The Duplicates: Our Lives, Our Fates

Chapter 2 - The Father She Detested!

Feeling unreconciled in her heart, Zoe fished out her phone from her bag, she scrolled through her contacts and stopped on the contact saved as 'Dad'

Her eyes flashed with a sly glint and her lips also curled into a vicious smirk as she dialled the number. It rung for a few seconds before it was picked up.

The voice of a middle-aged man that was filled with familial fondness rung out in the room as Zoe had put the call on speaker.

"Zoe honey, I was just about to call you when your call came in. Are you done with your registration? Have you been assigned a dormitory? Have you met your roommates and do you get along well with them?"

She waited until the man had finished barraging her with questions before she gave Olivia a quick sideways glance and seeing how she had obviously stiffened when she heard the man's voice, a smug smile appeared on her face for a few seconds but disappeared within a flash.

Her voice began choking with sobs making the man on the other end of the phone filled with anxiety. She asked with reproach, blame and grievance in her voice even as she lowered her eyes to cover the smugness in there.

"Dad, Why did you hide it from me that Olivia chose Y university as her preferred school? When I asked you, you told me she chose A university, remember? That means both of you actually collided together to deceive me!!! Do you know how shocked I was to find out she was also a first year student here and she also just happens to be my roommate?!"

At the end of her questioning, her sobs had actually became real as even she began to feel aggrieved for herself as she thought to herself, 'Just why does she have to linger around me like a ghost! I thought I finally got to get rid of her and even stupidly celebrated at the bar last week with my friends not knowing...'

The man on the other end of the phone seemed shocked as he wasn't even in the mood to console her.

"...Wait... You mean that Olivia is now a student of Y university instead of A university that she told me she applied for?!! She deceived me?!!!"

Yes, the man on the phone was Olivia's Dad and Zoe's step-father, Joseph Andrews.

"Give the phone to Olivia!", He ordered Zoe with restrained anger in his voice.

Though Zoe felt angry at the fact that he didn't console her when he heard her crying, she felt even more happier at the thought that Joseph was about to scold Olivia.

She smugly stood up and walked over to Olivia and stretched out her phone towards her and with a gloating expression, mouthed the words 'Take the phone' to her.

Olivia gave her a ridiculing glance and sneered before grabbing the phone from her outstretched hands.

She gave her other forgotten two roommates a quick glance which showed the two of them were obviously enjoying the free show before casually turning off the speaker as walked to a corner of the room and faced the wall.

"Yes?"

"..Olivia, How dare you deceive and lie to me? Do you even take me as your father," He asked in an heavy tone mixed with disappointment and helplessness.

Obviously expecting his outburst, she had placed the phone a distance away from her ears but still within earshot.

She then lazily replied to him with a hint of mischief in her voice, "I changed my mind at the last minute but forgot to inform you."

Joseph choked and tried to say something but Olivia interrupted him and continued with an obviously perfunctory tone which couldn't even coerce a child,

"I am sorry. I should have informed you after changing my mind but I thought that mom would have at least told you. Turned out she didn't think..."

She didn't complete the sentence but he kinda understood what it meant. 'Turned out no one thought it was important to inform him of something that important...'

Yeah, He deserved it.. He knew he deserved it but what was still this bitter taste in his mouth?

Suddenly, he felt tired. This was the daughter he had doted on and pampered like no other, he treated her like the candy in his mouth fearing it will melt while he was still married to her mother and he still planned on continuing even after he got divorced afterall she will always and forever be his only little princess but who knew that she never gave him a chance to do any of that because everytime she saw him, it was like meeting an enemy.

She despised him and she never bothered to hide it from him that she did. So gradually, he also got irritated and angry and began to shift his fondness and love to the new daughter he got after remarrying, Zoe.

He began to find comfort in the fact that someone needed and saw him as a father since Olivia obviously didn't see him as one any longer.

He took Zoe's side whenever she came home and complained about Olivia and even though he knew she was lying, he still called and scolded her until his new daughter smiled and was satisfied.

And maybe it was since then that even he knew it that their relationship had become irreparable and maybe in the future when she was old enough and also has her own family, she may gradually and then completely lose contact with this father of hers. By then, they would probably be worst than strangers, right?

Sometimes, he couldn't help but wonder how their model family had turned out this way?

But who could he blame? No one but himself! He cheated and made their sweet family this way. He had always been the one and only culprit, He could blame no one!

He felt like something was pressing heavily on his heart making him find it increasingly hard to breathe, he could only say in a depressed but sincere tone, "Congratulations on getting in your dream school, Olivia. I am really proud of you," before promptly hanging up without giving her a chance to say anything which would obviously be sarcastic and hurtful without doubt.

Olivia stood dazedly for a few seconds after he hung up, the phone still held stiffly in its original position. Then she regained her senses with a sneer appearing on her face as she thought mockingly to herself,

'Olivia, Ah Olivia! Haven't you learnt your lesson? Yet you still felt happy... Just because he said he was proud of you? And because he actually remembered that Y university has always been your dream school? If that is what it is, YOU ARE REALLY CHEAP!'

She then blinked before a bright smile blossomed on her face distracting people's attention from the otherwise deep coldness in her eyes.

She turned back and prepared to walk towards Zoe who she then noticed had been standing close to her since God-knows-when; probably eavesdropping on whether she was scolded or not.

What an i***t!

"Here is your phone, Sister~," She laid extra emphasis on the 'Sister' and watched satisfactorily as her face turned into a scowl. Even though calling her sister also disgusted her to no end but her disgust could not be compared to her desire to nauseate the other party.

Zoe snatched her phone with annoyance clearly written on her face, went over to her bed to pick up her bag and stormed out of the room.

Olivia watched her storm out and finally felt as if the air in the room became a lot more fresher!

Chloe and Emma also exchanged a glance and heaved a collective sigh of relief, inwardly thinking to themselves.

'Finally, the drama is over. It is almost as exciting as a soap opera'

Why does it feel like University life wouldn't be as boring with this roommates?

Then they couldn't help but find it a pity that they weren't able to find out the cause and effect of the relationship between their new roommates.

But again, there is simply no rush. They could slowly find out since they lived in the same room!