'Remember when I told you I'm not who you think I am?'

'Yes, you said it twice,' he gulped, swallowing the thought that she was going to expose any other shocking news. 'What about it?'

'Flavien's car accident,' She paused when his face stiffened at the mention of his father. 'I was the one behind it.'

'What?' His eyes widened, and the word escaped his lips louder than he thought. Both of them jerked their heads to look at the door, their hearts pounding hard, afraid of being caught by Corinne.

'B-but,' His voice trembled, his eyebrows were already frowning and lines were forming between them. 'Why?' It came out more as a whisper than a question.

She didn't need to think twice. She had been rehearsing for this conversation thousands of times in her head.

'I'm your sister, Delano.'

He looked at her as if she was telling a joke, but it soon turned into a frozen stare. His mouth was slightly opened, he wanted to say something in response but his mind had unfortunately stopped working.

'I don't believe it.' He said, shaking his head like he was trying to push the thought out of his head. 'No.'

'I can prove it.'

She reached for the thin silver chain on her neck and pulled out her necklace. It was a beautifully carved locket with the shape of a silver phoenix, and it complemented with his pegasus like a perfect pair. The sterling silver was undeniably shining like his, and he could see the way an emerald was encrusted in its eyes, piercing into his gaze like a sword. It was the exact resemblance of his pegasus, which bore a sapphire instead. 

Anyone could make a pair of silver necklaces, but only Flavien could afford such delicately custom-made ones. He could see a tiny carving behind the phoenix with the word 'Belyana' in cursive, and he remembered how happy he was when he had received the gift from Flavien, a locket that had his name on it. 

'My father gave this to me for my twelfth birthday, it was the last time he visited us.' She said, touching her locket with the tip of her soft fingers, feeling the carvings on the metal.

'Who's your father?' He asked, demanding to know the answer, though his heart was throbbing like crazy. Not Flavien. Not him. Please don't be him.

'Flavien Cadieux.'

Her voice sharp and thin, while the words from her gritted teeth sounded like she was holding back from punching her fist into the wall.

No. He thought, closing his eyes hard.

No.

'It's time you know the truth.'

She reached for his hand and wrapped her fingers around his, feeling the warmth from the back of his hand.

***

I was never supposed to exist, Delano. And I never wanted to be our father's daughter, I despised him. So I followed my mum's last name -- Voznesensky.

My mum, Natalya, used to be your mother's best friend. They played together, had late night talks, supported each other through difficult times, and they were like sisters since elementary school. I have to admit that both our mums were beauties at our age, even till now. It wasn't until our father transferred to their school from Paris during sophomore year, my mum fell for him on the spot, but she could tell that Corinne and Flavien had eyes for each other.

At first, she tried to be considerate by hiding her feelings, thinking that it would go away somehow if she didn't make any move, and that she could bless her best friend and her crush. The three of them hung out together every day, and my mum was suppressing her emotions. After two years of crushing on Flavien, she decided to follow her heart and confessed to him. Somehow Flavien was overwhelmed that both the school's prettiest girls were in love with him, and that disdaining arrogance of his urged him to play around a little.

He tricked her into believing that he was only in a relationship with Corinne because he wanted to join their squad, and he cheated on Corinne with my mum. They were enjoying the excitement of an affair, though there were times where my mum felt that she was betraying her best friend.

One day, Flavien told my mum that he was going to dump Corinne to be with her, but instead, he managed to deceive the whole school by announcing that my mum was seducing him and acting like he was the victim. I couldn't even imagine how betrayed my mum was at the moment, but she was hurt once more when Corinne decided to believe him over her, and they stopped talking to each other. My mum described the feeling as being carved on her heart by knives.

During Corinne and Flavien's wedding, my mum attended with her boyfriend at the moment, Calvin. During the after party at his house, Flavien forced himself on her and threatened her not to tell anyone, or else he will send her nude photos to the rest of the school. She was terrified, and she went back to Russia, not knowing that she was pregnant.

My mum was a very brave women, raising me all on her own despite being gossiped about and looked down on. When I was five, we moved back to our house in Claremont. Flavien visited us once every year, during his birthday night, and even though I never liked him, I knew that my mum does, so I always leave home when he comes. She talked to him like nothing ever happened at the party, like I wasn't his child, but I knew how many times she cried every night.

I don't know when I started to keep track of news about you, I guess it was when I heard from my mum that you are his son. Because that means that you're my brother. For the past few years, I had been angry at you, hating the fact that you had a father and I did not, so when the paparazzi said you were moving here, I had to grab my chance.

I was initially here to mess up your life, Delano, but the more I know you, the harder it is for me to deny that I love you. Flavien's death has always been one of my plans, that man disgusts me. I hesitated at the start, but when I sensed that he wasn't exactly the father you liked either, I did it.

I guess you already know about Brooklyn and Austin, and although I really hope you understand why I did what I did, I know that everything between us would change forever. I don't expect you to forgive me, or to tell me that you don't mind a single bit, I don't want to hear lies. All I could ask for was that you give me a chance to explain myself, and now that it's done, I should leave.

'Belle, it's okay,' he called out gently, looking into her eyes as if was searching for a sign that she was still the person he knew all along.

She threw her arms around him suddenly and tears started streaming down her cheeks.

'I'm sorry,' She sobbed. 'I'm so sorry for everything.'

He wanted to tell her he understood what she was going through, but he would never actually understand how she felt when she knew her father was a player, or when she was sexually assaulted by Austin, or how she felt when she realized that she had fallen in love with her own brother. So he gave her a long warm hug, with the hopes that it would help soothe the uneasiness in her heart. 

She gave herself a minute or two to calm down, then she pulled back from the embrace. He gave her a questioning look.

'What's wrong?'

'You already know, we're siblings, it's not right to love each other the way we do now,' Her voice shook. 

He felt his heart ache a little, it's true about the things she said, they weren't supposed to be in love this way. But they already had, and love isn't exactly an easy-come-easy-go kind of thing.  

He hushed her and kissed her long enough on her lips for both of them to momentarily forget the kind of situation they were in. It was a short 30 seconds, but it felt like a lifetime.

'So,' He cleared his throat. 'What now?' She sighed.

'I'm handing myself in to the police tomorrow,' she said bitterly. 'I do have a reason to do those things, and harm those people, but I'm pretty sure the law doesn't stand with me.'

'Do you have to?' He traced his fingers on the soft skin of her cheek.

She didn't answer. He didn't need an answer, he already knew it.

'People might not know it was me now, but there are no guarantees that I could escape from all of this,' she said. 'I can't hide forever, Delano. This is my choice and I have to face it.'

I know, Belle. I know. He thought, but kept his words to himself.

'Can I.. go with you, to the station?'

She looked at him with pleading pleasing eyes. 'I can't do it if you're there. I can't see myself leaving you and not be able to do anything about it.'

'Oh,' he looked down, thinking if he would see her again soon, wondering if this was her way of saying goodbye.

They enjoyed the beauty of the moonlit sky and talked about their childhoods, how they would trade anything to know each other sooner, how their lives would be if they grew up together like other siblings did.

It was a long night. Minutes passed, than hours, and soon it was close to sunrise. It was the first time they had stayed up all night, but it felt like it was never enough.

They were in the middle of a conversation about memories they would rather change than cherish, when the first rays of sunlight broke free from the chains of the night. She stopped talking all of a sudden.

'It's today already,' she smiled.

'No, don't go. Don't leave me.' He held on tightly to her hand when she got up.

She looked at him from where she stood, and said, 'I have to.'

'I-You-' He tried to say something, or at least persuade her to stay with him, to be safe, but he knew too well that her decisions were final.

'Delano,' she lifted her other hand to pull of his grip gently. 'I guess this is it.'

His frown was turning into a sour smile, an unexplainable kind of discomfort. It took him a minute or two to find his voice back, this time he grabbed her hands in his palm and stood up so that his eyes were looking right into hers.

'Belle.'

'Hmm?'

'I wish our lives could begin again, if only we were different people.' He said. 'Maybe, just maybe, we could be like the others. You could be my girlfriend. We could be happy together, like, happily ever after.'

'Yeah,' she smiled and started walking away. And before she jumped off the roof, she turned her head back and said one word to him with a gentle laugh.

'Maybe.'