The sun was bright in the sky overhead, and the fall air sent a chill through everyone outside while they were bundled up in warm clothes.
"Mom would love these earrings," A young woman said quietly, her skin a faint tan, her hair a shiny black with beautiful red streaks, bright amber eyes, and dressed in a t-shirt and a skirt with sneakers, looking at some earrings in a store window on Anson Street on this side of Toran. She then got a call from her mother. She answered the phone. "Mom?"
"Lora, we need you to come back to the house for a little while," Lora's mother told her, her voice unsteady, almost shaking.
"Mom? What's going on?" Lora asked, already heading to her apartment to prepare.
"Just please come here, we have something we need to talk about." Her mother practically pleaded with her, then hung up. Lora was confused, but she didn't hesitate and moved as fast as her legs could carry her. She thought back to how she grew up with her family in Irom, her home country. From what she could remember growing up, she was mostly raised by her older brother, Grayson. She hadn't seen him for two years now. Growing up, he was always told that when he inherited the family name, he would own and take on the responsibility of everything, including Lora as his younger sister. That was how he was taught to be "the man of the family," starting from the young age of ten, and Lora was four. Everything in the family is set to go to him when he becomes the man of the family.
The house, family business, the empire, he would get Lora as well. Their parents had asked him to look after her as long as he could. For years, Lora never questioned why Grayson was so impossibly protective of her, even before they were adults. I was excessive, but she didn't see the harm in an older brother loving his sister so much. One thing proved that it can be a lot. Lora was working in the family company two years ago, when a new intern confessed to having a crush on her. The next day, that same intern was fired. At first, Lora didn't question it until the same thing happened to another person who confessed to her. Then, when a higher-up did the same, their work was messed with, and one was even hit with food poisoning.
Lora grew suspicious that this might be Grason's doing. So, she began to avoid him the best she could. She made the decision to move overseas to work in a branch in Toran. Now she was here, at the airport, a bag packed, and heading back to her family. She didn't know what was going on, but she had a feeling it wasn't good. She kept thinking about what could be wrong. Was her father sick? Maybe the family business was being affected. But if it were, it wouldn't be a random call. And sales were better than ever. She thought about her brother. Did he do something? Or was it something to do with her specifically? Maybe her family found a stalker who was following her around. She wasn't sure, and only knew she needed to get home quickly.
The entire flight was a living hell the entire way home. She couldn't figure out what was going on at home. She couldn't sleep the entire flight. She couldn't help but worry, thinking that something terrible had happened. The moment the plane landed, and everyone was off, Lora almost ran to get a taxi and headed home. She was anxious and wanted to just get home. The driver took the fastest route to the family's home. The moment the taxi stopped, Loran paid and ran out with her luggage. She ran up to the front door, and the servants welcomed her inside. She hurried inside, looking for her parents to find out what was happening. But the moment she came to the main room of the house, she heard someone crying. Lora froze. The crying wasn't from her mother. Upon entering, she saw her parents, who had loved her for twenty years, grey and aged, soothing a young woman about Lora's age, with long dark hair, amber eyes, dressed in old clothes.
"Mom?" Lora asked, looking between them, confused. Both parents looked to her, the girl between them looked up, tears across her cheeks. "What's going on?"
"... Lora," Dad began, his hands shaking. "This is Katherine... our real daughter."
Lora's entire world came crashing down in that moment. She couldn't respond. The surrounding sounds grew muffled. Her hand shook while holding her suitcase. Twenty years. For twenty years of her life, she had been living a complete lie.
"Medical staff swapped at birth, you two." Her mother told her. Those words only made this worse for Lora. She couldn't understand. She was living someone else's life for twenty years! Lora couldn't take it; she ran, knocking her suitcase down. "Lora! wait!"
She didn't stop running. She was overwhelmed and too confused. She got too caught up in her own head, believing she would be ostracized, lose her family, and be alone. She felt her breath come less and less, and she could hardly stand when she collapsed under the willow tree that she adored. She felt like she was dying; she couldn't catch her breath. A panic attack.
"Lora," she could hear Grayson's panicked words. "Grab onto something, something real."
Lora's hands trembled, grabbing onto the roots of the tree, shaking all over.
"That's it, breathe," Grayson said, rubbing her back. Lora's breath came slow, but it settled. She looked up at Grayson as he kneeled beside me.
"... Why do you still care..?" Lora's voice trembled as she held herself, her arms around her abdomen. "... I'm not your sister,"
"Do you know how long I have been waiting for this?!" Grayson said, shocking her, but tears kept falling. Grayson wiped her tears away. His eyes burned with dark obsession.