Chapter 69

Allen relaxed now when she saw that the woman in front of her seemed to believe what she was saying. She did not need to try so hard to convince her in the end after all. She decided to just go all out and tell her everything that she knows. Maybe she can beg her not to tell any of it to anyone, until Joanna is back. "I really don't know much about it. I heard from Paul that her uncle arranged the marriage for her so he could save thier company. And she did not want to do it so she left. I really don't know anything else" Allen said.
Sonia paused for second. She was sure of one thing. Joanna did not run away.
Before Sonia could say anything else to Allen, she already took her hand. "I know that you probably think the worst of me right now but I really don't have a choice Sonia. I really did not know what else I was supposed to do in the situation that I was in. My grandmother, my grandmother had to under go surgery. There was no way that I could bring up the money for the surgery. That is why I agreed to do something like this. I really didn't mean fool everyone like this" Allen said.
She paused giving herself time to hold back the tears that were threatening to break out before she continued. "I know that it's going to seem like an excuse to you now but I really didn't have a choice. I don't have any intentions of taking over Joanna's identity. I'm going to be gone after six months. You can be assured of that. I know that I am probably asking for too much right now but I hope that you can keep this secret. I really don't know what I'll do if people find out that I'm not Joanna. Please, can you help me?" Sonia asked.
Sonia wasn't a heartless person. She had already concluded in her mind that Allen probably wasn't such a scheming person. If she was half of what the real Joanna is then she won't let herself get caught this easily. Joanna would have probably looked for ways to get rid of the real person herself and continue to pretend to be her for life. But Allen wasn't like that. Sonia was someone that has built her life from scratch. She had once been poor, so she knew how terrifying it could be.
Besides, she isn't even the real Joanna. She doesn't have anything against Allen, so she did not see a need for her to go after someone that has done absolutely nothing to her. It did not seem to make any sense at all and Sonia wasn't going to do it. "Alright. I really appreciate that you can tell me the truth like this. I don't like Joanna. In fact, I hate that woman. She almost ruined my Life. But don't worry, you are not her. I won't tell anyone, as long as you keep your promise and leave when you are supposed to" Sonia said.
Allen was really grateful to the woman in front of her. She did not really think that she was going to agree to play along with her so easily. It seems that she did not have much to worry about now. "Thank you so very much Sonia. I really did not think that you would agree to do this so easily. Thank you so very much. Don't worry. I promise you. As long as it's time for me to leave, I'll leave as quietly as possible" Allen said. She did not have any interests in the lives of these people after all. Allen had always been scared of Sonia, thinking that she is a horrible person, without knowing that she wasn't like that at all.
Sonia smiled at her. She was feeling really sorry for Allen. Allen may think that she is doing Joanna a favour right now it pretending to be her and holding on to her identity for her but Sonia knew Joanna more than anyone else. If Joanna comes back from wherever she is right now, she definitely won't let Allen leave as easily as she wants to. Joanna is that paranoid. Sonia shuddered thinking about the things that Joanna might do to this woman.
Maybe it was because Sonia felt sorry for Allen, or maybe it was because she saw her former trusting and ignorant self in this woman, in the end, Sonia decided to give her a heads up about the kind of person that Joanna was. If she doesn't know, she would be caught unawares. And before she knows it, Joanna has already destroyed her. "Look Allen, if you ever do meet Joanna, do your best to stay out of her way. She is not as innocent as people paint her to be. Stay away from her or you'll get hurt" Sonia told her.
Allen looked at Sonia in disbelief. Not as innocent as she seems? Whenever Paul told her about Joanna, he always said that she was quite pitiful. Her parents passed away and she had to live with her uncle and his family. They made it clear that they did not like her. Joanna made it this far because of her hard work. So how can someone like that be terrible? Is Sonia telling her this because she doesn't like Joanna? Allen had already guessed that whatever happened between Joanna and Sonia wasn't simple, but is she really that bad?
"Not as innocent as she looks? I really don't understand what you are talking about Sonia. Paul told me that Joanna had built her career on her hard work. He said that she had worked hard to get to where she is today. I get that you and Joanna don't get along and I know that whatever happened between the both of you probably isn't that simple but is she really as bad as you are saying right now? I'm helping her out here. Why would she hurt me?" Allen asked.
Sonia laughed when she heard that. Allen was really a younger version of herself. There was a time when she thought the same thing about Joanna. She thought that she was a young girl who works hard, she thought that everyone else was just picking on her because she was a newbie, and because she allowed herself to be fooled by Joanna, she almost lost everything that she had worked hard for. And as for Paul, he had lived half his life believing the lies that Joanna told him, of course he thinks that.
"I really won't try to convince you other wise Allen . It's only gonna to seem like I'm saying these things to you right now because she is someone that I don't like. But you see, I really don't have any reason to lie to you about Joanna when you won't be here for long. You can either choose to believe what I say or leave it. Anyway, aren't you curious about what happened between me and Joanna? Don't you want to know why I hate her so much?" Sonia asked. She really did not want such an innocent person to meet Joanna.
Allen thought about what she had just heard. Does she want to know what happened between Joanna and Sonia? Of course she wants to know! The curiousity was killing her! But she felt like she should believe Paul instead. After all, he has helped her so much. Allen considered it for some seconds, in the end, her curiousity won. "What happened between you and Joanna? You mentioned something about five years ago. What really happened?" Allen asked.
For a split second, Sonia considered telling Allen about what really happened between her and Joanna. She wanted her to see Joanna for who she really is and not be fooled by her if one day she did meet her. But in the end, she choose not to do it. It wasn't her business anyway. She was just going to give her a warning. It's up to her if she wants to stay away or not. "Five years ago,my life almost got ruined because of Joanna. She almost destroyed me. She almost ruined the career I worked so hard for. That's the only thing you should know" Sonia said. She did not need to know too much.
Allen was much more curious now than ever. She really wanted to know what happened. How did Joanna almost ruin her? But she knew better than to continue to ask and push Sonia. She obviously does not want to her and she is just going to leave it at that. Besides, she had already done enough by agreeing to keep up this whole ruse with her. She should not be pushing her. "I get it Sonia. Anyway, thank you for helping me. Don't worry. I won't be here long. I'll disappear as soon as Joanna is back" Allen said.
Since there was nothing more for Sonia to say, she left the dressing room.
Allen watched her as she walked out. She was all the more curious about the kind of person that Joanna was.
*********
When Sonia left Allen, she went back to her dressing room they were a lot of things on her mind and she just wanted to sit down and them through. So it turns out that she was not Joanna at all. Just now when she was talking to Allen, Sonia had considered telling everyone the truth. If she tells everyone that there is someone else pretending to be Joanna and that Joanna ran away from her marriage, her career would be over. Then she would have gotten her revenge on Joanna for what she did to her and Jenna five years ago.
Sonia had really considered doing that. But in the end,she could not do it. She could not bring herself to hurt that woman. She felt sorry for Allen. She seemed like the young version of herself. So innocent and naive. For Sonia however, all of her innocence disappeared when she met Joanna. As soon as Sonia entered her dressing room, she saw Jenna pacing around, waiting for her. Now she was faced with the big question. Should she tell Jenna what she knows?
Jenna sighed in relief when she saw Sonia. She had been so worried about her. But because she said that she was going to find out what is really going on with that Joanna she decided not to go look for her. Since she took so long, Jenna was almost convinced that Sonia going something. Who knows? Maybe they can finally get rid of that woman for good! "What happened Sonia? Why did you take so long? Did you get to see Joanna? Did you find out anything about her? Why did she change so much?" Jenna asked her. She was clearly excited.
Sonia looked at her. She knew that if she told Jenna about this, she would definitely ask her to tell everyone so she can get rid of Joanna for good. After what Joanna did to them, the person who suffered the most was Jenna so it was only right that she was always thinking about getting rid of her. Even if she told Jenna not to do it because of Allen, she won't listen to her Jenna was just going to find ways to do it behind her back. Sonia did not want something like that to happen to Allen. She did not want her to get hurt in this messy Entertainment circle.
"No, I did not find out anything" Sonia said to Jenna.
Jenna looked at Sonia. She felt like she was hiding something from her. "Did you really not find anything? Joanna has been so weird lately. I really don't get it" Jenna said.
"I did not Jenna. Maybe she's hiding it well. You and I know just how scheming she is" Sonia said. She did not want to tell her at all.
[2/22, 7:57 PM] Sonia: