Esmery stared at the video playing on her screen as her fiancé of thirteen years, Diego Wilson, was in bed with her sister. Their bodies tangled in be as their moans only grew louder. They didn't even bother to hide. The same man who promised to announce their engagement to the world had chosen this instead. Her sister, her own blood. She watched the screen in silence. She didn't cry nor scream; it was only the bitter taste of betrayal coating her tongue.
Then, in a voice low and cold, she whispered "Fucking scumbags."
She closed the video and deleted it.
Lit a cigarette she didn't plan to finish and just sat there smiling. She was so free.
If they thought they broke her, they were wrong because they just woke her up from the dream.
~
The room was an icebox seriously, you'd think someone left the door open to Narnia. Esmery parked herself by the window, just soaking up the silver spill of moonlight. Her silhouette? All mysterious, the kind of thing painters obsess over. And those olive-green eyes? Dude, they weren't just eyes. They were emeralds with a secret like, you could drown in them if you stared too long. And her figure? Unfair, honestly. The sort of beauty that made men forget their own names and women suddenly needed a reason to leave the room.
That's Esmery Anderson, in the flesh.
She basically owned the Starlight Entertainment runway queen bee, no contest. And right beside her? Astrid Hale, her sister, her foil, her chaos twin. People called them the golden gems, and sure, that sounded cute, but they couldn't have been more different if they tried. Esmery was all about order and control, like a ballerina with a day-planner. Astrid? Pure electricity. She lived for attention, craved the next thrill, couldn't sit still if you paid her. Only a week separated their birthdays, but trust me, galaxies lived in the space between their personalities.
But honestly, no matter how different they were, they were sisters. Stuck together like super glue. Or at least, that's what Esmery believed. Sisters, right? Like, the two of them against the world. They'd pinky-sworn it. Turns out, maybe she was a little too optimistic. Life loves a plot twist.
Picture this: Esmery, just ten years old, and her whole life's already been penciled in by other people. Her family waltzes in, all smiles, and drops the bomb she's gonna marry into the Wilson family. Not just any Wilsons, but the fancy ones with the money and the reputation so squeaky clean you could eat off it. And her future husband? Diego freakin' Wilson. At first, Esmery wanted to throw up. I mean, come on engaged to some dude she's never had a proper conversation with? It's the stuff of nightmares.
But Diego? The guy was a unicorn. Patient, kind, loyal as a dog, and he actually listened to her rambling about the weird dreams she had or why she hated pickles. The whole deal. Over time, her "ugh" turned more into "maybe this isn't so bad." Stockholm syndrome? Maybe. Or maybe Diego was actually just that good.
And, plot twist, Diego wasn't just her fiancé. Nope. He was also the President of Starlight Entertainment. We're talking about megastar status. The guy could sneeze and the tabloids would write a whole think piece about it. Starlight was basically the House of Mouse of Country X, churning out stars and hits like it was nothing.
But at work? Oh, it was a whole different game. Esmery and Diego kept it squeaky clean. Strictly boss and employee. Meetings were all business well, except for the occasional hand-holding, which felt more like a secret handshake than a declaration of love. Esmery hated public displays of affection. The thought of being all over someone in front of a crowd made her want to crawl under her desk and disappear. Diego got it. He never pushed. Always gave her space. If there was a Nobel Prize for respecting boundaries, he'd have gotten it twice.
For the longest time, Esmery thought she was living the dream. Like, who gets this lucky? Awesome fiancé, killer job, family name that opens basically every door.
And then bam. The universe decided to spice things up.
Recently, Diego and Astrid, Esmery's sister, mind you started acting…off. You know that feeling when the air in the room is just a bit too thick, like you walked in on a secret? Yeah, that. Suddenly, hushed conversations stopped when she entered, and there was this weird energy buzzing around. Esmery tried to brush it off, but come on, she wasn't born yesterday.
The real slap in the face? Esmery finally lands her dream gig as the new face of Country X's biggest jewelry brand. This was it. The moment she'd been working her butt off for. Red carpets, magazine covers, the works. She could already see her face on billboards, maybe even sign an autograph or two for her mom. And then, out of nowhere, Diego pulls the rug out from under her. Just like that, he gives the job to Astrid. No warning. No explanation. Just a big fat "congrats, but not for you."
Honestly, it felt like being hit with a glittery, jewel-encrusted frying pan. Esmery's dreams, snatched right out of her hands, just so her sister could have the spotlight. And the worst part? No one bothered to ask how she felt about it. Not Diego, not Astrid, not even her own family. Just silence, like her opinion, was the background music nobody really listens to.
So yeah, sisters are supposed to be inseparable. But sometimes, life edits the script, and not even a pinky swear can save you from the plot twists.
So, when Esmery asked why, Diego just flashed this smooth grin and tossed out,
"The company wanted Astrid instead. Last announcement? Total mix-up. Anyway, I'm just doing Astrid a solid favor. She's gonna be my sister-in-law. Gotta look out for my family, right?"
Yeah, well, Esmery tried to swallow the lump in her throat and force a smile. Sure, she was supposed to feel happy for Astrid. If her sister was getting her moment, who was Esmery to sulk?
Except…things started getting seriously weird.
Astrid pretty much vanished at night.
"Diego wants me to stay at the office," Astrid would say. "Gotta prepare for this big endorsement. Can't risk being late."
At first, Esmery was like, okay, whatever, hustle culture and all that. But every single time she dropped by the company early in the morning, her coworkers would just shrug and say,
"There wasn't any practice last night."
And, man, that sent a chill straight down her spine.
So she went straight to Diego. No more beating around the bush. But instead of his usual Mr. Nice Guy routine, he snapped.
"Why are you always so jealous of Astrid? Can't you just be happy for her for once?"
Ouch. The Diego she knew never raised his voice. Not at her.
That night, lying in bed, ceiling fan spinning above her, she just stared and stared, mind racing with all the ugly possibilities she didn't want to consider.
Something was off. Like, really off.
Her fiancé, her sister, all these sudden changes none of it felt right.
She needed to know what was going on.
So, fueled by equal parts dread and curiosity, Esmery slipped out of bed, wrapped herself up in her silk robe, and shuffled into her fluffy slippers. She crept down the shadowy hall, heart thudding louder than her footsteps.
Stopped outside her mom's room.
Deep breath. Knocked.
"Come in."
Her mom's voice sounded calm, but honestly, it sent another shiver through her.