One Wild Night

"I think Amy might have been right. What if Anita is actually behind all of this? The last time we were out together I told her that you were engaged to Bryan, and that was why Tom was being nice to me. What if she is trying to remove me from Tom's life by removing you from Bryan's life?" Lucy asked thoughtfully.

"It's stupid. But I wouldn't put something as stupid as that past someone like her. Anybody who is shallow enough to want to date only a wealthy man is capable of doing stupid things like this."

Both friends lapsed into silence, each occupied by their thoughts until Sonia broke it, "But are you sure you did not say anything that might have made her think that our engagement wasn't real?" Sonia asked, and Lucy raised a brow.

"Really? I didn't even tell Tom about it, and you think I would tell someone like Anita something as sensitive as that? Someone I don't even trust?" Lucy asked, and Sonia rolled her eyes.

"I didn't say you told her. I only asked if you could have said what you said in a way that would make her question my relationship with Bryan," Sonia explained.

"I didn't. You know what, I still have the recording of my conversation with Anita. You can just listen to it and tell me if you think I said something to make her misunderstand," Lucy said as she picked her phone from the nightstand and scrolled through it for the recording. Once she saw it she handed the phone to Sonia, "You can listen to it while I shower," Lucy said as she stood up and went to lock the bedroom door before taking off her clothes and walking into the bathroom.

A few minutes later Lucy came out of the bathroom, "So? Have you listened to it?" She asked as she toweled her body dry.

"Yes, I have. And I wasn't doubting you, Lu. I trust you," Sonia assured her as she tapped her fingers restlessly while she watched Lucy who was rubbing her body lotion on her body.

"What are you thinking about?" Lucy asked, when she noticed the way Sonia was staring at her, but not exactly looking at her. She could tell that something was on Sonia's mind.

"I'm trying to figure out how Anita might be related to any one of Bryan's people. That's the only way it would make sense, right? I mean, it's possible that after she heard about our relationship from you, she called someone and started looking for dirt on us, you know?" Sonia said, and Lucy nodded.

"So she possibly started with me, and then when she found out about the case, she saw that you were connected to it too, and started digging further into your life," Lucy reasoned.

"And when you're digging into a person's life it is possible you want to meet with people who know them. Apart from you and my editor the only other people who I've been with often were my ex-boyfriends. So someone could have questioned any of the guys I've been with in the past," Sonia said thoughtfully.

"Who was the last guy you slept with?" Lucy asked as she tried to remember. She reached for her phone and started checking their WhatsApp history to see their chats.

"Uhm, I think it was Derek. Yes, definitely Derek the crypto guy," Sonia said with a nod.

"Yes. It was Derek. And when did you break up with him?" Lucy asked.

"The day before your birthday, remember? He was texting and calling too much. And I was having writer's block. I got irritated. You know how I can get," Sonia said.

"Oh, yeah! And you accepted Bryan's proposal two days later," Lucy pointed out.

"Hmm. So it's possible they found out about him. So unless I was cheating on Bryan, there was no way I just broke up with one guy and got engaged to another two days later."

"And then they possibly approached one of Bryan's people to confirm your engagement?" Lucy said, and Sonia sighed.

"I will give Derek a call later to see if he talked to someone. If we confirm that he talked to someone, and we are able to link the person to your case, then we know for a fact that Anita is the one fucking with us. God save that bitch if she is behind this mess."

"Something tells me she's behind it," Lucy said as she tied her hair in a ponytail after dressing up. She wore a simple buttondown knee-length denim dress.

"Me too, but we need evidence. I should get so that we can leave for Tom's apartment. Hopefully, they will have news for us," Sonia said as she stood up and undressed before walking into the bathroom.

Once Lucy walked out of the bedroom, she headed for the kitchen to find something to eat but stopped by the doorway when she overheard Lucas speaking in a hushed tone over the phone. From his posture, she could tell that he was very tense, so she just stood there and eavesdropped on his conversation.

"Really? You're asking me to choose between you and my twin sister? Have you gone insane?" Lucas asked, trying to keep his voice low so that his parents wouldn't hear him.

"I am the one you're getting married to, not your sister. I need to know that I will always come first in your life. I need to be sure that you won't leave me and our kids to go running to your sister every time something comes up in her life," Rachel said reasonably.

"Are you being serious right now?" Lucas asked in disbelief. It was one thing to have done this when they were young and in high school, but now they were both adults and she was doing this again?

"I am dead serious. You need to choose, Lucas. Is it going to be our relationship, or is it going to be Lucy?" Rachel asked adamantly.

"It is going to be my family, Rachel. I can't believe it took me so long to finally realize that you don't love me or my family. You just want to own me. Why are you so jealous of Lucy? Even at a time like this when she is having a hard time, you can't see past your jealousy and selfishness! Why?"

"How can you say that I don't love you? We have been together for ten years now! Am I asking too much by saying you need to focus less on Lucy and more on us? We are getting married and you're there when you should be here with me!" Rachel made sniffling sounds.

"And if the situation was reversed and your family was in this mess..."

"My family can never be involved in such a mess. That's why I'm saying you need to be careful. We are getting married and I can't let you get mixed up in Lucy's mess. I'm saying you this because I love you and..."

"Love? You don't know what love is, Rachel. A woman who truly loves me will never ask me to choose between my family and our relationship. She will stand by my family even when I turn my back on them. Do you know why? Because she loves me and sees my family as her own. If you love me, you will love the person who shared the same womb with me and has been part of my life long before you came into the picture."

"How can you even say that? She doesn't even like me!" Rachel cried defensively.

"How can she love you when you have never given her reasons to? Listen, Lucy has her place in my life, and you have yours. There has never been a competition between you both." Lucas fired back and then took in a deep breath to calm himself.

"I can't believe that you are even taking her side right now! You say this isn't a competition yet you left your fiancee to be with your sister," Rachel protested.

"You know what? Nevermind. It's all my fault. I should have realized this sooner. I thought if I continued to reassure you of how much I love you, you would change. But this is just who you are. Move your things out of my apartment and drop my spare key before I get back. And tell your folks that the wedding is off," Lucas said in a deadly calm voice, and then hung up before she could say anything.

He turned around when Lucy started clapping happily, "Wow! Bravo! Alas, your eyes have become open. We should toast to this," Lucy said as she walked over to the counter to pour some wine into two glasses.

"What is going on?" Her father asked as they joined them in the kitchen when they heard Lucy's voice.

"Lucas is no longer getting married to Rachel. I should probably not say this now, since I know that you actually love her, but I can't help it. Good riddance to bad rubbish," Lucy said as she raised one of the glasses in a silent toast and sipped from it.

"Not now, Lu. I'm not in the mood," Lucas said as he glared at his twin sister.

"Lucy behave yourself! Your brother is hurt," her mother chided as she went to stand beside Lucas.

"What happened?" Her mother asked.

"I think Rachel wanted him to choose between her and me. Can you believe it?" Lucy supplied, and once again Lucas glared at her.

"Well, you could have tried to talk things through..."

"Mom, stop pretending like you're not happy about this. We both know you never liked Rachel and were only tolerating her because of Lucas," Lucy cut in, and Lucas turned to look at his mother.

"Mom? Is that true?"

"Lucy," her father called in a warning tone before she could say anything else.

"Fine. I'm leaving. But before I go, just so you know, Lucas, you did the right thing. A broken engagement is better than a broken marriage, and trust me, your marriage would have been a total disaster. I'm not saying this because you chose me over her, no. I'm saying this because Rachel is a bitch. Everyone knows that apart from you.. She never deserved you," Lucy said, and walked out of the kitchen, leaving her parents to deal with Lucas.