Chapter 1 The hated daughter

I sat behind my curtainless window staring at the beautiful trees in my mother's garden. The murmuring of the rain on the window pane sounded like the buzzing of angry bees.

However, it did not stop me from hearing my sister's voice. She had been crying since she received the second invitation from Andres Perez, a notorious man, rumored to be a ruthless mafia boss.

Andres just found out her younger sister Elena, who had been missing for the past six months was last seen in our house. He began to send an invitation letter to my sister, the person behind his sister's disappearance.

Elena was my sister's personal maid before her disappearance. No one knew if she was dead or alive.

Mom did everything she could to bury the secret when the incident happened because Valencia was her favorite and I was the hated daughter. So no one paid attention to Elena and my dad's chauffeur who took her to the hospital. Both of them never returned.

If I had been the one that hit Elena, I would have been rotting in jail. Despite their hate and maltreatments, I love my younger sister dearly and always wished she would look at me like a sister.

I was staring at the rain that was pouring heavily on the trees but my mind was on her. Empathy encompassed my soul resulting in tears. I wished she never attacked Elena. I wished she had listened to me. I sniffed and began to wipe tears off my cheeks.

My name is Kayla Dias and this is my story. I'm twenty-three years old. I am the first daughter of Mr. Kennedy and Mrs. Margaret Dias. I have a gentle and overwhelming beauty. My head is capped by a mass of red hair.

I have olive skin and my complexion is white and ingenious pink. My fiance often said that my slim waist hung gracefully on my moderately shaped hips. He liked my waist a lot and would always ask me to walk while he watched. My figure is quite curving and elegant.

Being the last daughter of a billionaire, and my mom's favorite, my sister was raised like a princess. She had five maids that served her, so she never did any chores.

The only thing Valencia did was flaunt her stunning figure, went to nightclubs, smoked, drank alcohol, and returned home late. She was mom's kitty, so no one dared talk nor reprimand her.

I was always scolded when the house was not properly cleaned, the lawn was not properly mowed or the meal arrived late in the dining room.

If we didn't look identical, I would have believed I was adopted. But people's inability to differentiate between me and my sister made me believe we formed in the same womb.

I confronted my mom one day to know why she loathed me as though I had cancer. She flared up and told me that her world collapsed the day I formed in her womb.

She had a man she was in love with, but he abandoned her when she got pregnant for my dad. She cheated and wanted to get away, but my sudden emergence glued her to the man who got her pregnant. It wasn't my fault., I never asked anyone to cheat.

After listening to my mom's outburst one night, I knew she will never love me, so I quit trying to win her love and embrace reality.

My dad loves me, but he was not always around. He traveled now and then, leaving me in the hands of my enemies. A sister who was jealous of me and a mother who believed I destroyed her world.

The door of my bedroom swung slowly and a figure stood behind the door staring at me. I looked at her and turned my face, focusing on the trees that were swaying gracefully in the garden and a golden light emitting from there, making it look like a wonderland.

"Kayla you are a wicked girl!" My mom yelled as she walked toward me. I have heard that countless times especially when her favorite daughter falls into trouble.

"Your sister is killing herself and you look so unbothered! What kind of person are you?" My mom kept screaming at me. Tears clouded my eyes, but I controlled them. She would think I was faking it anyway, so, no need to shed tears. I kept my eyes straight.

"I'm going to take away all your privileges! I'm going to seal your modeling agency! I'll make sure your dad removes your name as one of the shareholders of KenKay pharmaceuticals! You don't deserve anything good in life!" She kept yelling.

Talking back at her was one thing I never tried. She and Valencia was the only family I had.

"I wrote a cheque of five hundred thousand dollars to support your wedding, but I'm going to thrash it. You and your poor fiance can sponsor your wedding!"

"Mom! What do you want me to do? She needs to meet Andres and find out what he wants from her!"

"You know that's not possible right? The address he sent to her is a notorious private estate situated in the western outskirt of Bogota! It is a hidden home for criminals! A lot of grizzly deaths and kidnappings had been linked to it over the years! You don't expect your younger sister to go there, do you?"

"Well, I guess we all wait for his action. There is nothing I can do too. I'm not the one he invited," I said and came down from the window.

"Both of you look alike, he won't spot the difference."

"Mom! Did I hear you right? You are sending me to a notorious private estate where a lot of grizzly deaths and kidnappings have been linked over the years? Do you hate me this much? This is so unbelievable!"

"You are her elder sister and this is what elder sisters do. Protect their younger sister! She is twenty-one and you are…."

"I'm not going! I have a wedding in two weeks. Let Valencia deal with her problems. No one came to my aid the day I mistakingly hit an old woman on the street of Jericó," I said, picked up my car key, and walked out of my bedroom. My mom continued yelling but I had gone out already.

I walked down the stairs and soon was out of my father's mansion. The rain was quite heavy but I didn't mind. They were not going to give me peace if I chose to stay in that house.

I drove out and headed in the direction of my fiance's house. He loved me so much and I knew he would welcome me with open arms. The road looked deserted as a result of the heavy rain, but I kept moving until I arrived at Lucio's apartment.