My Sister, His Mistress

My twin sister, Rebecca Shaffer, was kidnapped while saving me. The trauma left her with a mental illness that made her lash out at everyone around her. The only person who could get close to her, the only one who could calm her down, was my husband, Ezekiel Roberts.

For the sake of her recovery, my parents insisted that Rebecca move into the master bedroom of my newlywed home.

Whenever Ezekiel and I were intimate, Rebecca would lose control and throw things at me. Then, Ezekiel would scoop her up in his arms and carry her into the bedroom, soothing her with gentle words.

Everyone kept telling me the same thing.

"If Rebecca hadn't tried to save you, she wouldn't be like this now. You owe her this much!"

I had no response to that, so I gave in again and again. That was, until I accidentally overheard a conversation between Rebecca and my parents.

"How much longer do I have to keep pretending to be crazy? I'm so sick of sneaking around like this!"

My parents looked at her with sympathy in their eyes.

Ezekiel gently caressed her stomach and said, "Don't worry. I won't let Rebecca or the baby suffer even a little bit. Once I have Maisie completely under my control, I'll make everything public."

I clutched the pregnancy test report in my hand and let out a bitter laugh. From now on, they would not need to keep up their elaborate charade.

I would leave on my own.

I had just returned from the hospital, ready to share the good news with Ezekiel Roberts. However, as I pushed the door open a crack, Rebecca Shaffer's words stopped me cold.

"Mom, Dad, when are you going to tell Maisie I'm pregnant? I really can't keep this act up anymore. I'm exhausted," she grumbled.

A gust of wind swept through the hallway, the cold air slapping my face.

I immediately froze as I started to wonder if the kidnapping was all staged and they had been lying to me this whole time. Rebecca did not have any mental illness at all. Instead, everyone had been covering for her and Ezekiel's affair behind my back.

My mind went blank as I stood there paralyzed, while Rebecca's words continued to pierce my ears.

"I think Maisie's gotten used to it by now. Sometimes when I kiss Ezekiel, she just pretends she doesn't see it. It's the perfect time to reveal everything," she said.

Then, my mom said, "It's a little unfair to Maisie, but things have come this far. Either she accepts the baby, or she files for divorce herself."

"Mr. and Mrs. Shaffer, don't worry. I'll make sure Maisie accepts this baby," Ezekiel said.

His firm tone was the final straw that shattered what was left of my heart. It finally hit me that they had been faking it all along.

It finally made sense why Rebecca, who had always used me as a doormat, suddenly played the hero during the kidnapping. No wonder Ezekiel showed no surprise when he learned she was sick and that only he could approach her.

I had been living in a web of lies from the beginning!

"But what if Maisie gets pregnant later?"

"I'll only ever have one child in this lifetime, and that child will be Rebecca's," Ezekiel said.

His hurtful words stabbed into my heart like a blade, the pain so intense I nearly crushed the pregnancy test report in my hand.

When I found out I was pregnant, I could not contain my joy. I knew Ezekiel loved kids, and he had told me before that he wanted a son and a daughter someday, one who looked like me and one who looked like him.

I had even fantasized that having a baby would make Ezekiel come back to me.

Now I realized it had all been lies. No one in this house wanted me, and no one wanted the baby growing inside me either.

The cold wind dried the tears on my face, and I waited until the voices inside died down. Only then did I move my numb limbs and push the door open wider.

As soon as I stepped inside, I found my parents enthusiastically planning a big celebration for Rebecca's birthday. Meanwhile, Ezekiel was spoon-feeding Rebecca soup as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

The four of them looked like one happy family, while I felt like a stranger who had just barged in uninvited. Even though I should have been used to their blatant favoritism by now, my heart still throbbed with a dull ache.

My parents had always given Rebecca preference over me since we were young. We were born only ten minutes apart, yet I was constantly reminded of my role as the older sister.

I had lost count of how many times I had given in, from small things like my only toy to even boys we both liked.

When I was little, I found a stray kitten and took care of it carefully. However, Rebecca snatched it away from me. That cat did not survive even one day before she killed it with her own hands.

Yet, my parents blamed me for bringing a stray home that scratched Rebecca. They took her to get a vaccination and locked me in a room with the kitten's body for an entire day and night.

I snapped back to reality as Rebecca came skipping over with a smile. "Mom, Dad, why don't we celebrate Maisie's birthday together with mine?"