Leah stood in the sidelines with her friends. Her eyes boring into Aryanna dancing with Carlos.
Aryanna seized the moment to steal the spotlight for herself. Leah's heart burned with jealousy as she watched the men around her fawn over Aryanna.
Leah crossed her hands infront of her chest, dug her nails into her arm. She envied all the attention Aryanna was receiving.
"Why is Carlos dancing with that illegitimate girl?" Her mother, Isadora joined her.
Leah blinked her eyes, registering her mother's overbearing presence next to her. "It's for charity," she answered.
"That's how it starts. I hope that you won't let that girl walk all over you and steal your lover from you, like her mother did me," Isadora incited.
"I'm not you, mom."
"Yes, at least I had what it took to get married to the man I love," Isadora uttered harshly. "At this rate I doubt you'll get to become a bride," she taunted.
Leah gritted her teeth, enraged by her mother's words, they bitterly pricked at her heart. She rancorously narrowed her eyes at the couple waltzing on the dance floor.
Since their birth, Aryanna has lived in her shadow due to her mother's mistake. However, the story changed when she married Sebastian. Her marriage to Sebastian has raised her standing and gave her a place in society.
Leah felt the color draining from her face. The tides were changing and she was the one fading into the shadows like a background character.
Her eyes cast traced over to Sebastian. Leah set her gaze on her mark, the reason behind Aryanna's confidence.
She restrained herself from approaching Sebastian. 'Your mother ruined my happy family and now you...' Leah gritted her teeth in anger. "I will use your mother's tactics to ruin you, Aryanna," she smirked.
Sebastian felt her gaze and lifted his eyes up to her. Leah paused, his eyes setting off her nerves. She lowered her gaze and walked away.
She rushed out of the room to control her emotions. Leah went out to the patio and stops underneath the overhang under a shade.
Leah paced up and down, the humiliation she faced since Aryanna walked back into her life as Sebastian's wife replayed in her mind. She went over the insult Infront of the office building, the scene from the parlor and the encounter in the bathroom.
Her heart pounded hard against her chest. She was infuriated by the mere thought of Aryanna having a foothold in her world.
"I won't let myself get angry. I won't loose my temper or lash out," she murmured.
Leah took deep breaths to calm her heart. The way to win the war against Aryanna was to play the game the way Aryanna did. Leah resigned herself to take lessons from Aryanna and her mother to learn how to snatch other people's happiness away from them.
"I'll show mother that unlike her, I am capable of uprooting the weed of my father's illicit affair," Leah calmly vowed.
Her eyes sparkled with devious intentions as she looked up to the sky. Leah sat down in one of the resting benches in the patio and waved her feet in circular motions a few inches above the ground.
"Enjoy this night, Aryanna. Feel the beauty of being the center of attention from Carlos and Sebastian, I'll see to it that I have the final laugh," she comforted herself.
"Aryanna and Sebastian!" Someone exclaimed behind her.
Leah veered around to take note of the person. She smoothed her black hair when her eyes took in the beautiful young woman.
"I was talking to myself," Leah let out.
"But the subject of your conversation is of an interest to me," the woman claimed. "Is it Sebastian Leerstrom and his wife Aryanna that you were talking about?"
"Who are you?"
"I'm Elisa," she stated. "Elisa Kincade."
Leah's eyes narrowed at the stranger Infront of her. She knew all the Kincade's and there was no mention of anyone named Elisa in their family tree.
"And you are?" Elisa raised a puzzled eyebrow at Leah.
"Leah Medrano," Leah gave an introduction.
"How are you related to Aryanna and Sebastian, Leah?" Elisa asked.
"Aryanna is the root of all the problems in my life. She ruins everything she touches," Leah uttered in a pained tone. Her heart squeezing in pain over how Aryanna managed to outshine her through Sebastian.
"She loves Sebastian, no?"
"The only person Aryanna is capable of loving is Aryanna. Sebastian deserves better than her," she let out. "She stole the man I love and there's nothing I can do to change that," she added.
Elisa listened to her, assuming the man Leah spoke about was Sebastian. She took a seat next to Leah and rubbed Leah's shoulder to console.
"I understand what you are going through. She ripped my heart out too when she married Sebastian," Elisa confessed.
Leah stared up at her, her curiosity piqued at what grievances the mystery woman had against Aryanna.
Elisa touched her purse. Brushing his free hand on the gun inside, a devilish glint playing in her eyes as she thought of Aryanna.
"Is Aryanna here at the gala?" Elisa innocently inquired from Leah.
"She's busy dancing with my man on the dance floor," Leah complained.
Elisa pictured Aryanna dancing with Sebastian on the dance floor. Her blood was boiling hotter than the fiery sea, she was ready to burn in the fire as long as she took Aryanna down with her.
She sympathized with Leah. She felt as though there situation was similar, travelling on the same boat in the vast sea called life.
"Aryanna won't hurt us ever again!" Elisa firmly exclaimed.
Elisa stood up and made her way inside the building. Leah watched her retreating figure puzzled by their weird encounter.
"I wish that were true," Leah said, the words of a stranger failed to console her heart.
Leah retreated to a safe space in her head. She closed her eyes and imagined her hand intertwined with Sebastian's. Walking down a sandy beach with sand under their feet and flowers in her hair.
A sweet smile stretched across her face. She leaned back and laid her head down on the bench. Her mind was set on the new dream taking root in her soul.
A new flame ignited in her heart, one determined to achieve her dream and turn it into her reality by every means necessary.
"Do one thing, Aryanna, take Carlos for yourself and give Sebastian to me. I think this is best," she uttered, she etched her dream in her mind, heart and soul.