After what felt like forever… the taxi finally pulled up in front of a blue–gray mansion at exactly five in the morning, causing a sigh of relief to escape my mouth.

After paying the taxi driver, I opened the door and stepped out.

I wrapped myself as tightly as I could in my thick, old brown coat, and did my best to cover up and I softly grumbled as I made my way slowly towards the Vaughn Mansion, which was situated in the urban area of New York.

It was obvious from the outside that it possessed an incredible amount of power and wealth.

The heavily armed security officers waved me through the enormous electronic iron gates that were etched in the center with a golden letter L that was far bigger than I was.

In front of the mansion was a roundabout, with a gigantic fountain in the center but was now coated with snow.

A statue of a roaring tiger ready to attack, was in the middle of the fountain.

It was always been my dream to live in a house with a beautiful landscape like this… with towering trees, shrubs, bushes, and a garden that was so vibrant if not for the snow.covering them.

The bed of green Bermuda grass had been mowed to absolute perfection but it had turned white.

The atmosphere was fragrant with the aroma of pine needles and wood smoke.

So wintery…

The enormous structure was built out of a single piece of solid rectangular concrete, and it was placed in the exact center of the immense estate. In the back… there was a river, and on both of the property’s sides, there were trees, a pool, and a pond.

My dad and my sister would never have the opportunity to live such a privileged life if it weren’t for the fact that he married a wealthy woman after his divorce with my mother.

I was trembling so badly that I couldn’t stop as I raised my quivering fist to knock on the enormous double wooden door.

After waiting for five minutes with no one opening the door, I began to repeatedly ring the doorbell. I let out a breath of relief when I heard footsteps coming from the direction of the door on the other side of the room.

A servant in her mid–thirties eventually opened the door for me with a wide smile plastered on her lips.

“Miss, you’re back-” the smile on her face halted as she peered into my eyes, undoubtedly wondering why the hue had changed.

Earlier in the taxi, I removed the contact lenses I was wearing because I was feeling uncomfortable wearing them.

But the fake blonde hair on my head remained as I covered it with the cap and the hood of my coat.

Her gaze moved from my eyes to the old coat that I was wearing.

“Who are you?”

“I’m here for dad— for Mr. Vaughn…” I responded with chattering teeth, red cheeks, and cold visible breaths.

She showed a disapproving expression by knitting her brows together and clicking her tongue.

“He’s still asleep. You’re going to have to hold off till he wakes up.” After she finished speaking, she slammed the door on my face, causing me to startle and take a step backwards.

I heaved a sigh as I adjusted the hood of my coat and made my way to the fountain, where I sat down and wait.

It’s only five in the morning.

I wondered what time my father would wake up.

Till how many hours would I wait for him in the middle of this snowy place? What time will I get my money?

I was already starting to feel numb, and the only thing that could be heard over the howling wind was my whimpers.

I rubbed my hands together in a vain attempt to generate even the slightest amount of body heat.

The entrance to the mansion opened once more after what seemed like two eons had passed, revealing the same expressionless face of the servant.

“You may come in now…” she called out and I dashed inside, still shivering from the cold. However,

I came to an abrupt halt when I spotted my father sitting on the leather couch with a newspaper in his hands.

When he noticed that I was entering the house, he took his time looking at me through the newspaper while I stood at the back of the door, unmoved but lips trembling and body shivering.

The sophisticated woman sitting next to him immediately questioned me in an urgent manner, “Is everything successfully done and over with?”

“Yes…” I responded really quickly. I didn’t want to be here. I just wanted my money and then I’ll leave right away.

“Did Lucien Knight catch her?” she asked again.

“No…” I let out a sigh as I met her intense gaze.

“He was sound asleep when I left the room…”

“Thank goodness…” she squealed as she pressed her palms to her chest in a joyful expression.

She was stunningly beautiful in every sense of the word, and her flawless face was always brightened up by a broad smile.

My father set the newspaper down on the coffee table and a smile appeared on his lips as well.

“Lucien will finally marry our Ariana…”

“I know, right!” she chuckled. “Within a short period of time, our family will achieve widespread renown, and we will undoubtedly take pleasure in the abundant wealth and prestigious position of the knight family. In the long run, Ariana will have better opportunities for development in the future!”

“Of course!” While my father ran his fingers over his full beard and entertained various thoughts in his head, he had a sly grin on his face.

“It’s just a matter of time before we get our hands to the Knight family! Soon, the Knight and Vaughn families will merge into a single entity and become the most influential family in the whole wide world!”

And they both burst out in a loud laugh together.

I watched them laugh for a moment before I cut in.

“Where’s my money?” I interrupted their laughter or should I say their daydreaming, and as expected… I was met with deadly stares from both of them.

They were the ones who offered me this— to disguise as Ariana… to make Lucien Knight sleep with me and prove to him that Ariana is a virgin and no man had ever touched her before.

And if he was convinced, he would eventually marry my sister.

My twin sister couldn’t do it because she was a bit of a whore who had slept with a large number of men.

When they offered me this task, I immediately agreed to it because I needed the money for my mom who was badly ill.

I can’t let my mom suffer just like that.

She had enough with my dad… and I think it’s time for me to make her happy.

I still recalled her telling me that when I and Ariana were still months old, she found out that dad already has a lover named Sasha.

She was the woman in front of me, gazing at me with fire in her eyes right now.

Since my mother and I were abandoned by our father, he had never provided for our financial needs.

He took Ariana with him, and throughout her childhood, she thought of Saha as her mother, while she rejected her biological mother.

This woman here treated both my mother and me like we were nothing more than beggars, as if in her eyes we were nothing more than trash.

And this old man has never spoken to me and treated me like I was his daughter.

In his mind, I was more of a burden, and I could feel that he sometimes wished that I hadn’t been a part of his life.

Not sometimes though, but always.

“Your money?” my father spat as he rose from his seat and moved closer to where I was standing.

“Look at yourself! The poverty is written all over your existence!”

I took a deep breath, trying hard to calm myself while clenching my fists on both sides, controlling them not to smack my father’s ugly face.

The money I was asking from him was not for me but for my mother!

“Honey, don’t let your temper flare up with her. What kind of life do you expect if her mother is a beggar as well? Do you ever think that she can compare her beauty with our Ariana? She’s nothing but a complete yokel. Such a disgrace that you have a daughter like her!”

“Yokel?” I asked through gritted teeth. “You have to remind yourself that the yokel you’re referring to, is the one you asked for help yesterday!” I gradually loosened my fist, aware that it wasn’t necessary to go ballistic with a person like her but I couldn’t control myself with all their insults towards me and my mother.

“Is this how your mother raised you, huh?” my father roared in my face. “By talking to someone who is older than you, especially to my wife?! You’re showing me a lack of respect as your father!”

Father?

Since when did he act as my father? And he expected me to treat him as one? Hah!

And respect? He disrespected my mother first!

He’s not worthy of it.

“Why are you giving me that look, huh?” he inched closer and my eyes widened when he raised his hand to hit me.

“Do it! Hit me! You have never treated me as your daughter, anyway!” I was holding his eyes while staring at him with a blank expression, as if he were a complete stranger, and I could sense that he was becoming increasingly uneasy as a result of the gaze that I was sending his way.

His hand stopped mid–air and he only put it down when he heard his wife talk.

“Here’s your money!” she said, throwing the paper bills in my face and my heart thumped with wrath as I glared at her.

“That’s ten thousand dollars,bitch!”

I heaved a deep sigh as I knelt down to pick up all of the money that had been scattered across the carpet and checked to be sure that I hadn’t missed any bills.

My heart was shedding tears of both agony and joy since I can finally support my mother’s treatment. In my twenty–four years of existence in this world, Dad never gave me a single penny but because I helped her loving daughter by pretending to be her, I got ten thousand dollars just like that.

When I was finally certain that I got all the money with me, I stood up and sneered at them.

“Thanks… I had no idea what the value of a virgin was now I do.”

I had just finished putting all of the money in my bag and was preparing to walk away with my head held high when all of a sudden, my father’s voice stopped me from moving away.

“Aria…”

I inhaled deeply and came to a complete stop, but didn’t turn around to face them once more. I didn’t want to see their ugly faces.

“I don’t want to see your face ever again in this city. Go back to the province where you currently live and stay there until you die.” My father’s voice was cold as ice and I wanted to burst out crying, but I stopped myself. He’s not worthy of my tears.

“Right!” Sasha added, her annoying voice echoed in the room. “Never show your face in this place again! You’re as disgusting as shit!”

I tightened my grip on my bag as I slowly walked towards the door. I know the reason why they didn’t want to see me any longer.

They were scared that I might destroy them and wreck everything. They were scared to be ruined by a beggar like me.

As soon as my mother has fully recovered from her illness… I will bring her back to Staten Island and we’ll live peacefully and happily together and forever. Until the day we die…

Since I was already in possession of the money,

I quickly went back to the hospital in order to settle my mother’s bill.

While I was waiting for the receipt, I looked about in an effort to find Dr. Henry so that I might express my gratitude to him; but, he was not yet present.

“Thank you…” I gave the woman at the register a friendly smile, and even though she couldn’t see my face in its entirety due to the mask I was wearing, she still managed to give me one in return.

I made my way down the hallway in the direction of the elevator while scrunching up my nose at the pungent smell of disinfectant and other substances that I was hesitant to identify.

I’ve never liked hospitals, and if my mother weren’t so sick, I would never, ever set foot in here.

I took a deep, fortifying breath as the elevator doors slid open, revealing the ward where my mom lay still hoping to recuperate.

When I was in the taxi earlier, I’d fallen asleep with memories of the night spent in my sister’s boyfriend’s arms swimming about my mind and plaguing my dreams.

Frankly, I was even surprised I’d gotten any sleep at all.

I was thankful to the taxi driver who roused me up when we arrived at the bank where I had to secure half of the money that I got from my dad and deposit it in my account since I only needed thousand dollars for my mom’s treatment.

Cautiously, I made my way to my mother’s room half hoping she wouldn’t ask about dad and Ariana.

Though I knew I would have to answer all of her questions soon, my nerves were just too high– strung from the encounter with Lucien last night.

I yanked the door open and walked inside as I became aware of the sound of muffled voices emanating from within the room.

Because the IV bag had no more fluids in it, a nurse was swapping it out for a new one.

“Aria…” my mom looked up and slowly sat up as I entered.

“You’re back…”

As I made my way further into the room, I plastered a smile on my face that I hoped would be a happy one.

“Mom…” I leaned down to place a kiss on her forehead. Her skin was cold against my lips

“How are you? Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat?”

“The members of the hospital staff delivered food to us earlier. I’m already full…” she said with a smile and grabbed my hand, tucking it inside her quilt.

“Didn’t your father ask you to stay the night in his house? It was snowing outside. Aren’t you cold?”

My heart immediately warmed up at her gesture. I shook my head and said,

“I’m not cold mom… Don’t worry about me.”

I noticed that mom’s eyes were red.

Had she been crying while I was away?

As she tugged at my hand, motioning me to take a seat beside her, she suddenly caught a glimpse of my locks under my hood.

“Your hair… What happened to your hair?”

I was stunned for a moment by the realization that I was unable to take off the wig that I was currently donning.

“Oh…” I brushed off the hood of my coat and ran my fingers through the blonde synthetic hair I was wearing.

“It was… Ariana’s idea. I ran into her when I went to borrow money from dad and she happened to be styling her hair. She asked me to join the fun, so, I… tried this color. Is it ugly?”

“No… no.” she shook her head. “It looks good on you. I can see Ariana now in you… I’m happy to know that the two of you got along.”

“Of course! We’re sisters…” if only you knew mom…

“Did she… did she say anything about me?” I could see hope in her eyes and I didn't have the heart to hurt her.

“Oh… yes,” I’ll have to lie about it. “She… she informed me that she would come to visit you once her schedule is cleared up.”

My eyes were a little evasive.

I didn’t want her to find in my eyes that I was lying or she would get hurt.

The brightness in Mom’s eyes immediately diminished, but she said nothing in response.

She could sense that my sister won’t be visiting her, so… her expression changed to one of disappointment and loneliness.

In point of fact, both of us were aware that Ariana was hesitant to recognize either one of us; mom was only holding out hope.

“By the way, dad reminded me to tell you to take care of yourself and to make sure that you won’t forget to take your medications…” I swiftly shifted the conversation’s focus away from my sister by changing the subject.

Her eyes got their mischievous glint back, and she flashed a stern smile in my direction.

I could sense that she still loves my father.

“Aria, listen to me. Please promise me that you won’t bother your father for financial support in the future. It’s unclear what his wife would think if she saw your father handing you money. My condition is not treatable in any way. Therefore, there is no point in-”

“Mom…” I had to cut her off.

“Don’t say stuff like that. I would do anything for you to get better and trust me, mom… you will be fine.”

She gave me a little shake of the head and then gently pulled me so that I could rest my head on her shoulder.

“You don’t have to worry about dad and his family, mom… He told me that I can come and visit him anytime I want. I’m also his daughter and he said if I need money, just tell him and he’ll give it to me. He won’t have the heart to see me losing my mother.”