Chase was gone when I woke up the next morning. He had left the door slightly open, no note, and no message. It was obvious where he had gone so early in the morning. I had no doubt that he had gone to see Raven.

Since she had just come from the hospital, Raven had spent the night at our parent’s home instead. And I guess Chase couldn’t bear to be away from her for so long that he had to go to her.

It seemed to be that way whenever it came to Raven, and I wasn’t just talking about Chase.

Raven and I met when I was eight and she was seven. My parents held an annual fundraiser event for orphanages in the country. And I met Raven at one of those events. She was an orphan and she had come with one of the homes. Somehow, she must have managed to slip away and we ran into each other. I immediately fell in love with the little girl who wouldn’t stop gushing about how much she loved my pink dress. So I took her over to my parent’s table and told them that I wanted her to be my sister.

They had laughed it off at the event, but after weeks passed and I wouldn’t stop talking about Raven, they had no choice but to go through with the adoption, and that was how Raven became a part of our family.

Raven adjusted well into being a part of the Clarke family. My parents and their friends gushed over her. And many years later, when I introduced her to Chase, he felt the same adoration for her.

And before I knew it, Raven took over his mind and eventually, his heart.

Chase and I were to be married in order to seal a deal between my father and his grandfather, but even while that was happening, he had his eyes on Raven.

“Sydney darling?”

I was jerked back to reality when Rosana, my mother in law knocked at the slightly open door before walking in.

“Rosana, Good morning.”

“Good morning dear, are you alright?” She asked as she sat beside me on the bed.

“Yeah,” I nodded and planted a smile on my lips so she wouldn’t think that something was wrong.

“Okay honey. Chase had breakfast with me this morning. Can you believe it?” She chuckled. “I had to force him to sit down with me before he had to rush into the office for a meeting.”

I whipped my head up so fast that I almost got whiplash. “He went to the office.”

“Yeah.”

“Oh…” I suddenly felt bad. I had simply concluded that Chase had gone to be with Raven without even giving him the benefit of the doubt.

“How’s the little one doing?” Rosana asked.

“Uh, Good. She’s doing really well.”

“That’s great honey. Now I have to go get ready, but call me if you need anything, okay? And don’t skip breakfast.”

I smiled at how caring she always was. Rosana never treated me badly. She had been nice to me from the very beginning, and I was just grateful to have a mother in law who cared so much about me.

After she was gone, I sent Chase a quick text.

SYDNEY— Have a great day at work today..

It was short and sweet and straight to the point. I waited for five minutes, before giving up on him sending me a reply.

A couple hours later, after I’d had breakfast and showered, someone knocked on the door. At first I thought it was Chase, but then I realized he had no reason to be knocking on our bedroom door before coming in, so I walked over and opened it, only to come face to face with a scared looking woman. She looked like she was in her early twenties. The poor thing looked scared out of her mind. But she had on the uniform for the manor, so I knew that she worked here.

“Hi.” I said when I noticed she wasn’t saying anything.

“Ma’am, I was sent up here by Richard.” Richard was our major domo. He was a sweet little old man who was in charge of all the household staff in the manor, including their employment. “He said you’re to give me directions in cleaning Miss Raven’s room.”

“Oh,” I was a bit confused. But I knew that if Richard had sent her to me, then he had also clearly been given an order. And that order could have only come from Chase. He couldn’t even be bothered to respond to my text and let me know that he wanted me to oversee the cleaning of Raven’s room. “Come with me. It’s just down the stairs.” I finally said to the help and led her to Raven’s room.

Now, Raven had lived with us two years ago before she had to travel out of the city for her treatment, but I had never been in her room. I had no idea why, but I always avoided it, even in those two years that she wasn’t around. So I didn’t know what to expect.

I walked into the room in front of the maid, only to let out a gasp and stagger backwards at the sight in front of me.

“Oh my goodness…”

When Raven was first adopted by my parents, she insisted on doing the same hairstyles on me everyday. If I had pigtails, she wanted pigtails too, and if I had a bun, she would want the same thing. She wanted to wear the same types of clothes that I wore too.

I never thought it was weird. I was just happy to have a sister to twin with. I thought it was just innocent, and cute.

But now, as my eyes moved from corner to corner of her room and her wide open closet, I was scared. The room looked exactly like mine, only smaller. She had the same furniture as I did in mine and Chase’s room.

I took a step further into the room and walked to the dresser. Her vanity was the same sage green colour as mine and it held the exact bottles of perfume that I used. Every single one of them. Even her hairbrush was the same as mine.

I made my way to the closet, scared to even fully walk inside. It was like looking at my own closet.

There were racks of the same dresses that currently hung in my closet. The same brand and colour of shoes. Everything was the same, down to the scarves and the nightwears.

I opened her underwear drawer and gasped, bringing a hand to cover my mouth. She even had the same type of underwear as I did.

"Oh my God," | whispered, taking a step back.

It was like looking at a photocopy of my own room.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" a thunderous voice asked from the doorway.

I jumped at the sound of the voice and turned to see Chase. He still had his briefcase in his hand, so I knew he had just come in from work.

“G- Good evening sir,” the maid managed to cough up in a squeaky voice with her head bowed.

“Leave.” Chase ordered without even looking at her. The poor thing scurried off. I was sure she was grateful to be out of Chase’s angry presence. Chase took a few steps into the room when she was gone. “What do you think you’re doing, Sydney?”

“You’re back.” I stated instead, ignoring his question. “I sent you a text. It would have been nice to get a reply back.”

“For the last time, Sydney, what the fuck are you doing?”

I looked at him in confusion. “You wanted me to get this room ready. Or didn’t that order come from you?”

“That doesn’t give you the right to rifle through Raven’s things like a petty thief.” His voice was so loud that I was sure our entire household could hear him, despite the sheer size of the house. “Do you really have no regard for your sister’s privacy?”

“I wasn’t…” I stopped myself from explaining mid sentence. It didn’t matter what I had to say. Once Chase had his mind set on something, it was hard to tell him otherwise.

Raven walked in then, wiping imaginary tears from her eyes. Great. He must have gone to pick her up after work. “I can’t believe this. I never expected this from you, Sydney.”

“What?” I was completely confused at what was going on right now.

Raven shook her head in disapproval. “I know you’re dying to be in charge of everything, but did you really have to stoop so low?”

“What is happening right now?” My question was directed at no one in particular, and they both ignored it.

Raven placed a hand on Chase’s chest. “Don’t be mad at her, Chase. You know how Sydney is. She just has to be in control of everything. It must have been killing her all this time to not have access to my room.”

Chase rolled his fingers into a fist, and Raven strolled over to me and whispered in my ear. “It’s no problem, Sydney. We’re sisters after all.”

“Who was the man at the hospital yesterday?” Chase suddenly asked, completely changing the subject. “Have you been seeing him? Is he the real father of the baby? Have you been cheating on me!?”

Chase’s words struck me in the heart like a knife, and the pain spread through my chest and my entire body.

The hurt quickly turned to anger until all I could see was red. “I will not stand here and let you disrespect me. You may have no regard for me and my child, but I am not a cheat and I will never be! I guess it’s a good thing that you care so little about the baby, Chase, because it’s gone! The baby’s gone! I lost her in the accident yesterday, and the man you’re accusing me of cheating with was just a nice stranger who was making sure that I was okay. But since you don’t give two shits about me or the baby, I guess this news wouldn’t make any difference to you.”

I was breathing heavily by the time I finished. There was silence in the room and around us as both Chase and Raven’s eyes went wide with shock.

I had no idea why I had just lied to him, but it just felt like the right thing to do in the heat of the moment.

I searched his eyes, wanting to find remorse… or something… something to show that he loved me and that he felt sorry for me. I thought my little white lie would make him feel something, but there was nothing there. His eyes were blank.

It made me even angrier, and I tried so hard to just let it go, but I couldn't. I know he didn’t care about me, but the thought of losing his child couldn’t even stir up an emotion in him?

I swallowed and looked him straight in the eye. “This is all your fault. I- I lost my baby because of you. And i can’t do this anymore, Chase.'' I lifted my chin and tried to sound confident as I dropped the bomb. “I want a divorce.”

Raven gasped, but I wasn’t stupid. I could see how pleased my sister truly was. Chase looked up like he was just now remembering that she was in the room with us. He grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the room away from Raven, and didn’t let go even when we were behind the closed doors of our own bedroom.

I pulled my hand out of his and tried to leave the room but he stopped me.

“What is it, Chase?” I asked tiredly.

“You can’t just drop that bomb on me and then leave.”

“I don’t think we have anything to talk about. It’s done. We’re done.”

Liar!

I ignored the voice in my head. I couldn’t afford to get emotional right now. I also ignored the heat I was suddenly feeling. I knew my hormones were messing with me. I was mad at Chase, not hungry for him. He shouldn’t be looking so attractive right now.

He frowned. “Syd, you’re not thinking straight–”

“No Chase, this is probably the sanest decision I have ever made.”

“You can’t leave me…”

I tried once again to walk away, but this time, Chase pushed my body against the door and caged me in, until his muscular chest was flush against mine. He lowered his head and violently kissed me. I should’ve hated it, but I didn't. His mouth moved swiftly against mine, and he pushed his tongue into my mouth. That seemed to remind me of the situation, and just like that, the spell was broken. I pushed him away, and walked out of the room.