Chapter 6 A thief

It was late in the evening when Ellina arrived at her house. The house was so quiet that she was sure the meeting must have been called off. In the past, she remembered that Kenzie had been a no-show at every meeting until the wedding day. Thinking about it, her heart was quite relieved. However, she was not ready to meet Kenzie now.

The door of the house opened as Ellina was just holding the doorknob. Her body stiffens with great surprise. She didn't even blink as the figure in front stared coldly at her face. Fear, hatred, and anger were all mixed together. Causing her mind to go blank until she did not know what to do.

"Get lost!"

The cold order spontaneously made her body move away from the front door. Letting the tall figure in a neat suit pass her without a word. Staring at that back out, Ellina's body shook violently. Suddenly her stomach churned with the suffocating images of the past.

Lexsi waltzed away in a hurry. Ellina squinted as she felt Lexsi was utterly unaware of her existence.

"Wait," Lexsi shouted, stopping the figure.

Ellina raised one eyebrow as the figure turned around, and his gaze immediately fell on her eyes. Reflexively, her gaze dropped with a fearful look on her face. Why did she come on the night of this meeting? No, they should not meet now. In the past, he didn't come at all. But why is it different in this life? What had happened? Why did everything change?

"Are you disappointed? I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

The figure remained silent. Ellina entered the house slowly, tiptoeing with silence and nullifying her hearing. She had to run away from here. She could not be here, or her life would not be saved. That man was definitely something she should stay away from. But that heavy, cold voice spoke up.

"Are you a thief?"

Lexsi looked back while Ellina stopped in her tracks.

Thief? Me? I'm a child of this family, okay.

"Sis, are you home yet?" Lexsi's expression turned sour at Ellina's appearance. Her eyes scan Ellina's face before she looks annoyed. She already felt her sister was strange, but now her suspicion was stronger.

Where was her makeup? Why did she come now? And this is...

Feeling like a failure, Ellina let out a tired breath. She turned her head and tried to smile. "I'm home."

"So, you're the one named Ellina?"

That one question made Ellina shake her head vigorously. Her hand reflexively pointed at Lexsi quickly. "Her! Yes, she's the one named Ellina."

Lexsi's smile widened, but reality hit her before the happiness filled her heart. She had been introduced as Lexsi when the Reegan family arrived. But today, somehow, she would agree if her sister referred to her as Ellina. Kenzie is the perfect prototype of a man, after all. Being introduced as Ellina could make her approach Kenzie as the title fiance. But why did Ellina tremble just because she was being stared at by Kenzie? Did something happen between them?

"Sister, what do you mean? He is Kenzie, your fiancé-to-be," said Lexsi softly. There was regret in every word that came out.

"I hate being lied to!" Kenzie walked away expressionlessly from Rexton's house. He really didn't understand the Rexton family, especially his own family. This arranged marriage, he didn't want it at all.

Lexsi was annoyed with Ellina's behavior, especially since Kenzie had left. She grabbed Ellina's hand and frowned. "Sister, why you're late?" her gaze ran over Ellina's face again. She knew that Ellina was beautiful, much more attractive than her. That's why she always suggested Ellina wear all that ugly makeup. But today? "What's wrong with your face?"

Still feeling scared, Ellina's body reacted to Lexsi's gaze. She could clearly see the annoyed look there. And the flash of hate was visible though faint. "What's wrong with my face?"

Lexsi neutralized her emotions. She smiled gently. "No, it's not. But sis, why aren't you wearing makeup today?"

A faint smile was etched on Ellina's lips. "Oh, there was an incident on campus."

Lexsi's eyes widened for a moment. She went to campus today just to drive off Ellina, so she has yet to learn what's happening. She looked at Ellina with worried. "What's happened? Is there something wrong?"

"Not a big deal," Ellina replied, arousing her sister's curiosity.

"Ellina," Aldric now called out, breaking Lexsi's reverie. She looked at Ellina, who had just entered the house.

"Are you late?" asked Vania, more like a statement. Her eyes scrutinized Ellina's appearance from top to bottom. "Don't you remember our family and Reegan family were gathering this afternoon?"

Ellina was silent. Meanwhile, Lexsi intervened.

"Mom, stop. Sister just arrived. She must not have done that on purpose."

Ellina smiled inwardly. That's true. Lexsi had always done this. Acting as her defender, what she's doing is just making things worse with her words. She would have been so happy with this in the past because it gave her the feeling that Lexsi cared about her. But this time, she felt disgusted and resentful.

"Don't you know what you're doing?" Aldric asked coldly. His face hardened as he stared at Ellina. "You're embarrassing us."

Frowning, Ellina had no idea what was going on.

"Father, stop it. Sister is not to blame. She must have a reason. It's my fault, after all. I was the one who first asked her to replace me as her fiancé," Lexsi's face turned cloudy. She looked at her parents pleadingly.

"You are indeed our best daughter," Aldric said clearly. This made it clear that, in his eyes, other than Lexsi, anything had no place.

Ellina looked at Lexsi's soft smile. She was curious, how many awards should be handed over for her sister's perfect acting? She could actually smile by hiding her resentment. All those innocent looks, she wanted to tear them away.

"Father, I'm sorry," Ellina said in the end. "I have to finish -"

"If Reegan's family calls off this engagement, we'll all live on the streets!" Aldric interrupted angrily. He walked away, leaving Ellina and the others behind.

Cancel the engagement? Why?

"If only you had come earlier. Things wouldn't be like this! If I hadn't introduced you at the previous meeting, things wouldn't be like this! Blood is indeed thicker than water!" Vania walked away while mocking Ellina.

Ellina was stunned. No, why did things become like this? This didn't happen at all in the past. She was sure that things were not like today.

Amid the confusion, Lexsi took her hand gently. "Sister, don't take Mom and Dad's words seriously. You know they didn't mean it."

Ellina wanted to scream and then laugh out loud at everything she heard. In the past, she had experienced much more than this. Now, she could see that her sister acted like she cared about her but stabbed her in the back. Trapping her with all the plans that had been laid out. And this time, she only smiled slightly.

"The Reegan family came and waited for you from noon. I tried to contact you many times, but your phone was off. They felt that you didn't want this engagement. They were disappointed and left. Meanwhile, Kenzie waited for you until... well, you know."

Ellina was stunned. They had been waiting for her since noon. It was all a mess. Then what was that? Kenzie came from noon and came to stay for her? Is the world coming to an end?

"I-" Ellina's words trailed off. She didn't know what to say.

"Sister, I know I forced you to replace me. I know it's hard for you. But they've known you since the beginning of the meeting. I could have claimed to be you, but you know her parents know us very well."

Ellina felt dizzy. Everything now was so different from what she had experienced before. Now, how could she overcome this? How many destinies had also changed since her birth? Why had things gotten so complicated that she couldn't tell which one is true?