in and out of the hotel. She watched in bored silence until her eyes landed on someone that she thought was very family.
• ”Ava? This was where she had been?”
• Karina let out. She was tempted to confront her about her car but opted not to because Ava was good at creating scenes and playing the victim. She would turn the whole thing on her and that was the last thing that Karina needed right now. Ava was smiling at someone and Karina's eyes followed her eye direction until her eyes landed on the person she was smiling at.
• Karina stood up in shock as she watched Ava run to the person and they hugged, not just hugged, they shared a kiss. Karina watched as the couple held hands and smiled at each other as they walked towards the hotel elevator. Karina wiped her eyes to make sure she wasn’t seeing things but that person looked like her fiancée.
• “Nick?”
• Karina whispered as she picked up her bag and ran in the direction of the hotel elevator, hoping that she was seeing things and making shits up but when she got to the elevator, it was about to close, and yeah, she saw her sister with the same person who looked like her fiancée. They were making out even though the elevator was still pretty much open and Karina doubted that it could be Nick. He would never do something like that to her. She was about to turn around and leave when he looked in her direction just before the elevator closed and she wasn’t mistaken. Her bag fell from her hand as she froze in shock.