Engaged to My Sister. Obsessed With Me.

Chapter 20- RHEA'S POV

Despite my room being cleaned before I arrived, it still looked like it belonged to seventeen year old me getting ready for senior year.

I picked up the frame on my bedside table, a soft smile forming on my lips. It was a picture of Lana and me in matching bikinis, both of us grinning like puppies under the sun.

I moved around the room, my gaze landing on a box tucked beside my bed. I dragged it closer and sat down, pulling off the cloth covering it.

Dust flew up instantly, filling my nose.

“Ugh—” I coughed, waving a hand in front of my face before reaching inside.

My fingers brushed against something soft. I pulled it out.

A knitted sweater.

I shook it open, squinting through the dust—and then I saw the words stitched across the front:

Pretty b***h.

A laugh slipped out of me, half disbelief, half embarrassment.

“I actually wore this?”

Four years ago, I’d thought it made me look cool.

God… I was so stupid.

I tossed it onto the bed and reached into the box again. This time, my fingers closed around something smooth.

A book.

I wiped the dust off the cover with my palm—and froze.

It wasn’t just any book.

It was my diary from high school. I always waited each year for summer to write down what had taken place over the previous months.

Slowly, I opened it to a random page and read.

Dearest Diary,

On February 24th, 2020, Liam Kayne finally asked me to be his girlfriend and I said yes.

I quickly snapped the book shut.

My mood shifted almost instantly.

Saying yes to Liam had been one of the few decisions I would always wish I could take back.

I was about to toss the book right back in when something sticking out from one of the pages caught my attention. I slid it out, and a painful smile spread across my face.

It was a picture I’d taken with my digital camera—me and Liam at his penthouse back in New York. He had one hand around my shoulder and the other holding a bottle of whiskey. I had a weirdly wide smile on my face.

I turned it over.

Rhea x Liam forever.

His handwriting stared back at me.

A faint pink lipstick mark sat just beneath it.

Mine.

I stared at it for a long moment.

Guess forever meant three years.

I raised my head, forcing the burning in my eyes to stop. Quickly, I shoved the picture back into the diary and tossed it along with the sweater into the box.

I stood up from the bed and took one last glance around the room.

It was an annex on the island, just about a short distance from the main mansion. Lana and I had turned it into our personal haven when we turned sixteen.

It had everything we needed—a large open space we used as our bedroom. I stayed on the right, Lana on the left, and there was a shared bathroom in between.

We spent more time here than in the main house. Even though I had a room there, I only ever slept there when we had compulsory family dinner.

My eyes kept drifting back to the box, the urge to dig deeper tugging at me, but I wasn’t ready for that yet.

Sleeping here without Lana wouldn’t feel the same, or fun, so I guess I’d be sleeping in the house tonight.

I forced my legs to move and stepped out of the annex, closing the double doors behind me.

The walk to the main house took about four minutes, five if I took the front entrance.

I couldn’t risk the front door. I was well aware Darnell was already around. I’d seen a car arrive two hours ago, and I didn’t need a genius to know it was him.

I walked in slowly, like I was sneaking into my own house. The large sitting room was empty, which was normal.

A faint smell of something burning made my nose twitch, and I followed it straight to the kitchen.

Smoke hit my eyes instantly, making them water, but I could still make out the figures inside.

“Vanessa, what are you doing?” I asked, waving a hand in front of my face.

She quickly turned off the cooker and tried grabbing the pan, but she burned her hand in the process.

“What does it look like I’m doing?” she snapped, grabbing a rag and pulling the pan off the heat.

I turned to Dera, the head of kitchen staff. “Why did you let her in here?”

Both Dera and Vanessa were wearing aprons.

“She insisted I let her cook,” Dera replied helplessly.

I coughed. “Uhh… what does she know about cooking?”

Vanessa turned to me, expression serious. “Rhea, get out.”

I stared at her, completely baffled. “Why are you cooking?”

We had enough staff to handle everything, so I didn’t understand why she was trying to burn the house down.

“I’m cooking for my fiancé. Do you have a problem with that?”

I paused, my eyes moving between her and Dera.

She was cooking for Darnell.

A laugh bubbled in my chest, but I swallowed it before it could escape.

Vanessa had never stepped foot in a kitchen before, and the thought of her doing it now, for a man, was almost unbelievable.

“You do know we have staffs for that, right?” I asked.

She looked at me, already irritated. “Rhea, please don’t get me pissed right now.”

I blinked, confused.

She was clearly looking for someone to dump her frustration on.

“I’ll go now.”

“Yeah, go.”

She turned back to the cooker and busied herself placing another pot on the flame.

“Keep an eye on her,” I whispered to Dera.

Dera gave me a subtle nod.

I left the kitchen and headed upstairs. As I passed my father’s study, I heard Darnell’s voice coming from inside.

I slowed.

Then stopped.

Curiosity got the better of me, and I stepped closer, leaning slightly toward the door.

Their voices were muffled, too low to make out clearly, but whatever they were discussing was definitely heated.

I straightened and turned around.

My heart nearly launched out of my chest.

A man was leaning against the wall directly opposite me, arms folded, watching like he’d been there the whole time.

“I tried listening too,” he said casually. “Couldn’t hear a thing.”

My eyes darted from him to the hallway and back again.

Who was he?

He wore a dark brown shirt with white trousers, too polished to be staff and far too relaxed to be family.

As if realizing he’d startled me, he pushed off the wall and walked over.

“Hi, I’m Maurice.” He stretched a hand out.

I didn’t take it.

“Are you a new worker?”

He smiled, and only then did I properly notice how handsome he was.

His skin was a rich, warm brown that almost glowed beneath the chandelier lights. His hair was braided into neat cornrows, sharpening the angles of his face and jawline.

“No,” he said, amused. “I don’t work here.”

“Then who are you?”

“I’m Darnell’s friend.”

“Friend?” I repeated, surprised.

He brought a friend?

Or rather… He had a friend?

“Best friend, actually.”

I stared at him, lips parting slightly in disbelief.

“Hi…” I said awkwardly. “I’m Rhea.”

His gaze swept over me from head to toe, not disrespectfully, more like he found the whole situation entertaining.

“Nice to finally meet you.”

My eyes widened. “What?”