6 months later.

"Yes I am already packing things, I have been summoned by my grandfather." I said to my phone who's sandwiched in between my shoulder and my right ear as I am packing my things. "It took my grandfather six months, to tell Anastasia that she's going to be a bride-to-be." The irritation didn't escape my voice as I zipped my luggage and sighed exasperatingly.

"How did she take it?" Leander-one of my best friends, asked. I paused, bit my lip and looked over the window. Worry dawned on me like a raging waterfall. "Alex darling?" Leander's voice snapped me back to reality.

"She ran away." Another pause.

"What?" I pinched the bridge of my nose. "My grandfather spoke with her a week ago and after a few days, she was nowhere to be found."

"Where did she go?"

"I have no idea." I could feel Leander's frown through the line.

"How on earth you didn't know? She's your twin sister for crying out loud." It was the truth. I would probably know where she went or she could have confided in me, maybe when we're still close. Circumstances, happen. Anastasia and I were inseparable from when we were in our mother's womb till we were kids...until we weren't.

"It's complicated," I told Lean as I gather my things near my apartment door I just rented for a few months.

"You never really talked about you and your sister, even when we were back in boarding school."

"There's nothing to tell," I countered but Lean and my other best friends, Benjamin and Dominic, are aware that I find it to be a delicate subject. The quartet of us had been the closest of friends since we first met at this Swiss boarding school-L'Académie du Saint-Lys. I could feel Lean trying the hold the sarcasm on the other line and I appreciated the fact that he didn't pry over whatever's going on between me and my twin sister. He sighed on the other line.

"You know you can talk to us, right?" I bit my lip and placed crossed my free arm across my chest, the other was gripping tightly on my cellphone.

"Of course,"

"Also, you've been it Switzerland for the past year God knows doing what," I was here, trying to escape my grandfather's never ending pursuit of having me manage one of the banks our family founded. I have told him time and time again, I don't have any interest taking over. My father was supposed to take over, but he and my mother died in a tragic car accident ten years ago.

Ever since then, my grandparents became our sole guardian. It has been my grandfather's mission to find a successor to the business. Unfortunately there wasn't a bone in my body to aspire to be his chosen successor. Anastasia was the solution to that. Tassy had the knack managing the business, cunning, sharp, lethal. She lives and breathes being as the next heir to the throne of Kensington family business interest ranging from banking, finance, real estate and wine-making.

And she's a genius doing it. I, on the other hand, not only did not have the interest and skill for such feat, leaned into things that involved writing. I loved books as a child and growing up, I know I wanted to pursue a career that involves writing or anything that involves books.

Wuthering Heights was the book that introduced me to my love of literature. I remember I was in my grandfather's library and read the whole book in one sitting. My grandfather did reprimanded be for missing out meals, because I was so fixated with the book, time seemed to slip from my mind. I could still remember the first time I read Wuthering Heights, it felt less like a novel and more like a mirror-storm-tossed, jagged at the edges, raw with a kind of love that was never meant to be beautiful.

Heathcliff's hunger for Catherine, that restless, all-consuming devotion, struck something deep within me, even at an early age when the concept of love seems so foreign, something I hadn't yet put into words. It wasn't about romance; it was about obsession, about the way love could turn feral when denied, about the cruelty of fate and the people who bowed beneath it. Ever since then, I wanted-no, desired it. That kind of love, all consuming, all devouring and all enduring love. Filled with passion, desire and yearning.

"Alex?" Lean's voice warped me back to reality, breaking me from my trip down memory lane.

"Yeah, I'm here."

"So what have you been doing back there?"

"I went here for my Masters. I've already finished it a few weeks ago and was hoping to spend a few weeks off but alas, such is not the case as I have to go back per my grandfather's wishes."

"And why was he summoning you all of a sudden?" I shrugged even though I knew that Lean couldn't not physically see it.

"He didn't say much, as always, but he said it's imperative I return back." A brief pause before Lean spoke.

"Do you think it has something to do with the arrange marriage?"

"One hundred percent."

"Does he intend to make you as the replacement to your twin sister?" Somehow I broke into laughter about his assumption but something tells me, it wasn't far off to happen.

"It's not funny," Lean complained on the other line.

"I know, my apologies, but I don't think that's the case." I could feel his frown.

"Are you sure about that?"

"Positive." To be honest, I wasn't quite sure. Now it got me thinking, why am I needed in this arrangement anyway.

"Additionally, are you aware of your sister's intended spouse?"

"No, but as far what I know he's part of a family that involves themselves in the underground scene of Caburgh." Lean made a small gasp on the other line.

"And you're okay about that?"

"Obviously not, but what can I do?" I groaned.

"And since when and your grandfather dabbled being in business with those people?"

"Who knows? I have no idea how those businessmen circle works that's why I steered away from them, but it seems I am being reeled in for God knows why."

"Please don't get me wrong, but I think your sister ran away either because his groom-to-be looks like Bigfoot or because he's going to be part some nasty underground shit." Now that Lean mentioned it, it wasn't a far-fetched assumption. I might have done the same if I were her.

"Probably," I said and looked at the place I have been living for the past year. It was a simple studio type apartment, a perfect blend of modern elegance and Swiss efficiency, nestled in a quiet corner of Zürich with floor-to-ceiling windows that framed the Alps in the distance, and became an instant reading nook for me and my books.

"Let me know once you set foot back in Caburgh, I'll let Dom and Benj know that the Kensington Prince returned to the promise land." I sighed.

"Aren't you on tour? Also, Benjamin is competing in Italy isn't he? As for Dom, how's his schedule? Isn't he booked with surgeries from his patients?"

"No, I'm not on tour. Not yet, still working on the album. Dom just landed back from Italy after winning the volleyball world championship as for Dom, he said he took a couple of weeks to de-stress himself. He said, and I quote, "needs to see anything else other than internal organs or else he'll go crazy." A small smile flickered on my face.

"How's the double life been treating you?" Leander probably has the most mind-boggling job amongst the four of us. He's living a double life. Leander by day and Grammy award winning pop-star Lyx by night. He came up with the name Lyx-pronounced as "Luxe," as play on words between "luxury" and "lux" which means light in Latin, symbolizing the contrast between the superstar he is at night and his normal life.

"I'm not one to complain, I mean I have more money that anyone could ask for so what is there to complain darling?" I chuckled. Thanks to Lean's androgynous feature, voice mimicry and physicality, he really did pull it off without anyone, besides the people who are close to him and works with him, knowing the truth behind Lyx.

"Are you happy?" I asked out of nowhere. There was a slight pause before he spoke.

"Yes," relief befalls me and a gentle smile came after.

"That's all I need to know." I cleared my throat, removing the all consuming seriousness that befalls our conversation. "I'll let you all know once I landed back."

"Alright, I have to go, I have a meeting with my manager about my new security." I frowned.

"New security? What happened to Marcus?" I hard him sigh. He considered Marcus as a friend despite being his shield against all the chaos brought by fame.

"Marcus retired, and would like to focus on his wife and kids." I could feel his disappointment as if Lean's just standing beside me.

"I'm sorry Lean, I'm sure the replacement would be as phenomenal as Marcus." I heard a defeated sigh.

"Whoever the motherfucker is, he has big shoes to fill." He cleared his throat.

"I'll see you soon darling, safe skies okay?" I nodded, though I am aware he will not see that. "See you soon, send my regards to Dom and Benj."

"I will, bye Kensington." The line ended as I looked at the time on my watch and I still have a couple of hours to spare before my flight back to Caburgh.