Chapter 103 A Very Odd Family Reunion

Chapter 103 A Very Odd Family Reunion
Alyssa's POV
Louisa's mother's eyes widened so abruptly that, for the first time since I had woken up in this room, the confidence on her face cracked totally. I couldn’t see her as my mother no matter how I tried to make it make sense.
My gaze shifted to Louisa, not knowing what to think about her unexpected arrival. I couldn’t see her as my twin. Not yet.
"Louisa?" Mrs Bennett breathed.
She pushed herself to her feet so quickly that the ceramic chair scraped harshly against the smoothness of the floor.
"How did you find this place?" Her voice depicted her pure disbelief.
Louisa leaned lazily against the doorway as though she had not just interrupted a kidnapping. But the closer I looked, the more I realized she was barely holding herself together.
Her eyes were rimmed with dark circles. She looked exhausted. Her hair was slightly disheveled, strands falling from what had once been a neat style. Even from where I sat, I could smell alcohol lingering around her.
She had been drinking.
She also hadn't been sleeping.
This was nothing like the composed Louisa everyone admired at Calderon College.
But I was too far gone in my own misery to mentally afford caring about her looks right now.
She gave a dry laugh.
"Well," she started, folding her arms, "I've been tracking you since yesterday."
Mrs Bennett’s face hardened. "You…you were following me?” Her voice fell, disappointment coating it.
"I know everything you’re upto." Louisa shrugged.
"I know your little plans. Your little kidnapping mission. Your little fantasy about becoming Mother of the Year."
She smiled without humor.
"And your little boyfriend was surprisingly helpful."
Her mother's expression shifted. “I don’t get you,”
Louisa tilted her head. “He gave me information when I threatened to expose both of you if he didn't."
Silence settled over the room.
I looked from Louisa...
...to the woman claiming to be my mother.
Then back again.
These...
These were my family?
The realization still refused to settle inside me.
The girl I met in Calderon, who I spent my days with.
The girl who used to defend me from mean students.
The same girl who had resented me recently for reasons that were beyond my power to control. She was...
Mrs Bennett looked scared for a moment. “You’ve made a mistake by going to Fred, Louisa. He…”
Her expression shifted as if she had just decided to let go of the initial thought. 
She straightened herself. "You're not supposed to be here."
Louisa snorted as she stepped farther into the room.
"Untie Alyssa."
"No." Mrs Bennett opposed.
"Untie her," Louisa repeated calmly, "or I promise everyone will know exactly what's happening inside this house."
"You've lost your mind." Mrs Bennett charged.
Louisa laughed. "Of course I have." Her eyes glistened.
"And I'm not ashamed to admit I took after you."
Her smile disappeared.
"You abandoned me. You barely remembered you had a daughter.."
She pointed toward me.
"...and now you want to… add her?"
Her words stumbled. "My..." She looked at me. "...my twin."
The room went silent.
The emptiness in Louisa’s eyes scared me. 
Mrs Bennett blinked. "I never planned for you to find out like this." Her voice softened. "This wasn't how I imagined—"
"I don't need another explanation!" Louisa exploded.
"I already know who you are."
Her breathing turned ragged. "So thanks."
She gave a bitter smile. "Thanks for ruining my life."
Her mother lowered her eyes.
"Louisa—"
"No!"
The shout echoed around the room.
"No!"
Her entire body trembled.
"Do you even know what you've done?"
She pointed violently toward me.
"I didn't know she was my sister!"
Her voice broke.
"I fucking blackmailed my own sister!"
I froze, staring at her with eyes that refused to remain steady. "...What?" The word left my mouth on its own.
Mrs Bennett rubbed her forehead. "That’s enough ranting, Lou.”
"No!" Louisa shouted again. "It is not enough!"
She turned to me.
"I was the one."
I waited for her to continue.
"I arranged for you to be drugged. I made sure those pictures were taken. I sent the infamous Mr. Chris to you.”
My stomach twisted violently. My vision blurred.
"I used those half-naked photos to blackmail you." She admitted further.
The room spun around me. I felt helpless.
"Because..." She laughed at herself. "I was jealous."
She swallowed.
"Kayden wanted you." Her voice dropped to almost nothing. "And not me."
The world became strangely quiet.
I could barely hear my own breathing.
My lips parted.
"That..." My throat tightened painfully. "...was you?"
My voice barely existed anymore.
"You were behind all of it?"
Louisa frowned.
"Didn't Kayden tell you?"
I blinked. Kayden knew?
Maybe I said the question out loud because she replied, "He knew." She nodded. "He confronted me about it. He could barely look into my eyes. He called me wicked, and Lord…” She laughed sadly, “I felt terrible about myself.”
My temperature rose. "He..." I swallowed. "...told me nothing."
Louisa paused. For a brief second, genuine surprise crossed her face.
Then she recovered with a crooked smile on her lips.
"Oh."
She gave a humorless chuckle.
"So Kayden was protecting your precious little feelings."
Fresh tears rolled down my face.
I looked at her.
"Why?"
My voice trembled uncontrollably.
"What did I ever do to you?"
"I was loyal to you."
Louisa scoffed loudly. "Loyal?" She laughed bitterly.
"Loyal while sleeping with my fiancé behind my back?"
"No!" I shouted throatily before I could stop it.
"We never had that kind of relationship!"
I was crying openly now.
"Maybe..." My voice weakened.
"...maybe I wouldn't have fought my feelings if you weren't in the picture."
I inhaled shakily.
"But I respected you."
"I stayed away from him because of you."
"I respected our friendship."
Louisa stared at me. Completely numb. "That's bullshit."
She retorted then looked away.
"Kayden called…and he ended things with me."
Her voice had become frighteningly empty.
Mrs Bennett- who I had almost forgotten was still here, suddenly stepped between us.
"Enough, both of you.” Her tone carried authority again.
She looked at Louisa, schooling her expression like she couldn’t afford losing composure for long. "I didn't bring your sister here for this."
Louisa let out a quiet broken laughter. She had been laughing like she was not in her right mind. Maybe I wasn’t too. I didn’t know who to trust anymore. Everything hurts.
"I am not done, ‘mum’,” 
She spat, glaring directly at her mother.
"You raised me with such little self-worth..."
"...that I almost destroyed my own sister without even knowing she was my sister."
She shook her head slowly.
"Because I couldn't handle that the man I loved wanted her instead of me."
Without another word, she walked over to me and crouched.
Then began untying the ropes around my wrists.
The rough fibers loosened.
Blood rushed painfully back into my hands.
She avoided looking at me.
"Not exactly the best twin reunion in the history of reunions." she muttered.
"No..." I whispered. "It isn't."
I flexed my sore fingers then looked at her.
"We have to talk about this properly, Louisa.” 
She kept working on the ropes. "There is nothing to talk about."
She stood when she’s finally done releasing my hands from it. "Good luck with Kayden. He loves you.”
My heart clenched.
I rose unsteadily to my feet.
"No." I shook my head. "Kayden cannot cost me you."
Pain flickered across Louisa's face. As if it hurts her to look at me. 
Before she could say something, Mrs Bennett interrupted us.
"You're making a terrible mistake, Loui…”
The air suddenly became unbearably still as we heard the sound of heavy footsteps.
There was no time to process it.
"On your knees, all of you.” A deep male voice thundered from behind us.
The metallic click of a gun being cocked sliced through the silence.
Every muscle in my body locked. I struggled to breathe.
Instinctively, I raised both trembling hands into the air.
Beside me, Louisa slowly did the same, our heads cowering.
So did the woman who had just claimed to be our mother.
No one dared turn around to see who it was.