THE FATHER OF MY TWINS IS A BILLIONAIRE

Even my own father? Sitting calmly on her bed. Celine's blood boiled with righteous anger, staring at the blank screen of her phone that hadn't buzzed with a single call or text. She tossed her phone aside. It stung deep in her chest that no one bothered to wish her a happy birthday. The worst part was it was her 18th birthday, a milestone that marked the beginning of adulthood for most kids. Yet there she was alone in her room, no friends, no party, nothing. Even when she got a job, she had to sneak around because they disapproved of her working. Damn assholes. She wouldn't dare say it out loud. The walls have ears after all. For all she knew, Diane had a cup against her door, listening for the slightest slip-up so she could blow things out of proportion and get Celine in trouble. Her brooding anger was interrupted by her shrill ringtone. She blindly reached for it but froze when she saw the caller ID; Diane. What the hell could she possibly want? And on this day of all days. Celine hesitated, waiting for the phone to stop ringing. But as soon as it did, Diane called again, puzzling Celine even more. “What?” she blared into her phone. “Well, good morning to you too, grumpy.” Diane's voice was annoyingly high and cheery, like a talk show host. “Did the birthday girl wake up on the wrong side of the bed?” Celine rolled her eyes. “What do you want?” “I just want to check on my little sister on her big day. Is that so bad?” Celine scoffed. Surely she wasn't serious. “And why the hell would you do that? Since when did you start caring for anything about me?” “Language!” Diane said in a mock-serious tone. “Besides, this year's different. You're eighteen, Celine! You're an adult now. We need to celebrate!” Celine sat up, her suspicion growing by the second. “You? Celebrate me? Are you high?” Diane let out a harmonic peel of laughter. “Wow, Celine, am I really that bad?” Her voice took on a teasing tone. “Knowing you, I figured you wouldn't be doing anything for your birthday so I decided to plan something.” Celine couldn't believe her ears. “You did what? Diane, what's this really about?” Diane ignored her question. “Damn it, Celine, you're so damn paranoid,” she said, sounding annoyed. “You’re 18 now, you can't keep pushing people away. Anyway, I'll text you the address, get there by 7.” Celine was confused and hurt by Diane's words. “I'm not coming.” After a little bit of thought, she asked. “Wait, what's happening at 7?” “It's a surprise.” “I don't like surprises.” “You'll love this. Okay, bye!” Diane chirped and hung up before Celine could respond. “Damn it,” Celine yelled at her phone. “No way I'm going anywhere she wants me to.” Diane was up to something, Celine could feel it in her bones. Diane wouldn't spit on Celine if she were on fire, so why the hell would she throw her a surprise party? No way it wasn't a trick. What if… Celine could stop the nagging thought; what if it wasn't a trick? What if Diane really was trying to make amends? Pleasant childhood memories rushed into her mind. A time when she and her big sis were best friends. They would do silly dances and share their Halloween loot under a lamp-lit pillow fort. “I mean, I can just leave, right?” Celine muttered, finding herself looking through her closet for what to wear. The Uber ride was mostly uneventful until they got closer and closer to the address. “Uh… you sure we're in the right place?” the driver asked, glancing nervously around the run-down, shabby neighborhood. Celine pulled up the text Diane had sent. “Y-yes, it's the right place.” If Diane was throwing a surprise party for her, why would she do it in such a dangerous neighborhood? Celine started to get anxious as the GPS announced their arrival and the driver pulled over in front of a crumbling building. Celine swore she saw a dark figure move about the dark interior of the house. “Can you wait for me?” Celine asked as she got out of the car. “Ye-yeah, no problem,” the driver uneasily replied. She had only taken three steps when the driver zoomed off, yelling an apology. A renewed sense of fear gripped her. Even though she could just order another Uber, she felt trapped. But now she had no choice. She glanced around, resolving to, at least, find Diane. Following the address, she arrived outside an abandoned, uncompleted structure that looked surprisingly new. “Diane?” She called. No answer. Not wanting to attract undue attention with her phone, she cautiously went in, peeking around every corner, before she pulled it out and called Daine. To her shock, she heard a phone ring. It was Diane's phone! As she turned around to start searching, the side of her head exploded with pain. She crumpled onto the ground, clutching at her throbbing head. She could barely see through her blurry vision but she couldn't mistake Diane's rose-scented perfume. She wanted to speak, to scream for help but her body decided it was her greatest enemy, doing nothing she commanded it to do. Diane stood over her and leaned down. “I want this to hurt a lot, you stuck-up b***h!” she said before stabbing Celine's neck with a syringe. Even as Celine started to feel like they weighed a ton, she knew she was in danger. Why did she come? Why didn't she trust her gut? A single tear fell down the side of her face. Her foolishness led to her end. As Diane looked down at Celine's unconscious body, an evil smile plastered on her face, she fished out her phone. “It's done. Just get here–” A loud sound boomed from somewhere in the building. She jumped, almost dropping her phone, her eyes widening in fear.