Chapter 130 Lunatic
Chapter 130 Lunatic
Danika's Pov
"Are you crazy?!" I shouted, wincing as the pain in my swollen cheek throbbed with every word. I thrashed against my father's grip, trying desperately to break free. "Let me go! All of you, let me go right now!"
Natalie didn't even flinch. A twisted smile spread across her hollow face, stretching the tight skin over her protruding cheekbones.
"Let you go?" Natalie whispered, her voice laced with a terrifying calm. She stepped closer, her wide, sunken eyes glinting with madness.
"Why would I let you go, Danika? You’ve been living my life for far too long. But that ends today. From now on, I am going to take your place, and you are going back to where you truly belong."
Before the meaning of her words could fully register, my father pulled my head back by my hair. A white cloth was slammed over my nose and mouth, suffocating me with a sharp, sweet chemical stench.
My eyes widened in terror. I tried to hold my breath, kicking and clawing at his arms, but the fumes forced their way into my lungs. Almost instantly, my vision began to blur. My limbs turned to lead, the angry shouting of my mother fading into a muffled hum. Darkness rushed in from the edges of my sight, swallowing me whole as the world slipped away.
When my consciousness slowly drifted back, the first thing I felt was a weight pressing down on my body. My head throbbed violently, a dull ache pulsing behind my eyes from whatever drug they had used on me.
I blinked repeatedly, forcing my blurred vision to focus on the ceiling above. I was lying on a stiff mattress in an unfamiliar, dimly lit bedroom. I tried to lift my hands to rub my aching temples, but my wrists wouldn't move. I looked down and realized with a wave of panic that my hands were tightly bound together with thick rope. My ankles were tied just as securely.
Then my eyes caught the fabric covering my body, and my stomach plummeted. Layers of stiff white lace, cheap tulle, and heavy satin were wrapped tightly around me. I was wearing a wedding dress.
A sickening wave of confusion and horror washed over me. Why was I in a bride's gown? What were they planning to do to me? I struggled against the ropes, but the sedatives still coarseing through my blood made my muscles weak and useless. I couldn't even summon enough strength to sit up properly.
Click.
The wooden door unlocked and swung open. I froze, my heart hammering against my ribs as a shadow fell across the room. Natalie glided into the bedroom, closing the door softly behind her. The moment her sunken eyes landed on me, her face lit up.
"Oh, good! You're finally awake," she cooed, folding her thin arms across her chest as she strolled toward the bed.
"Natalie..." My voice came out as a raspy, weak whisper. I swallowed hard, trying to clear the dry lump in my throat. "What... What are you doing? What is this?! What are you trying to do to me?!"
Natalie stopped at the edge of the bed, looking down at me as if I were nothing more than an insect.
"Do you remember that boy Mum and Dad wanted to marry you off to years ago?" she asked, her tone entirely too casual, like we were discussing the weather. "The one you ran away from like a foolish, ungrateful brat?"
A cold sweat broke out across my forehead. "What about him?"
"Well," Natalie purred, her eyes shining with dark amusement, "he finally agreed to marry you again. Isn't that wonderful? The arrangements are already made. You're getting married today, Danika."
"Are you insane?!" I yelled, forcing my weak body to sit up against the headboard, straining against the painful grip of the ropes. "I am already married! I am Lysander's wife! What you're doing right now is kidnapping! It’s a crime!"
Natalie threw her head back and laughed, a high-pitched, grating sound that echoed off the bare walls.
"A crime?" she mocked, waving her hand dismissively. "Who cares about that? Once you're shipped off and married to him, no one will care what you have to say. And as for Lysander... it doesn't matter that you married him first. He is going to fall in love with me soon enough anyway."
I stared at her, genuinely stunned by the utter delusion dripping from every word she spoke.
"Are you out of your mind? You're delusional, Natalie! Lysander will never like you! He despises women like you! He loves me!"
"You don't know anything!" Natalie suddenly snapped, her calm demeanor shattering instantly. Her face contorted into a mask of pure rage, her fists clenching so hard her knobby knuckles looked ready to burst through her skin. She paced back and forth at the foot of the bed, her breath coming in gasps.
"You think you're so special, don't you?!" she screamed, pointing a bony, trembling finger at me. "You think you're better than me?! I am the pretty one! I am the smart one! Unlike you, I know how to handle men! I can get any man I want! I can control them, manipulate them, and make them kneel at my feet!"
She paused, turning her sunken, bloodshot eyes toward me, a terrifyingly manic grin spreading across her lips.
"Once I walk up to Lysander pretending to be the victim, once I show him how much better I am than you, he will be mine," she whispered. "And once Lysander becomes mine, I will have access to everything! All his riches, all his wealth, his status, his money, everything that should have been mine from the start!"
"You're crazy..." I whispered, shaking my head in horror as I looked at the hollow shell of my sister. "You need help, Natalie. You're sick."
Natalie’s laugh cut through the room once more, loud and unhinged. She didn't listen to a single word I said. Instead, she spun around and walked back toward the bedroom door, throwing it wide open.
"She's awake!" Natalie yelled out into the hallway, her shrill voice echoing through the house. "Danika is awake now! Come on, we can finally go through with the wedding!”