Celine's POV
On Friday night, I was in my room preparing to sleep when my door swung open.
"Celine, you have to take your sister's place tomorrow," my father, Mr. Morris Mason, said to me as he stormed into my room with my mother.
"Dad, I do not understand. Why will I have to take Clara's place tomorrow? Where is she?" I asked, because I was aware that Clara had gone for her bridal shower.
How could she just flee on the eve of her wedding?
"Something came up, according to Clara, and she had to take care of it," my father replied, and I sighed. I was standing before my parents, as I did not attend the extravagant bridal shower of my twin sister, Clara Mason.
Clara and I were identical twin sisters. We were both 25 years old. And I knew that many of Clara's friends were saying that I was jealous of my twin sister because she was getting married before me. But that was not the truth.
I was in a relationship with Martin Enzo, a construction worker. But Martin was not the type of groom my father wanted, so he rejected him.
Everyone was proud of my twin sister. She was the apple of everyone's eyes, even our older brother, Luca. But I was the opposite.
I owned a bakery shop in this part of the city. And I had pleaded with my parents last month to allow me to marry Martin. But my father refused and said that only a rich man was allowed to marry me.
Despite my pleading, my parents refused me from getting married and chased Martin and his uncles away after they came for my hand in marriage.
Because of this incident, I refused to attend my twin sister's engagement party or her bridal shower. Now she had disappeared on the eve of her wedding and wanted me to take her place.
"Dad, how can Clara just disappear without explaining to her manager that she is getting married to a wealthy man, the groom you all wanted?" I queried my father, who stood in the doorway with my mother.
My father had a dark complexion, while my mother was fair-skinned like Clara and me. We were her exact replica.
"Celine, I know that you are finding this hard to believe, but Clara said that she had worked so hard to be among those that will be selected for the stars award, and she cannot miss this modeling shoot. Please, you are her twin sister, and Jace Augustus will never find out about this," my father replied, and I looked at his face in horror.
"Dad, I cannot do it. You and Mother need to call Clara to come back right now. Where's my phone?" I moved backward to my bed and picked up my phone and contacted my sister.
She owed me an explanation for this sudden disappearance.
How could she expect me to stand in for her on her wedding day? Is she crazy? I had stood in for Clara several times, and many people would not know that I was not her. The worst part was, her fans visited my shop, took photos of me, and tagged me as Clara. But I was not my sister. Dammit.
"Clara!" My angry voice boomed over the phone call as soon as she answered.
"Hey, Celine. I am so sorry that I took so long to call you tonight. Please, can you stand in for me tomorrow? Please, please, sister," Clara begged me in her sweet, seductive voice that renders me speechless.
I was ready to do anything for this crazy twin sister of mine, just to make her happy and to help her achieve her goal of becoming a top model.
"Clara, I do not think that I can do this. How do you expect me to stand in for you? Wait, during the wedding ceremony, the priests will ask us to exchange vows and kiss. How can you trade your wedding day for business?" I could not understand my sister, so I needed an explanation.
"Celine, I wish I could explain this to you, but my phone battery will soon run down. Please, after this one, I won't ask you to stand in for me again. Please, please, help me out," Clara begged me once more, rendering me speechless.
"Clara, are you saying that I should kiss your groom? What if he finds out that I am not you? You know that I am not as talkative as you, and I am not that close to him. Did you already tell him that I am not you?" I asked, wanting a better clarification. I knew Jace Augustus and I weren't close.
I knew that Jace was my twin sister's fiancé. He showed her off to his friends and other politicians as his lover, as my twin sister is a very popular person with more than 10 million followers online.
"No, Celine. Please, do not tell Jace that I am not you. You have to act as me and pretend that you are me. You know how I behave, so mimic me very much," Clara replied, and I sighed heavily.
"This is too risky. What if Jace finds out and locks me up? What do I tell him? You have to explain to him so that we don't kiss or have sex. I don't want him to even think of me as you. I don't like your fiancé, and I cannot stand in for you. I am sorry!" I wanted to end the call on my sister, but she begged me, "Please, Celine. I am begging you in the name of God. If you don't help me out, then we are no longer sisters."
"Clara!" I was tongue-tied. This was her usual threat.
"I don't think that I can do this," I replied, and she threatened, already sobbing over the phone call, "Then do not call me again."
The phone call ended, and I looked at my parents' worried faces, most especially my father's face that was filled with dread.
"Celine, you have to stand in for Clara on tomorrow's wedding event. If the Augustus family finds out that your sister is missing on her wedding day, then we are doomed!" My father begged me, even going as far as to kneel down.
I guessed this was the price I had to pay for being born as a twin. My twin sister used me for most of her silly business and sent me to cover up for her with the threat of disowning me. Now it was her wedding.
"Fine. I will try and do this, but let's hope Jace Augustus doesn't find out. If he does, I won't go down alone," I warned my parents, and they shivered.
"No one will know, Celine. You will learn to smile and act like Clara until she is back. Besides, this isn't your first time of taking her place," my mother chimed in, making me sigh heavily.
"That's fine, Mom. I will give it a try. You guys should excuse me. Let me have some sleep. This is past midnight," I told my parents, and they smiled with relief and wished me goodnight before leaving my door.
I shut the door and muttered, "I hope I can do this." Later, I went to my bed to sleep, but dread filled my heart.
