Chapter 83 The past and the present
CHAPTER 83: The past and the present
Chauncey
I felt a headache of my own beginning to throb in time with the bass of the orchestra. As always, in the heat of an argument, standing between my siblings was like standing between two live wires; one spark and the whole room would go up in flames. This time, Claudia was being way out of line just like often.
I needed her to shut up for the sake of my own sanity.
“Stop it, Claudia,” I groaned, the scotch in my hand suddenly tasting like battery acid, my frustration boiling over. “Stop creating a scene. You’re making yourself look desperate for his attention. What is wrong with you?”
She whirled on me, her eyes narrowing into slits as she snatched her hand out of the crook of my arm.
“Don't be such a hypocrite, Cee,” she scoffed.
The glass halted mid air. “What?”
“Maybe you should sort out your own feelings instead of projecting your frustrations on me,” she hissed, her eyes narrowing. “Or perhaps someone needs to give you the push you clearly need to move on. Perhaps you plan to drown in that glass of scotch!”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I asked, my voice low and irritated.
But Claudia didn't answer.
Instead, her eyes widened, and a genuine, bright smile broke across her face as she looked past my shoulder.
“Sam!”
My entire body went rigid, a sudden, paralyzing feeling setting into my limbs as Claudia echoed that name through the air. I didn't have to turn around to know who it was; I could feel her presence, just like back then.
Claudia didn't hesitate. She rushed past me, pulling Samantha into a fierce, tight hug. It was a rare display of genuine affection from my sister. But I knew how close the two had always been. In the past, it was Claudia that had first learned of how I felt about Sam.
“I missed you so much, sweetheart,” Claudia squealed as they hugged each other.
I felt like my night had already plummeted into the gutter. I turned around to see them locked in a tight embrace.
As Samantha pulled back from the hug and turned, her gaze flicked toward me, lingering on my face with a weight that made it hard to breathe. There was a flash of different emotions in her eyes. But I didn't care to find out what it was.
Not after she had broken our engagement abruptly without any provocation, flinging her ring back at me.
Sam seemed to know what I was thinking, and her face fell. It was the look of a woman who still held the receipt for a heart she’d broken.
“Chauncey,” she said stiffly.
I merely replied with a nod, looking as disinterested as I could.
She tried to say something else, but decided against it.
“Silas,” she said, stepping toward my older brother. “You look well,” she said as they shared a brief hug, and pulled away. “It's been far too long.”
Beside him, Vera suddenly stood up, looming small and uncertain. But there was unmistakable curiosity and something else that surprised me, shining in her eyes.
“Samantha. It’s been a long time,” Silas replied, his voice maintaining that impenetrable mask. “You look well.”
I watched as he instinctively slipped his arm around Vera’s waist, pulling her flush against his side.
I also didn't miss the sharp, jagged glint that flashed in Samantha’s eyes at the sight of his hand on Vera’s hip. I knew it was too easy to expect that Sam wouldn't feel negative about their union.
That used to be her sister in Silas’s arms.
So It wasn't just jealousy; it was an old, territorial claim that refused to die.
“And this must be your new bride,” she said, her voice tilting upward with a forced curiosity. She looked at Vera. “You're the new wife I’ve been hearing so much about? The one who appeared out of thin air?”
Claudia let out a broken snicker. My twin sister could be a witch. And a bitch. I glared daggers at her, but she arched a perfectly penciled brow in a challenge.
Silas’s eyes flashed and hardened.
“Vera, this is Samantha. She is Simone’s younger sister. Samantha, this is my wife, Vera.”
The change in Vera was instantaneous. I watched her go perfectly still, as pale as porcelain. I knew that the mention of Simone would always be a landmine. But then, what could be worse than seeing and hearing it from her own flesh and blood. It stripped Vera of her colour and her speech.
“H-hello, nice to meet you.”
“Oh,” Samantha said, her smile fighting to remain polite, but beginning to fray at the edges. Her eyes glinted with something that looked like a challenge as she looked Vera over. “It's nice to finally meet you, Vera. The woman who has replaced my sister,” she said and Vera stiffened at the veiled attack.
Sam looked at Silas and continued. “How ironic that she bears a staggering resemblance to my sister.”
There was a stiff silence.
Sam smiled, a thin smile and continued.
“I’m just so pleased that Silas has finally managed to move on. He loved my sister so much that I worried he might not be able to move on,” she said briefly, glancing in Silas’s direction with a solemn smile. “I'm glad that he seems more... occupied. I was starting to think he’d never find someone to fill that empty space at the table.”
Claudia, who had been watching the exchange with deep amusement, couldn't help but twist the knife.
“Oh, dear. Vera has ensured that our brother will completely forget about the past, Sam,” she said, her eyes trailing pointedly down to Vera’s stomach. “She’s readily brought a very convincing reason to look toward the future.”
I swore harshly under my breath. This couldn't get any worse.
Samantha’s smile grew tighter, her eyes trailing to the subtle curve of Vera’s gown.
She blinked, once. “Oh, a Rutherford heir. That was quite… fast. A baby? How lovely. I guess congratulations are in order,” her smile grew tighter. “Atleast, Silas still get to experience what he lost with my sister—”
“Samantha,” Silas’s voice was steely with warning.
Claudia stepped forward. “Oh, let her speak, brother.”
“That’s enough, Claudia,” he snapped, his voice a low growl that signaled the end of his patience.
I couldn't stand it anymore. I felt a suffocating pressure in my chest.
“If you’ll excuse me,” I muttered, not waiting for a response. “I need some air.” I needed a drink that was stronger than anything they were serving on silver platters.
I turned and walked away, my heart hammering against my ribs. I didn't look back at Sam, though I could feel her eyes burning a hole in the back of my neck.
Events like these were not my type of scene. There was only one reason I was here. But right now, I just needed to breathe before the walls of this ballroom closed in on me.
And I needed to catch a glimpse of a certain fiery redhead.