"Aelia, Aylin, dinner's ready! Come down!"
Aelia was studying in her room when she heard her father calling her downstairs for dinner. She got up from her study table and went to freshen herself up a little. Due to her ongoing semester exams, she had been studying constantly for the last twelve hours.
Aelia went to her sister, Aylin's room to wake her up from her short nap. However, when she entered Aylin's room, she was surprised to see her sitting on the bed with a despairing expression. She went to her sister and sat down beside her on the bed.
"What happened?"
"Aunt Sandra and Reine were here. Aunt Sandra told dad with a sad face that she had somethings to discuss with him. So, dad took her to his office. I wanted to know what it was all about, so I asked Reine and do you know what she said? She smiled and said that we would soon be getting good news! You know whatever news is considered good by that two-faced girl, will surely turn out to be bad news for us. And she was even smiling happily. I'm just getting a very bad feeling about all this!"
"You know, whatever happens, nothing would change with you overthinking everything. We'll deal with things as it comes about. Besides, we'll never let those two-faced mother and daughter cause harm to our family."
"You are right, sister!" said Aylin with a determined smile. She sighed and got up.
"You know, though people often tell that I resemble mom, honestly it's you who takes after her. You can look upon a situation with a calm mind and pick out the most appropriate solution to resolve the issue. Just like mom, you are never flustered by any crisis."
Hearing this, Aelia just smiled. Actually, she too was worried about the situation.
The Wilsons had always been a family friend of the Romanovs. Sandra Wilson and their father, Andrew Romanov also grew up together. Both the sisters knew that Mrs Sandra was quite two-faced and often picked a fight with their mother whenever she visited their family. In fact, after a huge confrontation with their mother five years ago, they had stopped visiting the Romanovs. So, Aelia wondered what was the reason for their visit this time, that too while bearing good news after their mother's death.
However, she knew that worrying over this without knowing the entire situation won't solve anything. If she showed her anxious feelings, it would only add to Aylin's worries. So she diverted her attention.
"Has big brother Az confirmed that he would be attending my birthday?", asked Aelia.
Aylin nodded and replied gleefully, " Yep! He even said that he would be staying here for a couple of days. Speaking of which, I'm sure those scheming mother and daughter have cooked up some plot, thinking that they could take advantage of his absence. Now if they hatch some evil plot, they would surely be surprised to see brother after 3 days."
"It's good that he's returning and staying here for a couple of days. We haven't even informed dad as brother wished to give him a surprise. We didn't even get to see him properly at mom's funeral. He came and left like the wind!", grumbled Aelia.
The two sisters and their brother, Azrael had been quite close since childhood. However, he left to join the military at age nineteen, when Aelia and Aylin were just nine and eight years old respectively. After nine years, he had only returned for a short while on the day of their mother's funeral. Though the sisters were displeased about this, they understood his reasons for he couldn't manage to get sudden vacations as his position in the military was quite secretive and high up in the military rank. Thus, their brother's return after ten years made them quite excited.
When they came down to the dining room, they saw Mrs Sandra and Reine sitting at the dining table, on the left side of their father, who was sitting at the head of the table. They took their seats on the right side of their father.
While everyone was silently having their dinner, their father cleared his throat and said, "Aelia, Aylin, you know Reine, right? She's your half-sister and will be joining our family. Get along well together!"
"Aylin, Aelia, I'm so glad to have you guys as sisters! Let's take good care of each other from now on!" Reine chimed with a smile. Inwardly she thought, 'Just wait and watch, I'll take such good care of you guys that you two bitches will be forced to leave the family!'
Aylin snorted and said, "Dad, what do you mean by Reine's our half-sister?"
Their father, Andrew Romanov uncomfortably replied, "Well she happened because of an accident, before my marriage with your mom."
Aylin asked with a pale face, "Dad, are you sure?"
Mr Romanov frowned and replied, "Yes! Your aunt Sandra even showed me the DNA confirmation documents."
"But, how...", Aylin tried to say something but was cut off by Mrs Wilson.
"Aylin dear, I know it's a lot to take in but you should be happy. Now that your mother has passed away you guys lack a mother figure in your life. You can come to me whenever you guys need any advice. Ok? After all, your mother and I used to be such good friends." She was already thinking about how she would be the matriarch of the Romanovs and spend the rest of her life in luxury, after driving out the two sisters. Just thinking about the luxurious life ahead of her, she started smiling gleefully.
Hearing this shameless proclamation of Mrs Wilson who claimed to be a 'good friend' of their mother after always picking a fight with her, both the sisters felt disgusted. Aelia specially detested such fake people.
Aelia calmly asked their father, "Dad, will Mrs Wilson also be staying with us?" She specially emphasized the words 'Mrs Wilson' knowing that their father had truly loved their mother and would never marry another woman, or allow her to stay in their home, for it would be disrespectful to their dead mother.
Mr Romanov replied coldly, "Of course not! Just take good care of Reine. Now finish your dinner quietly."
Seeing that she hadn't managed to gain admission in the Romanov household, Mrs Wilson greeted her teeth, while Aylin sighed in relief.