Fraternal Twin
2187 Words
HER
If there was anyone Sera hated more than her mother and the entire syndicate, it was her sister, Leona. And life, cruel and deliberate, seemed to be testing her limits tonight. Her breath thinned in her chest as she stared at the scene unfolding before her, each second stretching, suffocating, and unreal.
“The woman who blew up our warehouses,” the terrifying woman said with firm conviction after Cassian asked who Leona was.
Sera watched as Cassian leaned back in his chair, a slow smirk forming on his lips. It was dark, dangerous, and unamused.
This had better been a f*cking joke.
She had zoned out the moment she set her eyes on Leona, disbelief clawing in her veins.
The car ride here had already rattled her, the knowledge that she was being dragged into a syndicate meeting settling like poison in her veins.
She didn't know what to feel. Fear, anger, defiance, all of it tangled into something sharp and restless beneath her skin. She had never imagined that the first time she would stand before these psychotic people would be like this. Captured, handcuffed, dragged in like prey.
Her thoughts had scattered in every direction, searching desperately for an escape that didn’t exist.
But the moment she was shoved into the meeting room, everything else became irrelevant. Because the last person she ever expected to see tied up in that room… was Leona.
“And you think she’s the culprit because?” Cassian Vale’s voice cut through her spiraling thoughts.
He was questioning them. Questioning why they were so sure. None of this made sense. Not even a little. The last time Sera had seen Leona was ten years ago, on the day their father’s town was invaded. The day everything burned. The same day their father was killed right in front of them. Her mother, wretched, cowardly Claudia, had grabbed only Leona and tried to escape, leaving Sera behind like she was nothing. Like she was disposable. But Claudia hadn’t made it far. She had been caught and killed on the spot.
And still, that hadn’t hurt as much as the betrayal. Sera hadn’t even blinked when she saw her lying in her own blood. Why would she? Of course she had chosen Leona. Perfect, delicate Leona. Always Leona. She remembered the moment clearly. Leona being dragged away by armed guards, screaming, struggling, while Sera was yanked up by the devil himself, Vincent Vale. The memory clawed at her chest.
No. She shut it down instantly. She had spent ten years burying that day. It would stay buried. But she knew that face. That body. She would recognize Leona anywhere. The same girl her mother had used to make her life miserable.
The terrifying woman, Naomi, she’d learned, tilted her chin up slightly. “We used the CCTV footage to trace her.”
Cassian shook his head slowly, unimpressed. “Don’t give me that s**t, Naomi. The footage didn’t show her face. Give me proof, or stop wasting my time.”
Sera’s mind spun. What were the chances? Her fraternal twin… accused of the exact same thing she had done. They didn’t even look alike. Not in the slightest, except for their height. So how the hell had Leona ended up here? Involved in this? It didn’t add up. None of it did.
Another elder, younger, sharp-eyed, shot to his feet and yanked Leona upright. “The footage didn’t show her face, but it showed her scar. It’s the same scar as the woman in the footage!”
Sera stilled. The scar… Her stomach twisted. From where she stood, she couldn’t see it clearly, but she didn’t need to. She knew. Leona didn’t have that scar.
That scar belonged to her. It had happened that same day, when Vincent Vale had tried to… Her thoughts cut off violently. No. She wasn’t going there. Not now. Not ever.
Leona swayed weakly, her body limp, and her movements sluggish. She was drugged, and barely conscious. Sera watched indifferently as she nnearly collapsed when the elder shoved her forward toward Cassian to show the scar.
And then, Cassian stilled. As if he felt it. As if he felt her staring. Then his gaze lifted, and locked onto hers. It seemed like the room disappeared, and the noise faded. It was just him and those eyes, dark and calculating, holding her in place like a blade pressed against her throat. Sera refused to look away. She refused to give him that.
“Well,” he said without breaking eye contact, his voice calm, certain, “that’s not right.”
Naomi clasped her hands together, irritation flashing across her face. “What do you mean by that? We’ve given you evidence.”
Still looking at Sera, he replied, “That’s not right because I caught the culprit.” His finger lifted, pointing directly at her. “And she’s standing right there.”
Her breath hitched, and the room shifted. Dozens of eyes turned to her, sharp and suspicious. All on her. But Sera couldn’t speak or move. She was too caught in the weight of everything crashing down at once.
“This doesn’t make sense… We have already caught the culprit–”
“I’m not done,” Cassian cut in smoothly. He rose from his seat and walked toward her, hands slipping into his pockets, his steps unhurried, deliberate. He stopped right in front of her. He was too close for Sera's comfort.
“She has the exact scar,” he continued, his gaze never leaving hers, “and I caught her trying to blow up another warehouse yesterday. So, whoever you have… is the wrong person.”
Her pulse hammered. Confusion tangled with anger, sharp and bitter. She hadn’t planned to get caught. That had never been part of it. But the idea that someone else, Leona of all people, was being credited for what she had done… It burned. It dragged her back to a place she had fought to forget. Like shee was eight years old again. Standing there, listening to her mother praise Leona, again and again, like Sera was invisible. It was happening again. Leona was getting recognition for something she had bled for, and trained hard for. Sera didn’t care if she died. But she would not be replaced.
“Okay, now I’m confused,” Mara Vale said, her voice cutting through the tension, laced with genuine bewilderment. “What’s going on? How are there two girls who look nothing alike, yet have the same scar in the exact same spot, the same height, and are both being accused of being the Ghost?”
The Ghost. Sera almost smirked.
That name. The one she had carved into the ground before every explosion. Abbon had told her they’d started calling her when they noticed it was the same person burning down their warehouses.
“There’s no need for confusion,” Cassian said flatly. “She’s standing right in front of me.”
Sera finally broke eye contact, the intensity becoming too much. An elder rushed forward, desperation bleeding into his voice. “She’s an imposter! We had already tortured the other girl, and she confessed!”
Imposter? Sera’s head snapped toward him, her glare sharp enough to cut.
A middle-aged man. He was bald, bloated and revolting. The fact that he had the nerve to call her an imposter enraged her.
“What are you looking at?” he snarled. “How dare you look at me like that?” She didn’t look away. She should have. Anyone else would have. But she didn’t care.
She hated them. Every single one of them. And today, that hatred tipped up more than ever. No one could do what she did. No one.
“Did you not hear me, b***h?” His hand struck her chin instantly. It was hard. The force knocked her off balance, her body tipping, vision blurring. The only thing keeping her upright was the guard cuffed to her wrist. Before she could steady herself… Another slap. This time harder.
Pain exploded across her face. Her empty stomach twisted, reminding her she hadn’t eaten in nearly twenty-four hours. The last thing she had consumed was before the wedding, and now her body was starting to betray her.
“Watch it, Giovanni,” Cassian’s voice cut in, cold and detached. “You don’t get to torture my captives.”
Captive. The word scraped against her nerves.
Giovanni inhaled sharply. “She disrespected me! I’m not going to stand here and let her look at me like that.”
“Except you will,” Cassian replied, his tone sharpening. “I don’t give a s**t what you can or cannot do. I never gave you the right to touch her. I will decide her fate.”
Naomi stepped forward. “She’s not even the girl. I’m sure of it.”
Cassian exhaled slowly, almost bored. “So you said. Repeatedly. But did the part where I caught her in the act go over your heads?”
“It didn’t. But we already have the other girl.”
“I don’t want just a girl,” he said, his voice dropping, dangerous now. “I want the right girl. The one who dared blow up my property.”
The room fell silent. “So I don’t care what shady business you pulled to bring that one here,” he continued, “but she’s not the culprit.”
“Shady business?” another elder stepped forward, Mara trailing behind him. “We conducted an investigation and found the culprit.”
Cassian’s gaze flicked to him briefly. “You conducted an investigation without consulting me and now expect me to believe your conclusion?”
Giovanni scoffed. “You can’t just disregard our work. That girl is the one–”
“That scar on her chin is barely a week old,” Cassian cut in sharply. “And she’s drugged. So tell me, how exactly am I supposed to trust her confession?”
Silence.
Giovanni faltered, then muttered, “Are you saying you don’t trust us?”
Cassian’s expression didn’t change. “The f**k I don’t. Isn’t that obvious?”
Mara sighed. “This is a mess. I don't get it.”
Cassian slipped his hands back into his pockets. “What’s going on, Mara, is that your fellow elders think the Capo is stupid enough to believe they suddenly became competent overnight. They want me to believe they caught the same girl my right-hand man couldn’t even find.”
Giovanni frowned. “Maybe your right-hand man is just incompetent.”
“Maybe,” Cassian said coolly, “but he’s still more competent than you’ve ever been in your miserable life, Giovanni.”
Sera almost smiled. She didn’t care about any of them. But watching Giovanni get torn apart like that after he slapped her? That felt good.
The quiet elder finally spoke. “You may not trust us, Cassian, but every elder’s opinion matters. That’s protocol. You can’t just dismiss this.”
Cassian nodded.
Sera frowned. What?
“Yes,” he said. “You’re right. I can’t dismiss it.” A pause. Then, “So let’s vote.”
Naomi blinked. “You never allow votes. Why now?”
“Because I feel like it,” he said flatly. “You’ve been dying for one. Now you have it. So do it.”
The calm in his voice was wrong. Too calm.
Giovanni exchanged a look with the younger elder. “He’s up to something.”
Cassian smirked faintly. “I always am. Vote.”
And they did. Four hands went up for Leona. Mara refused to vote, and Cassian didn’t bother. But it was obvious where he stood.
“There,” Naomi said, satisfaction dripping from her tone. “Now what?”
Cassian’s lips twitched into something dark. It was not quite a smirk or a smile. “Now?” he said softly. “Your opinions still don’t mean shit.”
Silence crashed over the room. “But,” he continued, “there are protocols. So I’ll follow them. Both women will be locked up together… pending further investigation.”
Sera’s stomach dropped. They'd be locked up together.
The elders looked shaken. “Further investigation?” Giovanni echoed, unease creeping into his voice.
Cassian tilted his head. “What? You thought I’d take your word for it?”
He walked past Sera, stopping beside the guard still cuffed to her. “Lock them in the left wing. Maximum security. No one gets near that building without my knowledge.”
“Understood, Capo.”
“This meeting is over.” And just like that, Cassian Vale walked out. Calm, cold, and untouchable.
The room erupted into hushed panic, the elders muttering among themselves, Giovanni moving toward her, still ranting, but Sera barely heard any of it. Because as the guard dragged her away, her mind had already gone somewhere else.
She was struggling to face her new reality. One unbearable truth. She was about to be locked in a room… With her worst nightmare.
- Writer
