A pair of beautiful lips formed a bitter smile as she asked herself a question that she had wanted to ask for a long time.
"What kind of curse have I cast upon myself to experience these hardships?"
Her bitter smile turned into a self-deprecating smirk as she stared at the image reflected in the glass window in front of her.
Staring back at her wasn't a cold and unapproachable woman with an icy gaze, but rather it was the little girl whose future had been shattered before it could even begin.
Those big blue eyes glistened with tears as a single droplet rolled down her pale cheeks.
She moved forward, wanting to caress the girl's face to comfort her, but all her hand came into contact with was the cold, hard surface of the window.
This realization caused the girl to let out a sob, and Anna took a step back from the glass window and lowered her head to wipe away her tears.
However, when she raised her gaze, her reflection was no longer the sad little girl but a mature woman with eyes that looked dead and hollow.
Anna sighed in resignation as she turned away from the window and took a seat on the sofa while staring into the empty air.
As she sat there quietly, lost in her thoughts, someone knocked on her door, interrupting her thoughts.
She snapped out of her trance and looked at the door, wondering who it might be.
She was sure that it wasn't her father, because he wouldn't bother with her, considering his personality.
"Who's there? What do you want?" Anna asked in an annoyed tone, not trying to hide her irritation in her voice.
The one who answered her was none other than her sister Mia.
"Anna? It's me, Mia. Can we talk?" Mia asked in a gentle voice, causing Anna's shoulders to tense up slightly.
A part of her wanted to ignore her sister and send her away, but a part of her also wished to hear what Mia had to say.
So she ended up saying, "The door isn't locked; come on in," and waited for her twin sister to enter the room.
"Thanks." Mia smiled slightly before walking inside the room with Oliver trailing after her.
At the sight of her nephew, Anna's expression turned cold and indifferent again before she turned towards her twin and spoke in a cold tone, "So, what brings you here?"
Instead of answering her sister, Mia walked up to Anna's sofa and sat beside her.
Then, Mia glanced at Oliver for a moment and patted the empty space to her left, beckoning him to sit beside her.
Oliver hesitated but followed suit and sat down next to Mia.
Seeing that Mia didn't respond, Anna raised her eyebrows as she crossed her arms in front of her chest and stared at her twin with an irritated expression on her face.
"I have no time to play guessing games with you, Mia. If you don't want anything, then I suggest you get out of my room," she snapped coldly, her voice dripping with malice.
"That's so mean of you to say, Anna." Mia sighed as she shook her head in a dejected manner before continuing. "Can't you speak with your sister like before? It used to be so easy..."
As she spoke these words, Anna's expression became strained, and she clenched her fists tightly without realizing it.
"Don't speak of things you shouldn't," Anna hissed through gritted teeth.
"But it's true though, isn't it?" Mia said while tilting her head with a frown. "Back then, we always talked to each other about everything, no matter what. So why are you being so hostile now?"
"Because someone decided to stop being sisters with me and left me all alone," Anna answered, her voice full of venom.
She then glared at Mia, her eyes burning with rage. "Don't act as if you don't know, Mia! I trusted you; I even depended on you, but you just left without telling me anything and even stopped replying to my messages. And now, you waltz back into my life with your son to take everything away from me? Do you expect me to be happy? Ha! How funny of you, Mia!"
As soon as she said this, Mia lowered her gaze, not daring to meet her twin's eyes, as tears fell down from her eyes.
Mia knew very well that what her sister said was the truth.
Back when they were young, Mia had always been the one who protected her twin sister from harm.
When their father would get angry and scold them for some mistake they did, it was she who would take all the blame and anger to shield Anna.
And when they were bullied at school, she was the one who comforted her sister.
In everything that Mia did, she had always thought of the well-being and safety of her precious little twin sister, Anna.
However, Mia wasn't a saint. She had her own share of weaknesses.
So after having been put through so much pressure and stress, Mia could no longer stand it and finally left her home to live alone in another city.
She didn't think things through and acted too impulsively back then. And when she finally realized that she had made a mistake, it was already too late.
Her father wouldn't tolerate Anna leaving too and kept a close eye on her, so there was no way for Mia to help her escape either.
This resulted in Anna growing resentful and hating her older twin sister, especially when she discovered that the one thing she held most dear was no longer by her side, leaving her all alone to bear the pressure and abuse of her father.
And now, Mia came back after many years and tried to be the big sister she used to be, wanting Anna to accept her again, just as before.
This wish, however, was too naive and optimistic, considering everything that had happened between them.