The missing puzzle piece
960 Words
A gentle knock at the door broke me away from the reverie I had fallen in.
"Come inside," I called out.
The door opened and the maid stepped in with a bag, holding it carefully before her. She did not meet my eyes.
"This has been given to me to bring to you, miss," she spoke.
I peered inside the bag. Clothes. Simple, decent ones. I let out a heavy sigh of relief.
"Thank you," I said, and the maid nodded and departed.
I set the bag down and proceeded to work on the ties on the back of the wedding gown, ready to leave it behind. Then I heard movements downstairs, footsteps pounding. Intrigued, I quietly opened the door, followed the noise and headed to the living room.
When I got to the living room, I was petrified in place.
Guards packed the room; they were around my father and Adrian in a tight circle. Both men looked tense, relieved perhaps, but still wary. I stood by the door unsure whether to move or linger.
The massive front exit flung wide open and Sophia was brought in by a handful of guards. Still in her wrinkly and dirt-stained wedding gown, she ran over to her father and wept loudly.
"Papa! Papa!" she cried out.
Frozen, I stared, trying to comprehend what I was looking at. How could she be in the gown when I had worn it? And for what reason was it my father who had it with him?
Father held her in his arms and said: "What happened? Where have you been?"
From the side, I quietly watched as Sophia looked past Father and landed her eyes on me. Her glare was sharp, wild with rage.
"You!" she screamed, breaking away from her father's embrace and charging towards me.
"Me? Wait what did I do-" I tried to ask, but Sophia lunged at me, grasping my shoulders as her nails dug painfully into my skin.
By now, three guards jumped in to separate her from me.
"What are you doing in MY dress!" she screamed with hate-filled eyes.
"I--Sophia, I--" I stammered, but my father cut in.
“Sophia darling , please listen. “My father said. "I went to your suite. Someone said you had already left for the church, and I followed, but you were nowhere to be found. I would have reached you, but time was running out, and in desperation, Elena offered to take your place until you were found."
A sudden chilling dread washed over me. Offered? Not in my life would I say that! I had been forced. But I would say nothing. Nothing I would say would ever matter now.
Sophia's face twisted into a murderous grin. "You truly think you could take my place?" she spat.
Before I could say anything, Adrian interrupted from across the room. "What is going on? I want to know why you weren't at the altar. Why is there someone else in your place?"
At this moment, all eyes were now on Sophia.
"I was on my way," she trembled. "But men stopped us. Gun was pointed at me. Just me and the driver. I begged him to protect me, but they beat him until he passed out and dragged me into a van."
I blinked, trying to take in everything. a*******n? Well, at least that explained a few things. But what about the gown?
Adrian eyed her. "And then?"
"For hours, they kept me in a room," Sophia said.
"Yes, sir, we were able to track her by her phone," one of the guards spoke up. "She was fine but shaken."
My hand shot up, and the words rushed out of my mouth before I could stop them, "But how did Father already have the wedding gown for me if you were still in it?"
Sophia's expression changed in the tiniest fraction of a second. She gasped, the look on her face transforming into one of outrage. Tears streamed down her face as she began yelling that she had almost died. My chest constricted. Something was off with her story. Either she was lying or she was omitting some very important details.
Father interjected. "Elena, quiet."
Adrian turned to her. "What happened after you were taken?"
"I.. They kept me in a room for hours. Then your guards found me. The tracker on my phone must have helped them locate me," Sophia was saying, sniffling.
My mouth opened yet again and refused to shut. "Why didn't you even call?"
"Because my phone was dead!" she shot back. "Do you think I ran away on purpose? That I wanted to miss my wedding? Do you think I would do that?"
I couldn't say anything. It really didn't matter, and I had no proof at the moment.
Adrian turned to me. "Go upstairs. Change out of that dress. Sophia, I'm so glad you're safe."
I went upstairs without protest. My hands trembled as I got out of the wedding gown and wearing the plain clothes from the maid's bag.
I stood staring into the mirror, glad I’m out of that breath snatching gown, yet my mind remained preoccupied with memories of my drag down the aisle while pretending to be someone else.
Sophia was alive, safe-or so everyone believed. Doubt still lingered. There was just something about her story that didn't fit.
“If she was abducted, then why did her abductor not call to make known his demand? Could it be money? She was rich after all… is this more?”
Shutting my eyes, I breathed in one last time to get the thoughts out of my head. But one question lingered in my head.
“Why is Sophia lying about her disappearance?”
- Writer
