Chapter 33: Chapter 33

Madelyn, three years ago.

"Where is he?" Madelyn looked around the airport for Joshua. "I knew I should have warned him that my flight would be delayed," she sighed. She took out her phone and walked towards the taxi stand, getting into one of the cars. "Why isn't he answering?" she muttered to herself as she gave the driver her apartment's address.

Madelyn tried calling Joshua a few more times during the ride, but he didn't answer. The taxi driver soon parked in front of her building. Madelyn got out, paid the fare, and walked inside.

"Why isn't he answering me?" she wondered, getting frustrated. Joshua wasn't returning her calls or even picking up. Had something happened?

As luck would have it, Madelyn saw him leaving the building. He looked furious.

"Joshua...?" she called out, confused. Why did he seem so angry? Madelyn shouted his name, but he didn't respond. He walked quickly towards his car and sped off.

Confused and dazed, Madelyn hurried inside her apartment, intending to put her bags away and then look for Joshua to try and understand why he had left like that.

"Your sister is going to kill you!"

"I doubt it, honey."

Laughter and voices echoed throughout the apartment. Intrigued, Madelyn approached the guest room, where the noise was coming from.

"Emeraude? Mr. Jones?" she asked incredulously, seeing the two of them dressed in very little clothing.

"Hey, Madelyn," Emeraude said with a bitter smile.

"What...is going on? Why did Joshua leave here looking so...angry?"

"Huh? I don't know. Your hot-headed boyfriend confused me with you, and I just told him the truth."

"What did you say?"

"I just saved you from having to compete with me," Emeraude said, crossing her legs and smirking.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Let's be honest, Madelyn. You're always traveling, and Joshua stays in the city. He must feel lonely, don't you think? He must need someone to...," Emeraude trailed off, biting her lip as she ran her fingers down her bra. "Every man needs that."

"No. You're not his type."

"But he'll think I'm you," Emeraude said simply. "Do you really think that when he sees his girlfriend begging for sex, he won't give in?"

Madelyn took a deep breath and shook her head. She was trying her best to control herself and not lash out at Emeraude.

"Your time with Joshua is over, Madelyn. Don't you think it's time to let him go?" Emeraude ran her fingers through Madelyn's hair.

"Let him go or... Leave him to you?" she snatches Emeraude's hand abruptly from her hair.

"The second option suits you better," she says sarcastically.

"You'll never have him, Emeraude."

"Oh really? Who's to say that today... I won't have Joshua sighing in my ear?"

Her gaze boldly meets Madelyn's.

"It's not going to happen," she asserts.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Low girls like you will never find a real man."

She says her final words before leaving the room and heading towards the building exit.

***

Madelyn, three years later.

Emeraude managed to cause irrelevant situations. What should have ended immediately ended up getting worse. The effects ended up unpleasantly affecting Madelyn as well. Joshua didn't know about the existence of a twin sister, to him, Madelyn had always been the one to blame for everything, she was the one in bed with the businessman, who said terrible things to him. Emeraude was only known by those closest to her, and even then, little was known about her, since she had always been referred to as "the crazy sister".

During these conflicts, Madelyn decided to return to Paris. Trying to forget everything seemed right. She couldn't hate her own sister. She couldn't insist that Joshua forgive. And Madelyn agreed that Emeraude was right about saying that she was always traveling and couldn't give Joshua attention. The right thing would be to let him go, and maybe, to a girl who could put him in a special place, since Madelyn couldn't.

And after many years, she decided to come back, believing that things had improved since then.

"Mom?" she looked around, finding an empty room.

"Finally out of your hiding place."

A voice appeared behind Madelyn.

"I wasn't hiding, Emeraude," she justifies her delay in coming back.

"I know you've been in town for a few days. And I know you've been meddling where you shouldn't!"

"I just found Joshua."

Emeraude laughed mockingly.

"Did you miss us? I hope not. We didn't miss you."

"I'm just passing through."

"That's good. So you don't ruin my plans," she walked over to the white leather sofa, sitting down.

"Where's Mom?"

"She's probably at work," she shrugged.

"Oh. Okay. I'm going to Mom's office to get the..."

Madelyn is interrupted by a girl who enters the room.

"Madelyn!" the girl says.

"Hi?" the two sisters respond at the same time, which confuses the girl slightly.

"Who's that?" the girl looks at Madelyn.

"Not anyone." Emeraude replied. "What do you want?"

"It's about Joshua."

"Joshua? Tell me."

"He's back in London. And... he brought a girl with him."

"What? I can't believe it!" She stood up from the couch, stunned. "He did it again? And I thought after all the threats, he would stop getting involved with girls. But I see I'll have to act again."

"Emeraude..." Madelyn whispered. "Can I talk to you?"

"We have nothing to talk about." Her sister sneered.

"That's enough!" She huffed. "Come on!" Madelyn pulled Emeraude by the arm, leading her to a secluded spot in the room.

"Have you gone crazy?"

"I'm about to." She let go of her arm abruptly. "Are you still playing this game of trying to win Joshua over? He doesn't want you!"

"You're nobody to say that!"

"It's not me who's saying it, Emeraude! You know the truth. You know it well. But you don't want to see it! When will you stop being this vulgar woman? Mom wouldn't like to see you like this."

"Mom is the one supporting me to win over Joshua."

"What? Why? What's in it for her?"

"Because I like Scott. And through him, I'll be able to grow."

"Ambition?" She looked at her disgusted. "If you plan to continue with this... Don't involve me. And leave other people out of it!"

"You don't have the power to tell me what to do or not."

"But I'm the only one who knows your secret."

"You don't know anything about me!"

"I'm your sister!"

"I wish you weren't."

"Madelyn? Madelyn?" Jack looked at them confused.

"Jackie? What are you doing here?" Madelyn forced a sweet smile. "You didn't say you were coming."

"I came without warning." He said briefly, not looking at her, because his gaze was on Madelyn.

Jack was the only one of Madelyn's friends who knew she had a twin sister. And at Madelyn's old request, Jack had to pretend to see Emeraude as Madelyn herself, because Madelyn preferred to be hated instead of seeing her problematic sister going through intense moments.

"You didn't say you had a sister." Jack pretended not to know.

"A sister?" Emeraude pretended not to understand. "No, no, no. It's a misunderstanding!"

"What's going on?" He asked.

"Let's go to a quieter place, Jackie. I can explain everything to you in the best way possible!" She grabbed Jack's wrist.

A low mocking laugh escaped Madelyn's lips.

"Will you make him sigh in your ear too, Madelyn?" Original Madelyn looked challengingly at Emeraude, recalling the words she had said the last time they met. "I know people of your kind can get anything they want with a little of this, right?"

In an act of provocation towards Emeraude, Madelyn ran the tips of her fingers along the strap of her blouse, slowly sliding it off her shoulder.

"Aren't you afraid of dying?" Emeraude growled the words.

"Dying is the thing I fear the least." Madelyn lifted the strap of her blouse back up. "And you're not the one who's going to kill me," she said simply.

"Come on, Jackie. Let's get out of here!" Emeraude tried to pull Jack by the wrist, but he didn't move and remained looking at Madelyn.

"Who are you?" he asked, pretending to act.

"Me?" Madelyn smiled a little. "I am her," she replied calmly. "But unlike her... I'm not a cheap copy."

"That's enough!" Emeraude shouted. "Why didn't you stay in France, huh? You're unbearable, Madelyn! Why don't you die? No one likes you!"

"No?" Madelyn shook her head, trying to hold back laughter. "But that's you," she said sarcastically. "Didn't you want to be me? Now you are. If everyone hates Madelyn... They're hating you!"

"Go to hell!"

"Oh! I've already been there. And I have one thing to say: it's not good there, you know." Madelyn tried to hold back laughter again.

Emeraude angrily stormed out of the room, accompanied by her friend, and Madelyn had once again won another battle.

"Why are you looking at me like that, Wang?" Madelyn ended up making a face when she saw that Jack was still looking at her without reaction. "The performance is over."

"Sorry. Now I really saw that Emeraude is crazy."

"I know. Let's take a walk?"

***

"I'm glad you're back. Because I didn't know how much longer I could handle her." Madelyn ended up snickering.

"It's okay. If I were in your place, I'd feel the same way."

"Did you decide to stop letting her take your place?"

"I don't know. Emeraude is starting to hurt herself." She sighed. "I just don't want people to hate her. And to forgive her for whatever she did. She's just a scared and fragile girl."

"You don't have to tell me that. Joshua. He's the focus of all this. And you know she won't stop, right?"

"I know." She took a deep breath, stopping next to Jack. "And I thought she would give up the moment he rejected her. But I see that she hasn't. Emeraude managed to ruin my relationship. And I'm sure Joshua still hates me for thinking that she's me."

"And do you still feel something for him?"

"That's been a long time, Jack. And anyway, I couldn't force him to stay with me."

"I don't know if I feel bad for you, Joshua, the girls who were threatened, or even... her." He twisted his lips to the side, a little frustrated.

Madelyn nodded her head.

"Unfortunately, we can't do anything. Emeraude is really capable of anything."