Double Revenge

Chapter 2

Kelsea entered the house with her heels in her hand, trying not to make noise. She walked slowly, nervously, because if her father or mother found out that she had arrived at dawn, they would surely disinherit her. She was carefully climbing the stairs when a voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Ah-ha, where are you going, and where do you come from?" Kelsea turned around nervously, then sighed with relief as she realized who was behind her.

"Grandpa!" she exclaimed. "You almost scared me to death," she said, putting her hand on her chest. She walked over to him, who was looking at her curiously. Old Mr. Anderson was practically the only person Kelsea had in her life—the only true love in that house—because, to everyone else, even her parents, Kelsea was a total burden.

"Did you drink too much? You reek of alcohol," he said from under the table.

"What are you doing there, Grandpa?" she asked, crouching under the table with him.

"I was here, waiting for you. Suddenly everything turned dark for me," her grandfather said, scared. Kelsea swallowed hard. Her grandfather was getting old and forgetful. Diagnosed with Alzheimer's a few months ago, he would always wake up in the morning, desperate, searching for something no one knew what it was.

"Come on, Grandpa, I'll take you to your room before my father wakes up and realizes you escaped," Kelsea said, taking the old man's hand and starting to walk up the stairs with him.

"What am I doing here, dear?" he suddenly asked. Kelsea smiled before kissing the old man's cheeks.

"Nothing, Grandpa, nothing. Let's walk together," she said, leading him to his room.

After tucking him back into bed and giving him his morning medication, Kelsea tried to leave, but the wrinkled hand of the Anderson patriarch stopped her. "A difficult life awaits you, my dear, but don't forget that you are not alone." She swallowed hard, incredulous, then shook her head. Her grandfather always said things like that and then forgot why he said them.

Nevertheless, Kelsea went up to her room. She looked at herself in the mirror and began to undress. "I better hurry before everyone wakes up. I don't want Mom to find me smelling like alcohol," she thought as she undressed.

As she stood in front of the mirror, she couldn't help but look at the marks on her body from the previous night. Kelsea smiled mischievously and kissed the diamond bracelet on her wrist.

"It's better if I take it off; I don't want to get it wet and ruin it," she exclaimed aloud, taking off the bracelet and leaving it on her vanity before taking a long shower to wash off the smell of alcohol and hurriedly getting dressed. When she finished getting ready, she looked for the bracelet where she had left it but couldn't find it anywhere.

The truth was that her twin sister, Kacey, had entered her room and seen the bracelet. She was an ambitious woman who wanted everything her sister had, so she took the bracelet and carried it with her when she realized it was valuable.

Kelsea walked annoyed to her sister's room and found her getting dressed at the vanity, admiring her perfect reflection in the mirror. Her sister looked just like her, except she didn't have half of her face burned.

"Kacey, what are you doing with my bracelet?" Kelsea inquired when she saw the bracelet on her wrist.

"I just saw it in your room and borrowed it," Kacey said as she looked at her silhouette in the mirror.

"But I don't want to lend it to you; please give it back," she politely requested.

At that precise moment, a woman with short hair and a perfect figure, similar to the twins but more elegant, entered the room. It was Caroline Anderson, James Anderson's wife and the mother of the twins.

"Our guest is about to arrive; hurry up and come downstairs; don't waste time," the woman said, frowning and walking past Kelsea to fix Kacey's dress.

"Mom, I asked Kelsea to lend me this bracelet, but she didn’t want to," she said, sobbing. "She doesn't understand that it matches my dress and not hers. I don't understand why she's so selfish," Kacey added, with crocodile tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Kelsea, why are you so selfish? You should be more like Kacey, who is a good girl. Aside from that, you shouldn't even come downstairs; I'm sure Mr. Smith won't choose you as his wife. Look at yourself," she said, taking her by the shoulders and leading her to the mirror. "You're practically a monster."

Kelsea felt her eyes fill with tears. She didn't want to marry Carter Smith, and she hoped that her cruel mother's words were true and that he wouldn't choose her, but it still hurt that everyone considered her a monster.

"If you keep insisting on the bracelet, I will tell Dad that you weren't home last night and arrived in the morning," Kacey said, leaving the room with a mocking smile. Kelsea took a deep breath with a lot of pain. She was used to Kacey taking everything from her, and she was even used to doing horrible things and then blaming her.

She walked with her head down and went into her room to cry inconsolably. She didn't plan on coming out; what was the point? The man would not choose her, and she had no desire to do so. Even though it was an opportunity to leave her parents' house, she wouldn't do it; she didn't want to leave old Mr. Anderson alone. She sobbed for a few minutes, and then she felt the door to her room open suddenly.

"What are you doing lying there?" Her father grabbed her arm. "I don't know what I did to deserve a daughter like you. You don't care about the family. Can't you see that young Smith is about to arrive, and he wants both of you downstairs?" He said it angrily. "You should be grateful to your parents and be more like Kacey, who's been waiting in the dining room for a while now."

Kelsea didn't protest; it would be a waste of time to do so. James Anderson would never believe her; he had resigned himself to Kacey always being the only one being heard in that house and their parents doing whatever she wanted.

Resignedly, she sighed and followed her father. She didn't even fix her makeup. What was the point? In the end, her best makeup was her burned face, which made her live in the shadows of her twin sister.

She walked slowly, following her father, and then sat down in the dining room. Her mother and sister were already there. Kelsea looked at her mother, who was excitedly fixing her sister's clothes with devotion, but as soon as she saw her arrive, she frowned in annoyance.

"I don't understand why you brought her. What will Mr. Carter think? That we live with a monster in this house?"

"He knows we have two daughters, woman, and despite Kelsea's horrible face, he wants both of them to be present."

Kelsea felt her heart sink. They constantly talked about her as if she weren't there, and that's how she felt—invisible to them. She lowered her gaze as she usually did and looked at her hands.

If it weren't for her grandfather, she would have already left. But she endured all this for the simple reason of not leaving her grandfather alone with her cruel family.

"He's here; he's here; behave yourselves; remember that our future is in the hands of this man," her father said, standing up.

Kelsea did the same as everyone else; she stood up without raising her gaze when the voice of the man they'd all been waiting for spoke at that moment.

"Good morning, I'm Carter Smith," the man said suddenly.