Visiting the family

Rachel

I contemplate the scene before me, and as I look at Kael, I can immediately sense how different he looks compared to the man I met just a few months ago. Kael and Sarah are sitting on a well-kept stone bench in the carefully tended garden. The way he holds my sister's hand reveals a delicate touch as if protecting something fragile and extremely precious. This clearly shows how much his feelings have evolved for her.

To be quite honest, I believe it's not Kael's feelings that have changed, but rather that he decided to acknowledge what he always felt for Sarah and expose them to the world.

In front of the couple is a woman whose all-white attire and the situation she's in make me assume she is Sarah's nurse.

The truly surprising aspect of this scene revealed when the housekeeper led me to the garden, is the rigid attitude and inflexible tone with which Sarah reprimands her nurse. This is something I could never have foreseen.

"What brings you here, Rachel?" Kael was the first to react to my unexpected presence.

"I came to visit my sister," I summarized in a single sentence.

When Shirley informed me that our friends had found Sarah having dinner with Kael Graham in a restaurant in Seattle and that she was in a wheelchair, I was perplexed. It was hard to say what surprised me more, or perhaps I should say, what shocked me more.

Despite considering Sarah naive and sometimes too fragile, she is still my twin sister. Until recently, we had never truly been apart, sharing almost every experience.

"Don't you have anything to say?" Shirley inquired, waiting for my reaction to the revelation.

"I confess I'm completely surprised," I admitted, as it was the stark reality.

My friend sat in the vacant chair next to me by the pool of the luxurious hotel where we were staying, herself appearing as stunned as I was by this discovery.

"I understand perfectly because I'm shocked and speechless too."

We sat side by side in a silence full of meaning, each lost in our thoughts.

My sister was in a wheelchair. How did this happen? And most importantly, how could I have been here in Monaco all this time without being aware of such a fact?

Remorse begins to settle within me as I recall how many missed calls I let go of and even abandoned my old number, opting to use only the number I acquired after arriving in the small yet extremely affluent country.

"Are you going back to Seattle?" Shirley asked, and her gaze suggested that was the least I should do at that moment.

She didn't need to look at me so judgmentally; after all, I love my sister, and all I've ever done is prioritize myself and my needs because I have always been my top priority.

However, things have changed, and now I would need to change course and head in a completely different direction from the one I desired, that fate has interfered once again.

And I didn't even think for a minute about my extremely wealthy suitors or the luxuries I was enjoying in Monaco; I just packed my bags and boarded the first flight I could get to the United States.

Throughout the entire journey, I sought information about my sister and her situation, learning about the accident she had and her relationship with Kael, who was also present when everything happened.

I tried to reach out to Enrico; something told me he had details about Sarah's condition and other things I couldn't find in the media, but he didn't answer, and I couldn't even send messages as I realized I was blocked on the app.

I thought about calling Maira or Ryan; after all, we are siblings in the end, but I quickly reconsidered, certain that I wouldn't be well received, and I couldn't even complain; I would only be getting what I offered them.

The best course of action would be to wait until I faced my sister and hear everything directly from her, offering my full support at that moment because I couldn't even imagine how she must be feeling, unable to do something so simple before but now impossible for her.

According to the information I gathered from the press, Sarah was irreversibly paralyzed, something that deeply saddened me.

"You can leave, Elvira," Kael says, dismissing the nurse and looking at me with displeasure.

I considered the fact that he didn't order me to leave his residence as an additional indication of the feelings he finally showed for my sister. I deduced that it was only because of her that Kael didn't take the action I initially anticipated: kicking me out.

The two women left the nurse accompanied by the housekeeper who led me to the garden. Given the entire situation, we all exchanged looks laden with tension. That was not a surprise, considering the context.

I walked slowly until I approached the bench where Kael and Sarah were sitting, attempting to reach for her hand. However, she rejected my touch, something that caught me off guard.

"How are you, Sarah?" I ask, feeling the tears stuck in my throat, and noticing the wheelchair behind us.

"Not that I believe you care, but I'm fine," Sarah says, using the same tone as with the nurse. "And you're not welcome here, Rachel. I want you to leave and never come back. After all, I was never important to you!"

Sarah's words are harsh and extremely rude, but I need to be realistic and accept that they were also entirely understandable. The way my sister was treating me now was a result of everything I've done, which was quite a lot, and apparently, Sarah had come to terms with the fact that not everyone deserves her best.

Still, they hurt. And my defense for pain has always been to hurt back.

"You don't have to be so rude to me, Sarah," I said, releasing her hand. "I came from Monaco just to see you, and you treat me like this?"

"You're getting the treatment you deserve, Rachel," Kael takes the side of his beloved. "So, if Sarah doesn't want you here, you should leave now."

"I'm your sister, Sarah," I still tried but without much appeal. "Are you going to kick me out of here?"

"I'm tired of your schemes and malice, Rachel," Sarah now used a softer tone, even though the words were still rough. "And I want you to leave."

I never imagined Sarah would be capable of kicking me out of any place, let alone in the present situation, and the surprise with her attitude was not pleasant.

"All right," I agreed, even though the rejection from my sister hurt. "You know what's best for yourself. So, if you want to be with this man and kick me out, I'll go. But know that I won't try to see you again, understand?"

I would never humiliate myself for someone when that someone has nothing to offer me. And if Sarah prefers it this way, then so be it.

"Now I only have one side, which is my side, Rachel," Sarah rebuts my words. "Kael makes me happy and stayed with me when I needed it most, exactly the opposite of what you did."

I breathed with difficulty, anger along with frustration taking over my being and leaving me with emotions on the edge. It's better to leave right away.

"All right. I'm leaving, but with the certainty that I tried to do my part."

I was already turning my back on the couple, and I still heard my sister's words saying softly.

"You came too late."

I believe it was more for herself than for me, still, I thought about retaliating, saying that I came as fast as I could, that I only found out now about everything that happened. But if she doesn't want to hear my explanation, I won't insist on telling the truth. They were judging me, so let them judge! I wouldn't crawl for forgiveness.

I walked to the exit without even looking back, and when I reached the entrance hall, I came across Mary, who was entering the house with a smile, and the memory of the disturbed and depressed woman I found a few months ago in that same house immediately came to mind.

Finding the lost children made her very different from the woman before and gave a completely different and happy air to her life. In the end, I had to be glad that my mother wasn't around to witness the joy of that woman and the children she had with my father.

"Rachel!?" She spoke alarmed, not disguising at all the surprise of seeing me.

"It's me," I replied with sarcasm. I don't want her to realize how Sarah's attitude affected me.

"What are you doing here?"

"I intended to make a social visit to my sister," I explained still in the same tone as before. "But it seems I'm not welcome in this house."

"Why do you say that?" Mary seems confused with the information. "Did something happen? Were you with my daughter-in-law?"

"Oh, so she's your daughter-in-law?" I'm being ironic.

"Why do you act this way, Rachel?" Mary changes her tone. "Why can't you just leave the past behind and start over with your siblings?"

"I only have one sister, and her name is Sarah," I corrected her rudely. "And from what she just told me in the garden, maybe I don't even have that sister anymore."

I didn't stay to prolong the conversation or provide further explanations. I was fed up with all of this. This endless blah blah blah about siblings and family was getting on my nerves.

I walked to the car I had rented at the airport, and as I was leaving Kael Graham's imposing residence, I wondered where I would go now. Going back to my apartment was out of the question; after all, I had rented it with a six-month contract, and those hadn't come to an end yet.

I still had some money saved, not much, but enough to sustain myself for at most two more weeks. So, I considered looking for a cheap hotel. Everyone in Seattle already knew about my financial situation, so it wasn't worth pretending to be wealthy when I could be easily exposed.

Why would I flaunt a life of wealth here? It wouldn't make sense to waste my cards in such a foolish way. Going back to Monaco seemed like a sensible alternative. After all, I tried to show Sarah that I came to support her, but since I wasn't well-received, why would I waste my time in Seattle?

In Monaco, I was building important contacts and even had two influential suitors. Maybe if I went back and insisted more, I could get one of them to propose to me in the next few days.

While weighing all the possibilities that the future held for me, I searched for an affordable hotel. After checking in, I entered the modest yet clean and organized room. I lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling, with still-confused thoughts permeating my mind.

The image of vulnerable Sarah in Kael's arms haunted me, contrasting with her determination to speak for herself despite the wheelchair near the bench. Despite trying to resist emotions, tears once again filled my eyes and, this time freely streamed down my face.