"Welcome," The Grayson's helper said as Mrs. Patal and I walked into their living room.
I sat on their living room couch in the Grayson mansion, surrounded by opulent furnishings and artwork, my heart racing with anxiety. Richard and Caroline, my adoptive parents, sat across from me, their faces filled with kindness and concern. Sitting beside me was Mrs. Patel; I was sitting on her right,t, and for some reason, fake Sophie sat on her left.
I fidgeted with my hands, unsure of where to start. "I...I don't know where to begin," I said, my voice trembling. I did not know why I was there as they just asked to see me and Mrs Patel. I felt a sense of relief; they had finally realized that the girl who had been living with them for a month now was the imposter.
Michael, a tall, imposing figure with a kind face, leaned forward from his chair, his hands on his thigh. "Oh dear, we called this meeting to have a word with you, and not the other way, Maya." I couldn't tell if he was trying to relax my nerves as the atmosphere was stiff, his voice deep and the echoes made it even more menacing.
Caroline, my adoption mom, a petite woman with a warm smile, the same smile that brightens my every morning, nodded in agreement. "Yes, we've always considered you, Maya, as a part of our family. We're happy to sponsor your education and provide for your well-being. This is something we have always been happy doing." Mom's voice had the perfect ring to it; it's softness was unbeatable.
"Oh, Mr Grant already assured me that after I lost my husband due to an incident caused by his..."
"There is no need to bring that up again." Mr. Grant stopped Mrs Patel from finishing her sentence; I knew a bit of the story. Mr patal died due to a work accident and the Grants tried to cover it up, the reason why they did so is still unknown, all I was told was that they did not want the news to spread across town because they ruled the city, they have everyone raped around their fingers like popets and I think they wanted to keep being on the people's good side and face no criticism.
"The past few days haven't been easy on me, Maya is not recovering from her amnesia. The doctor said she needs to constantly be in her old environment; we all know that before her accident, she spent most of her time here; I was wondering if we could continue our old way." what was Mrs. Patal's talking about? I and Maya never spent time together; we never even liked each other to begin with; she was never here with me; I spent most of my time with Ethan, that lowlife that doesn't even know the difference between this imposter and his pumpkin pie.
"Well Sophie has spoken to us about that and she does not want Maya around anymore"
I knew it, fake Sophie is trying everything in her capacity to get rid of me. She doesn't want me around because she knows my coming over to the mansion that I grew up in would trigger my memory, and I will be able to prove my truth. Nice, I guess she is a step ahead of me on this one.
"But Mrs. Grant, she needs her memory back," Mrs Patel protested; she was fake Sophie's biological parent and I. Although I have never had a relationship with her before this accident, I can see she is a caring mom and she wants what's best for us both, on the surface at least. Honestly, I thought she would be the last person to believe that I am Sophie, but it turns out she is one of two.
Mr Grant began to speak "We called the both of you here to talk about something entirely different. Sophie's adoption and Alexandra's death, any other thing can wait"
"As we all know by now due to the DNA test result done in the hospital. Sophie and Maya are identical twins, Although three of us in this room know the full story, I want the girls to understand what truly happened. 20 years ago a worker of mine died due to a faulty industrial machine that shouldn't have been running, to be frank, when we went to visit his family we saw his wife had just given birth to two beautiful girls, she was unemployed and with her husband dead she wouldn't be able to take care of her children and her self, so she decided to put them up for adoption. My wife Caroline pleaded with me to adopt the two children since we were part of the reason why the children would be given up. But I only wanted a child because of inheritance disputes and other sibling issues I did not want my child to experience, My beautiful wife then came up with the idea of us adopting one and taking care of the other from behind the scenes, and so we did so by adopting Sophie and helped Maya since we wanted the girls to be friends"
He continued "So we always kept the both of you around the house. Not to invalidate your claims, Maya, but I also think that is why you believe somehow that you are Sophie, because you've spent a lot of time with her, and she just feels like you. So if this house feels familiar to you it's because it is indeed familiar and you have been here so many times, it was your second home. I remember Detective Styles made mention of you recalling what Sophie's bed feels like and the texture too, you've been there so of course you would know"
Wait? Does he think I am a fraud? Does hethinks I am Maya? So my parents don't believe me at all.
"Let me continue with what I was saying; we did not want the rest of the world to know that you were twins, which is why we made Sophie alter her physical appearance a bit to look more like my wife by wearing blue contacts and a blond wig. Which worked in deceiving everyone until the DNA test result came out. That was very embarrassing as the truth of her adoption was only known by the three of us initially, and Mrs. Patel, you know how much effort we put in making the town believe Sophie was birthed by my wife. If only we came to the hospital on time, we wouldn't have allowed the detectives to continue their investigation," Mr Gran,t, who seemed indifferent some minutes a, go, and now his hands were shaking.
"We have raised Sophie as our perfect girl, the heir to the Grant dynasty. Remember that one of the reasons why we wanted an heir was because of our fortune; my Grandfather, Mr. Grant himself, built this city, he was one of the founders of Oakville, and I have to keep his legacy up somehow. The News of her adoption has implanted distrust in a lot of people's minds, making them believe this community that my family built was built in lies; your little stunt, Maya, is running the town." Dad paused as he took a deep breath in and out.
"So no, I would not tolerate this from you Maya. Drop the blond wig and the blue contacts; we don't want you looking anything like Sophie; you have done enough. But again we've raised her perfectly and you can cry wolf all you want Maya but we all know who you are, you are an attention seeker, always have been, to be frank"
"I don't know if you remember this or not, but you were known for causing trouble. You have always been problematic, and sometimes we did fear for Sophie's safety. But I wonder why you would try to pull a stunt like this, you are crossing the line"
Mrs Grant began to speak too. " Besides, Ruby did call to report the scene you caused not only in her office but also with Ethan on the basketball court, Maya. If you do believe you are Sophie, then prove it to us. Ruby said your grades are as bad as your nasty attitude, and you are at risk of expulsion; why don't you focus on that and not this bogus claim? Or do you want to Prove to us that you are Sophie by getting straight A's like Sophie always does? You can try but we all know what that would lead to. But who knows, you can give it a shot. Let's see, maybe you can pull it off, and if you do, maybe then we will listen to you." Even with the cruel words, Mom was saying, her voice remained soft, and she still kept her smile that showed only half of her top teeth.
"But for now, stop the act. Take off that wig and contacts, stop referring to yourself as Sophie, and stay away from Etha,n, understood?" Mr Grant chipped in.
"Mom, Dad," I called out to them as their words hit me like a sword; I didn't even know when tears began to flow from my eyes as I got on my knees to beg.
"Don't you ever call us that, Maya, don't you dare call us that again, understood?" Mrs Grant still had the same fake smile as always.
"Yes," I muttered, defeated; my mom and dad don't even believe me; everyone I love doesn't even believe me. Only strangers do. Most importantly, I thought, why do they want me to stay away from Ethan, too? Well, they don't have to worry about that; he doesn't even want to be around me anyway.
"Good, I thought we would have to go to the extreme to get your corporation, I like how calm this act has made you. Then I guess there is no need to talk about the murder of Alexandra; I would tell Detective Lee to let the case die down then but have it in the back of your mind if you ever try to impersonate Sophie again, the charges would come back." Mr Grant said, this was the same person who would do anything and go to any length to protect me and now he is doing the same to the girl who is pretending to be me.
"Good, we do not want Sophie to be associated with you, Sophie," Mr Grant said as he gestured his hands at fake Sophie.
"Yes, Daddy," fake Sophie said as she got up and sat beside him, placing her head over his shoulder as she looked at me dead in the eyes, grinning.
"Get off the floor, you've already lost Maya. Enough with the looser attitude"
t Maya. Enough with the looser attitude"