Just a replacement
1252 Words
Hannah’s face went pale hearing his comment. His words rang in her ears, and she couldn’t believe what she heard just now.
“W-what?”.
He snatched her hands away from his collar, fixing his coat.
“Look, Hannah!” he turned to Crimson, holding his hand towards her with a smile.
Crimson took his hand with a gleeful smile on her face. And he pulled her into his body.
Hannah’s eyes followed their movements as she watched with an astonished expression.
He smiled at Crimson, then caressed her face with his other hand.
“I only agreed to marry you just because your dad is influential in the business world.”
“He’s also supposed to invest in our new project which’ll cost a lot of money.”
“That’s the only reason I went along with your proposal.”
“Do you understand it now?”.
Hannah felt her knees growing weak hearing everything that he said.
“You…..you….don’t mean it for real, right?” she murmured.
“Say it, Ivan!” she yelled, looking at him.
He sighs, “I mean it. Mean it.”
“In reality, the only person whom I have loved truly is none other than Crimson.” He added, rubbing a finger on her lips.
She looked away shyly.
"You are nothing but a replacement for her, as your dad doesn't give her recognition. She has more potential than you."
Hannah kept her head low, and the word he said was repeated in her head.
“It’s hard to believe you two are sisters and share the same dad.” He smirked, looking towards Hannah.
“See how much different you two are.”
“She’s beautiful, mature, and knows what she’s doing.”
“And you,” he heaved a sigh in disappointment.
“When I Look at you, you only make me think of a spoiled brat who doesn’t have their act together.”
“And you have no intelligence as well, or should I say dumb?” he chuckled.
Crimson muffled her laughter by covering her mouth.
“When will you stop acting like a child?”.
“You are a grown-up woman, act like one and become a bit mature.”
“The world doesn’t revolve around you, and your wishes, Hannah.”
Hannah stared into her hands, and no words came out of her mouth making her go silent.
But, after running all of his words in her head she regained her composure and looked up at him.
“Y-you are saying I’m childish and no match for you?” she stammered.
He gave a glance at her with a smile. “Exactly.”
“Glad you figured it out without me saying it out loud.”
"Crimson is the only one suited for me. And that's why I love her," he comments, caressing her hair.
Crimson smiled softly, mocking Hannah, who stood on her own.
Hannah's eyes dropped at Crimson. "Since how long?" she muttered.
"Hm...you said something?" Ivan asked with a smug face.
"I couldn't hear you."
"Since how long had you been cheating on me with her?" Hannah yelled.
Ivan raised his eyebrows, staring down at Crimson whom he held in his arms.
He lifted her face with the chin, making her look directly into his eyes.
"How long had it been, babe?".
She smiled cunningly. "Approx 2 and half years, I guess."
Hannah gritted her teeth out of shock.
"Why you didn't notice?" Crimson added, glancing at her for a second.
"And here I thought," she turned to Ivan, placing her hand on his chest in a loving way.
"You were playing dumb so that you could at least marry him on paper, as you wanted to."
"Though, you might never win his heart, right honey?" she wrapped her arms around his neck in a passionate hold.
He smiled, gazing into her eyes intently.
"Right."
"You were bound to find it out sooner or later. You did it today, nothing's wrong with it," he added in a whimsical tone, turning to Hannah.
"You can pretend that you saw nothing today and go on with your life like usual."
"Now, please excuse us. We are very busy."
"Right, Crimson?".
She nodded. "Yes, we are."
"Go, and get going, Hannah."
"Or are you planning to bawl your eyes out here? That'd be super funny," she chuckled.
Hannah clenched her fists, glaring at the two figures standing in front of them as she held her breath.
"I'll never forget anything!" she stated.
"And I'll never forgive the two of you!".
She rushed out of the room without looking back the next second.
She rushed down the hallway by the stairs. The image of Ivan flashed in her head along with the memories of the past.
“Hannah, I love you.”
“Will you be my bride when we grow up?”.
“I’ll become a good husband for you.”
“Hannah, play with me! Don’t ignore me! Hannah!”.
“I’m always thinking the best for you.”
“Whatever you want to do or want to be, I’ll always be by your side to support it.”
“You are so cheerful and talkative, I love this about you.”
“You are the woman I have given my heart to. I can never be in love with anyone but you.”
“We are meant to be together by destiny. No one can separate us. nor even god.”
“Why, Ivan! Why?”.
“All the words that you said, all the promise that you made to me. Were all of them a lie after all?”.
“You never loved me truly, yet you pretended to do that.”
“Why? Where did we go wrong in our relationship that you had to cheat on me with my sister?”.
“Why did you have to go to such an extent?”.
“And how could I not notice this all these years? How did they manage to hide it so well that I wasn’t able to see through their façade?”.
She reached the end of the staircase, panting and breathing heavily.
And the pain in her chest kept growing worse.
It made her suffocate and hard to breathe.
“Am I….”.
She clutched at her chest, breathing heavily.
“Nothing but a replacement for my sister after all?”.
“I mean nothing to him? I hold no value for him?”
“Then, why did I have the delusion in my head that he loved me like I did?”.
Her phone started ringing in her bag out of nowhere.
Her hands were shaky and she had a hard time getting it out of her bag before the call had ended.
Looking at the name on the screen, made her heart skip a beat.
“D-dad?”.
Hannah’s face goes pale, and beads of sweat roll down her forehead, also making her palms sweaty.
"Why's he calling me at this time?".
Her phone kept ringing continuously.
So, she answered it without thinking.
"Hannah! Why did it take you so long to pick up the phone? Where are you?" her dad yelled in a gruff voice from the other end of the call.
She held the phone tightly in her hands.
"I'm sorry Dad," she apologized trying her best not to let her tears fall.
- Writer
