Bab 1: One, Little Lie
"He won't be able to keep his eyes away from me tonight, look at me. I am every man's dream."
Laura said, twirling in front of the mirror, Annalise looked up at her with a smile on her face. She was aware of the perfection that was her sister, she was beautiful and had the womanly fullness in all the right places.
"Yes, Laura," Annalise said, her voice coming out soft in its usual manner. "Leonard Moreno is lucky to have you as his fiancée."
Laura rolled her eyes in the mirror before turning to her sister, the disdain evident in her eyes as she looked her up and down.
"I'll be meeting the Moreno family officially tonight, I don't want you there."
Annalise stopped, her hands pausing on Laura's bed she was making.
"What?"
"You heard me right, the sight of you alone would likely be enough to discourage them from continuing with this marriage, so you better stay away, stay in your room until tomorrow, and Annalise, if you dare step out, I promise you won't live to regret it." She said before turning back to the mirror and instead of staring at her reflection, she stared at her sister's.
Annalise was gorgeous, despite dressed in cheaper and modest clothes that did nothing to make her stand out, everyone else around was aware of the beauty she was and Laura hated it, mostly because Annalise didn't do anything to deserve it, she wasn't even aware of her own looks.
She was smallish in a petite and fragile sort of way, her hair was as black as midnight and they reached her mid-waist, she had very fair skin that gleamed and made her look even more regal than she already looked, her eyes were doe-like and held genuine innocence, but above all, Anna's true beauty came from her heart, she had a heart so pure and genuine, it somehow reflected in her outward appearance making almost no one irresistible to her. It was why Laura despised her sister and loathed her with every fiber of her being because she knew that she could never hold a candle to Annalise.
Annalise smiled, one that made her face glow. "If that's what you want Laura, I promise to stay out of your way, don't you worry, the minute Mr. Leonard sets his eyes on you, nothing will change his decision on getting married to you, I'm pretty sure he'd want to marry you immediately." And her laughter rang out, gentle, soft, and music-like. It made Laura want to rip off her own ears.
"Just fucking shut up!" Laura yelled. "Get out! Go on, get the hell out of my room!"
Anna stared back in shock. "But I'm not done making your bed."
"Someone else will do it. Leave!" She yelled.
Annalise nodded and walked out of the room, her heart broke for her sister, the whole upcoming marriage stress was obviously taking its toll on her. It was hard, Anna knew her sister was bothered that her fiancé might not like her when he sees her tonight and it was why she was acting out.
"If only she could see herself through my eyes," Anna muttered under her breath.
The Moreno family were extremely powerful and ruled the mafia world and had done so for centuries. Their power and influence extended far beyond the underground world where they held most of their businesses, they also ran legitimate businesses that were successful and put them on the list of the world's most influential families.
Anna's grandfather had been the consigliere to Don Roberto's father until his death and the power switch, now her father didn't hold such a strong position in the Moreno family, he was a lawyer in the real world, and was simply part of the law team for the Morenos.
She had no idea how or why but years ago, her father had over drinks with Don Roberto made a pact to make sure their family's friendship continued, they'd tie it down with a marriage between both families.
The Morenos had three boys, and the second eldest, Leonard Moreno was whom Laura was to marry. Anna had seen photos of him from the thousands of magazines Laura had filled her room with ever since she was informed of the news, Leonard was handsome, he seemed like a decent man and Anna was sure he would suit her sister well, this was indeed a good match and she was almost as happy as Laura about it.
**** **** **** *****
"Anna, have you set up the table? Are the desserts ready?"
She heard her mother's voice ask loudly as she made her way to the kitchen.
"It's almost ready Mamà." She answered keeping her hand steady as she busied herself with making a floral design on top of the cake with white chocolate.
Her mother walked in, she was a tall woman with a fiery look in her eyes that mirrored her eldest daughter's.
"I told you not to mess this up, right? Now let's see what you've done." She said in a stern tone.
Anna nodded and moved away so her mother could see the cake, with her heart thumping hard against her chest, she stared at her mother's expression which didn't change.
"Good, now go change, the Morenos are here, I've picked out your outfit for tonight, it's on the bed."
Minutes later, the two girls came downstairs, the contrast in their dresses striking. Whereas Laura was dressed in a golden colored dress with beautiful sequins that hugged her figure from up before flowing seamlessly from the waist down, Annalise had on an unflattering pink dress that was obviously a size too big for her, but still, her face held a smile, she was too excited for her sister to even notice how she had been intentionally made to wear something ugly.
The tension at the table was thick. The Morenos were even scarier in person, Annalise kept glancing at the head of the family Don Roberto, a stern-looking man with grey hair and beards, he was still agile looking for his age and Annalise feared for all the deadly stories she'd heard of him, next to him was his wife, the only friendly face amongst them, she regularly spoke and had a gentle, motherliness in her, and then they were the boys.
Leonard was easy to spot, he was even more handsome than the pictures, he was taller than Anna had expected, he had a sharp jawline and his eyes held mischief to them although he barely said a word to anyone, his eyes had raked between she and Laura as though he didn't know which of them was to be his bride and Anna thought it was likely he didn't, this was after all their first official meeting and he might have not bothered himself with finding out what Laura looked like until he gets to see her on his own, Anna thought that was quite sweet.
The rest of his brothers, Michael and Anders were also quiet although Anna had a feeling they were just being so for the sake of this meeting, she saw how their eyes moved from her to Laura's before whispering to each other, she didn't need to hear what they were saying to know they would much rather prefer Laura. It didn't make her feel any type of way, Anna had always been in her sister's shadows and she didn't mind, she never even wanted to stand out or grab anyone's attention, there was nothing she enjoyed more than peace and that was only achieved with living a simple, unnoticed life.
She immediately pulled herself away from her thoughts when she heard Don Roberto clear his throat, it brought goosebumps to her arms and everyone immediately stopped eating, dropping their cutleries, her parents included.
"Thank you for the meal, Armillo." He started by looking her father straight in the eye. "Today is our first official meeting to properly discuss the union between our kids, and I want to begin by first apologizing for the absence of my son but the discussion shall continue still, plans shall be made on his behalf."
Anna's breath hitched at his utterance, she looked at her parents confused and she was glad to see that she wasn't the only one with that look on her face. What was he talking about?
Her father chuckled while taking a sip of his wine. "What are you talking about Don? I know I've grown quite old and my eyes are no longer what they used to be, but isn't that Leonard? Who else are we…"
Mrs. Moreno laughed. "Oh no, of course not, Leonard isn't ready for marriage yet. The marriage of your daughter is to our oldest son, Nicolás."
And Anna watched as her father's wine glass dropped to the floor, shattering, and red slowly seeped into the white rug. Her eyes moved to her mother's face and it was as though she had suddenly become a decade years older in seconds, and when Anna's eyes found her sister, she felt her heart clench, Laura was frozen in her seat with the look of someone who had lost everything, the reaction was of someone who had been told they were marrying the devil and that was true because Nicolás Moreno was worse than the devil.
Don Roberto continued with a look on his face that expressed he couldn't be bothered with their reactions.
"Now which of the girls is my son getting married to?" He looked at them both with those expressionless eyes. "Which of you is Laura?"
Deadly silence followed his question, Anna watched as her parents looked at each other with fear in their eyes.
"Did you not hear me?" Don Roberto asked, his tone an angry and impatient one, her mother flinched.
"She," Her father said pointing with a shaky finger. "That is our daughter, Laura."
It was only after a few seconds had gone by did Annalise realize her father's finger was pointing at her.
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