Chasing The Wrong Bride

CHAPTER 2 - THE BAIT

Isabella's POV

I knew something was wrong the moment I opened the front door.

I just came back from work, tired and sweaty. Eight hours of standing at the restaurant, taking orders, smiling at rude customers who never tip, carrying heavy plates. My feet were hurting and my uniform stunk of garlic and fried oil.

There was a small velvet box on the doorstep. Expensive black box with a gold ribbon. The address was written in beautiful gold handwriting: Miss Chloe Reynolds.

I picked it up and entered the house

Normally, when I enter, Chloe and her mother start talking louder about me on purpose. They love to insult me. But today, they went completely quiet the second I stepped in.

I walked into the living room. Chloe was on the couch, wearing full makeup and a short dress, like she was about to go out. Fiona, my stepmother, was sitting next to her, smiling.

Smiling at me.

That smile scared me more than any insult they had ever given me. Fiona has never smiled at me genuinely in eight years.

"Oh, Bella! You're home early! We were just waiting for you!" Fiona greeted, smiling, her voice too sweet. Too fake, like honey with poison.

Chloe jumped up from the couch, almost too happy to see me. "Bella! My dear sister! Come sit! We have to talk!"

I held out the box, keeping my distance. "This was on the door. It's for you, Chloe. "

She didn't even look at the box. She waved her hand and cut me off like I wasn't speaking.

"We should go out tonight! Just you and me! Like real sisters! Drinks! Dancing! It's been so long since we actually hung out together! What do you say?"

Ever since Fiona walked into the house with Chloe and broke my family apart, Chloe had never asked me to hang out. Not once. She always said I embarrassed her.

"No," I disagreed. "I'm tired. I worked all day." I tried to walk past her, “I just want to sleep.”

"Oh come on," Fiona chimed in quickly. "Your sister is trying to bond with you. Don't be rude. You are always locked in your room like a ghost. You should go out and live a little."

"I said no. I'm going to my room."

I turned to leave, but remembered the box in my hand. I turned back and held it out to Chloe again.

"Here. Your package. Take it."

Chloe looked at it like it was trash. She rolled her eyes and flung her hand hard. "Ugh, just throw it away in the bin! It's probably from some random admirer who is obsessed with me. I get these every week. I don't want it."

Her hand hit mine as she flung it. The box fell to the floor and the lid popped open.

A necklace fell out onto the carpet and the light caught it.

I forgot how to breathe.

It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. A thin gold chain with a small, perfect rose pendant. The petals were so detailed, like a real rose frozen in gold.

On the back, there were tiny engraved letters: C.R.

Chloe's initials.

I picked it up before I could stop myself. The gold was warm in my hand.

"Can... can I have it? If you don't want it?" I whispered, my voice small. I had never owned anything this beautiful.

Chloe looked at Fiona, then at me. A slow, evil smile stretched across her face like she had just got an idea.

"Of course you can keep it," she said. "But only if you keep your promise. Come out with me tonight. One drink. Sister bonding. Then the necklace is yours forever, I swear."

Every part of my brain was screaming NO. This was strange. This was wrong. Why would she give me something so expensive just for one drink? Why was she being so nice all of a sudden?

But I was holding the rose. And I was so tired of being the unwanted, bitter stepsister.

"Fine," I said quietly, closing my hand around it. "One drink. Then I come home."

"Perfect!" Chloe clapped her hands excitedly. "Go dress up! Wear the necklace! It will look so much better on you anyway!"

An hour later, we were ready. I wore my only good black dress and the rose necklace. I looked in the mirror and for the first time in a long time, I felt pretty. The rose made me feel special.

When I came downstairs, Fiona gasped loudly, putting her hands on her chest. "Oh Bella! You look absolutely stunning! That necklace was made for you!"

Chloe nodded, but her eyes were locked on the rose on my neck. She stared at it for a long time. "Yeah. It really.. really suits you. So beautiful. Let's go, sister."

We took a taxi to Lure Hotel. Chloe said it was the hottest new club in town and everyone important was there tonight.

When we arrived, it was loud and full of rich people. There were balloons upstairs near the private area that said HAPPY BIRTHDAY GEORGE, but Chloe dragged me to the crowded bar downstairs.

She ordered two sweet, strong cocktails.

"To sisterhood," she said, pushing one glass to me and smiling. "To us."

I drank it. It tasted sweet at first, then very bitter at the end, like medicine.

By the second drink, my head was spinning badly. The lights were too bright. My legs felt like water.

"Wow, Bella, you're such a lightweight," Chloe laughed, but her voice sounded very far away. "You can't even handle two drinks?"

"I feel... dizzy..." I mumbled, holding my head, “I feel sick.”

She put her arm around me like she cared. "Oh no, poor Bella. Let's get you to a room to rest. I booked one upstairs. Just for us girls."

I couldn't think anymore. I just nodded.

She half-carried, half-dragged me to the elevator and to the said room. She opened it with a key card and dumped me on the big soft bed. The room was spinning.

I tried to sit up. I saw her back. She was on the phone, whispering very fast.

"She's ready, come now. And remember, I paid you to make it look real..."

That was the last thing I heard before everything went black.