SISTERS AND SECRETS
645 Words
Zara handed Ayana a bottle of soda from her mini-fridge. The room was still cluttered, but there was warmth now. The kind only sisters shared after being apart for too long.
“So,” Zara began, sitting cross-legged on her bed, “you’re telling me you’ve been living in a penthouse with some mysterious billionaire and pretending to be married to him?”
Ayana rubbed her forehead. “It’s complicated, Zara. I didn’t plan any of this.”
“You never do. Trouble just follows you like perfume.”
Ayana chuckled faintly. “He needed someone to help him maintain his reputation for business. I needed money for the salon. It was supposed to be clean and simple.”
Zara raised an eyebrow. “Girl, nothing about this sounds clean or simple.”
Ayana sipped her soda in silence. The hum of the city outside filtered in through the open window. A car honked in the distance. Somewhere, a dog barked.
Zara leaned forward, serious now. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“I didn’t want to drag you into it.”
“I’m not a kid anymore, Aya. You’ve always protected me, but I can handle things now.”
Ayana looked at her sister, really looked. The green braids, the spark in her eyes, the way she sat with confidence Zara was growing up. And maybe Ayana had been so busy surviving that she hadn’t seen it.
Zara continued, “This Ethan guy. Do you trust him?”
Ayana hesitated. Her mind flashed through the moments the cold stares, the unexpected warmth, the kiss, the crash, and how he’d held her hand in the hospital like it actually meant something.
“I don’t know,” Ayana admitted. “Some days I feel like I do. Others… it’s like I don’t even know who he really is.”
Zara sighed. “Well, maybe it’s time you start finding out. Because if someone’s threatening you and now me we need to be one step ahead.”
Ayana’s phone buzzed again.
Unknown Number:
“Loyalty has its price. Are you willing to pay it?”
She stared at it, heart pounding. She showed Zara.
“Creepy,” Zara muttered. “You think it’s someone from Ethan’s life?”
“Could be. Claudia, maybe. Or someone from his company.”
“What if it’s someone closer?” Zara asked, voice low. “Someone who knows you.”
That thought chilled Ayana to the bone. She'd been so focused on Ethan’s enemies, she'd forgotten her own past had shadows too.
Zara stood up and paced the room. “Okay, we need to start tracking these messages. Maybe we can trace the number.”
“I don’t know if that’ll work,” Ayana said. “They’re using burner phones.”
Zara paused. “Then maybe we bait them.”
Ayana blinked. “What?”
“We act like we’re falling into their trap. Make a move that makes them think they’ve won. And when they come out of hiding—we catch them.”
“That’s risky.”
Zara shrugged. “So is living in a penthouse with a billionaire who might be in danger.”
Ayana couldn’t argue with that.
She stood and hugged her sister tightly. “I’m sorry for everything. For vanishing. For not checking in.”
Zara hugged her back. “I get it. Life’s messy. But next time? Bring me in sooner. We’re a team now.”
Ayana pulled back, smiling faintly. “A very chaotiuc team.”
“But a badass one.”
As they laughed, Ayana’s phone buzzed again.
This time, a photo.
Of the two of them, hugging by the window.
Taken from outside.
Ayana’s blood ran cold.
“They’re watching us,” she whispered.
Zara looked out the window.
The street was empty.
But the game had just begun.
- Writer
