Chapter 3 3

It wasn't a dream, I thought before glancing at Ella's smirking face, she looks different with the smirk on her face.

Suddenly, she shook it off and ran to me.

"Sister, I know that place favors you. See, you even have evidence on your body." She pronounced, her pretty face looked more delicate at that moment.

"Why did he call me Ella's middle name, mother? Did he mistake me for Ella? Tell me, mother and father, if he did, will you tell him I am not Ella and I'm not ready for marriage?" I voiced, my voice came out weak and shaky. Tears threatened to fall off my face.

At once, my adoptive father who had been sitting down peacefully looked up at me. He came towards me with hatred in his eyes. I have never seen him look at me that way.

"You're Linnie!" He yelled, his eyes reddened at my previous ranting. I watched my adoptive mother stay beside him and nodded her head.

"Father, how am I, Linnie? Isn't that Ella's middle name?" I asked, tears began to encircle my face.

"Mother, tell me, isn't it suppose to be Ella getting married? You told me Ella was going to get married so why Is that man calling me his wife?" I furthered, tears had begun to fall off my face.

"Claire, please listen to us. We'll explain everything" Mother's ferocious eyes had calm down and she came closer to me.

She held my hand and stroke my hair slowly as she does to Ella.

"See, when Ella was younger, she was sick with a rare disease. At this time, no one could heal this diseases until one day, a man approached us. He told us he would heal Ella but, once she is 18, he'll marry her." Mother began.

At that time, I knew the man she talked about is the gorgeous man at the building. I guess this is why Ella always replied to me with "It had to happen" anytime I asked about the marriage.

"So?" I urged her to continue.

"The man healed Ella because this man looked older at the time, we knew when Ella would be 18, he would have turned to an old man which is not suitable for our delicate Ella." She glanced at Ella who had begun to cry.

"So you adopted me to lure the man?" I raised my brows. To my surprise, they admitted it and mother continued.

" it is not like you have a bright future, if not because of us, you wouldn't be alive. Weren't you sick before we adopted you, we spent a lot of money on you so you wouldn't die? Isn't it right for you to pay us now" My adoptive mother sneered, she looked at me with those brutal eyes yet again and walked to Ella.

She carefully wiped her eyes and stroked her hair.

Finally, it became clear to me, the words mother had said about her friend Eva began to make sense to me.

Mother and Father adopted me at the time Ella was sick so I would marry him instead of Ella.

Undeniably, when I was younger I was sick with pancreatic cancer, and when they adopted me. They spend a lot of money to make sure I was okay, they did this because of a day like this.

Although that never showed me a quarter of love, I was always grateful because they saved my life but now? I realized they did it for themselves.

Seeing that I had kept quiet, mother came closer to me and say; "Do you want to be so heartless, after all these years that we've cared for you, do you want to pay us this way? Can't you see Ella is so delicate, she can't be under that man." Mother cautioned.

And what about me? I thought without saying a word to her. Ever since I was young, they had always made me do all the work, saying Ella is so delicate and she can't do anything difficult.

Because I owe them a lot, I would do everything cheerfully but now, this is too much for me and I can't do it.

I shook my head briskly and removed mother's hand from mine. "I can't do it, I don't want to do it. I will go back to the mansion and tell that man, I am not Linnie, I am not Ella!" I protested and tried to do but my adoptive mother held me back.

"Claire, listen to me. If you do that, you'll merely get yourself killed before he kills us. One more thing, when he healed Ella of her sickness, he added that Ella must be pure until the very end but right now, Ella is no longer pure so she's of no use to him." Mother added.

When I looked up at Ella, she had begun to cry.

By pure, she meant Ella isn't a virgin anymore. That statement brought back the man's word to me.

"Your blood is so pure, they are mine now!"

At the thought of it, fear crept my heart again.