Vengeance

CHAPTER 12

Tabitha was sitting on the couch, her mind racing as Anastasia's words echoed relentlessly in her head. Anatoly... Mikhail... twins, whatever they were, she couldn’t wrap her mind around it. Yet, the simple, undeniable truth that she had been given remained unchanged. Anastasia only had one simple response to her question, which was yes.

She could not think clearly. She was still unable to grasp that Mikhail and Anatoly were twins, but how could she be such a fool to believe that the man she had spent so much time with was not Anatoly?

Everything was starting to make sense. The sudden shift in his personality, the startling differences between Mikhail and Anatoly. Mikhail was everything Anatoly wasn’t. He was open, goofy, kind, compassionate, and far more affectionate than Anatoly had ever been. With Mikhail, she never had a dull moment.

Mikhail.

The name felt different now, heavier, and more convoluted. But she couldn’t deny it. She had fallen in love with him. The truth hit her with a painful clarity.

She realized that she preferred Mikhail over Anatoly. For years, she had accepted Anatoly for who he was, making compromises to be with him, believing him to be a safe choice. But then Mikhail unexpectedly showed up, shattering everything and leaving her feeling like a fool.

Tabitha was lost in a daze when the doorbell rang. She had completely forgotten about her date night with Mikhail. The progress she had made with him in a matter of weeks was more than she had achieved with Anatoly in four years.

The moment she opened the door, Mikhail greeted her with his usual big smile and a quick peck on the lips before stepping inside. There was no way she could sense anything off in the manner he behaved. How had he managed to keep up the act for so long, or was she simply too foolish to resist an attraction she couldn't explain? Even though Mikhail and Anatoly looked identical, there was something about the older twin that screamed differently. His commanding presence, the perfect blend of toughness and sensitivity. He was everything Anatoly was not.

"Why are you standing at the door?" Mikhail asked, his brows slightly furrowed.

She shook her head, trying to clear the fog clouding her mind, and quietly walked toward him. Her gaze locked with his, and she studied him intently. If what Anastasia had said was true, it was almost unbelievable. How could two people look so alike?

In her career as a teacher and the life she had led, she had encountered twins before and had always been able to spot the difference. But Anatoly and Mikhail were identical in every way, except for their personalities. And now she wondered, had she been duped all along, deceived by an amnesia she never even knew existed?

"Tabby, are you alright?" Mikhail asked, his tone laced with concern, but Tabitha couldn’t shake the doubt gnawing at her. She wasn't sure if the worry in his voice was genuine or just another mask. She was dubious about his intent.

She chose to stay silent, still trying to contemplate everything she had learned. Her silence, however, seemed to trouble him more than anything else. He stepped closer to her, gently lifting her chin to meet his gaze. Something was wrong, and he knew it.

"Tabby?" His voice softened, filled with concern.

"Where is Anatoly?" She blurted out, her voice almost quivering with uncertainty.

Mikhail took a step back, visibly shocked. "You know." His words came out as a whisper as if he were confirming a truth he couldn't yet face.

"So, it’s true," she whispered, her eyes searching his face for the truth, a truth she hadn't wanted to believe.

Mikhail could barely believe his own ears. This was not how he had imagined it happening. He had known he'd eventually need to come clean about his identity, but he wanted to ease her into the idea that he was Anatoly's brother, not throw it at her so abruptly. He had not expected this.

"Tabby—" he began, his voice quiet, trying to bridge the gap between them.

But as he took a step forward, she took one back. Her eyes, once filled with trust, were now clouded with confusion and disbelief. Not once had she ever pulled away from him before, but now she did, and it felt like a sharp, painful distance was growing between them.

"How did you find out?" Mikhail asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Does it matter?" Tabitha’s voice cracked as her emotions surged. "The point remains the same. You're not Anatoly. You... I don’t even know who you are anymore." Her words faltered, and tears began to stream down her face.

Mikhail’s heart sank at the sight of her distress. He stepped closer, reaching for her, but she instinctively pulled back, her eyes full of confusion and hurt. He stopped, respecting the space between them, though the pain was unbearable.

"I am Mikhail. I am exactly what you thought of me," he replied softly, his voice laced with remorse. "Except for my identity, I did not lie to you.”

Tabitha’s chest tightened as the truth settled in. Her heart pounded painfully in her chest, and she shook her head, struggling to process it all.

"That’s it?" she asked, her voice barely audible. "All this time... and you think that’s enough?"

Her words stung him worse than he thought. He wanted to explain, to beg for her understanding, but seeing her like this—lost, betrayed—he didn’t know how to mend what he had broken.

"Yes, and that's about it. I did choose to lie and hide my identity, but everything else was purely me." Mikhail’s voice wavered with an edge of guilt and shame, his heart pounding as he looked at her, hoping she might understand. “Everything we had, every moment I spent with you, it was all real.”

"But you choose to hide things. And is that any better? You deceived me. You made a fool out of me." Her voice cracked, the weight of the betrayal crashing over her like a wave. She had trusted him, let him into her heart, and now it felt like she was drowning in that trust. "How could you do this to me, Mikhail?”

"No, I did not make a fool out of you. Yes, I accept that I consciously chose to hide who I was, but would you have let me pursue you, be with you, if you knew that I was Mikhail and not Anatoly? And is it really that bad to finally have something precious in my life?"

"Precious?" She repeated, her voice rising with disbelief. "Your words are only ridiculing me further. Why did you do it, Mikhail? And where is Anatoly?"

"Safe," he responded curtly, his eyes briefly darting away from her. He feared the question she would ask next, the one he wasn't ready to answer.

“Let him out," she demanded, her voice trembling with a mix of desperation and anger. "You cannot keep him imprisoned. Anastasia is worried sick about him. She’s afraid. We’re all afraid of what you’ve done to him. Let him go!"

Her words hit him like a punch, the weight of them sinking deep into his chest. He had expected this reaction. He had prepared himself for it, but hearing the pain in her voice made it all the more unbearable.

"She told you about us?" Mikhail's eyes widened.

He should have known. His mother had never been one to keep quiet, especially when it came to something she could manipulate. She had purposely exposed the truth, knowing exactly how it would shatter everything between him and Tabitha. It only proved one thing.

Her love for Anatoly was absolute, and she would stop at nothing to keep her beloved son close.

"Yes, she did. It seemed that you had no intention of telling me. Maybe you would have once you had your fill."

"Don't you dare, Tabitha," Mikhail snapped. "Do not make a mockery of my love for you, and do not reduce your dignity like this." His eyes darkened, filled with a raw, unfiltered emotion that he rarely allowed to show. The thought that she could believe he was using her, that he could ever use her, twisted something deep inside him. "I was under no circumstances using you."

"I refuse to believe it."

"What do you want me to do then?" Mikhail’s voice broke, desperation slipping into every syllable. His hand clenched into a fist at his side.

"I want you to let go of Anatoly. He does not deserve whatever you're doing to him. And neither do I." Tabitha's words were sharp, filled with the weight of betrayal and hurt.

"Tabitha," Mikhail whispered, his voice breaking, but she didn’t look at him. Her gaze remained fixed and distant, as though she could no longer bear the sight of him.

"Please leave," she said, her voice trembling but resolute.

"Tabby, please. Do not do this," Mikhail pleaded, stepping closer, but she took a step back, refusing to let him in.

"You betrayed me," she continued, her voice cold now, the anger and disbelief simmering beneath the surface. "I was betrayed and made a fool of by a person whose existence I wasn’t even aware of." She let out a bitter laugh, a hollow sound that echoed in the silence between them. "Is this how you wanted it to end?"

Mikhail stood there, speechless. "I will leave for now, but know this. What we had was real. I never intended to hurt you, and nowhere did I use you.”

He wanted her to stop him, to ask him to stay, but he knew it was a wish he couldn’t ask for.

He reached for the door handle, feeling the heaviness of the moment settle around him, but just as he was about to turn it, she spoke again.

"Why did you swap your life with him?"

The question hung in the air, heavy with the weight of her confusion and heartbreak. Mikhail paused, his hand still on the knob, as he turned to face her once more. "I was desperate. I needed answers."

"So did you get them?" she asked sharply, her eyes searching his. "Do you feel at peace?"

"I long accepted that I will never get closure, but hope... hope was always there. I didn’t mean to hurt you."

"What about your brother and mother?"

He stiffened, his jaw tightening as the words spilled from him. "You do not know the story, Tabitha. They are not as they appear."

"I’ve known them for the last four years," she shot back, her voice trembling with disbelief and frustration.

Mikhail’s eyes hardened, and the edge in his tone grew sharper. "You are a fool if you truly believe you know them. You accuse me of making a mockery out of you, but I did it because I liked you. I loved you. I love you. I lied out of fear… fear of losing you. But Anatoly and his mother... they’re using you, and you’re too blind to see it."

Her breath hitched, and for a moment, she faltered. "No, they are not."

The words felt hollow in her mouth as if she was trying to convince herself more than him. But Mikhail wasn’t done. His eyes flickered with something darker now, a combination of anger and sorrow that reflected in his every word.

"Really? Then how come he never mentioned me? Were you aware that Anatoly had a brother, let alone a twin?"

"He might have a reason," Tabitha replied, her voice shaky but defensive. "And considering how you’ve been lying so blatantly, I’m not surprised he kept you hidden from me."

"I am sorry to burst your bubble, Tabitha, but you are an open book. My brother can be a coward, but he is certainly not dumb."

Tabitha's breath caught, her mind racing. "What do you mean?"

"Why haven't you had a proper relationship with my brother in the past four years? How come the two of you never had a single moment of intimacy?"

Tabitha, despite the knot tightening in her chest, stood firm, refusing to let her vulnerability show. "That is none of your concern," she said, her words trembling with a mixture of defiance and pain. "How we moved forward in our relationship... it’s between him and me."

"I do not give a damn! Since Mother wants to play a truth game, I will return the favor. My brother has a severe case of mysophobia. If you think I was using you? Guess what? They have been using you to play a perfect nurse for both of them for the last four years."

Mikhail slammed the door shut with such finality that it felt like the world itself was closing in around her. And with that, the dam of her emotions cracked. Her knees gave way, and she crumpled to the floor, tears flooding her eyes. The weight of everything, the lies, the manipulations, the confusion, crushed her, leaving her unable to hold it together any longer.