Chasing Broken Destinies

The hammering of the rain against the window drowned out all outside noise, so overwhelming was its roar that it swallowed any trace of breathing, enclosing two figures within a world for two.

Caught up in a feverish rush, Rosanna Yates froze when she heard Christopher Harvey whisper a name that wasn't hers.

"Yoli, don't let go..." Christopher's voice rasped, hands locked firmly around Rosanna's waist.

A shock ran through her, cold as a winter river. For a moment, her heart nearly stopped.

"No... you're wrong..." she stammered, her words slipping away on a trembling breath.

Christopher, however, either didn't hear or didn't care, pulling her closer, his movements growing even more desperate.

Every brush of skin left her burning, sweat sliding down her back as she lost herself to another crashing wave.

Lightning split the sky, painting the room with fleeting brightness, and the storm's fury slowly faded to a gentle patter.

The intensity between them finally eased, warmth draining from her body bit by bit.

"Did you like it?" asked Christopher, lifting a velvet box and placing it in Rosanna's hands. Inside, a delicate amethyst necklace caught the dim light.

"Tomorrow's your birthday. Your dad let it slip that purple happens to be your favorite."

He clasped the necklace around her neck.

Rosanna let her fingers linger on the amethyst's cool surface before quietly pulling her clothes back on and turning away from him.

She managed a steady voice. "You're probably starving. I'll go make something for us."

Before he could get a good look at her face, she left the room, quickening her pace as she reached the door.

That rich shade of purple—the necklace's centerpiece—had always belonged to someone else. Yoli was short for Yolanda Holt, her twin sister.

Everything had changed a year ago, when hospital bills piled up and Rosanna had no choice but to marry Christopher in Yolanda's stead.

Ashley Yates and her ex-husband Marshall Holt had two daughters—twin girls who looked identical to everyone but themselves.

When her parents divorced, Rosanna took her mother's last name and moved in with her.

Ashley spent years working grueling shifts at a cotton mill to support them, and all that hard labor left her health in ruins.

Since she was little, Rosanna juggled odd jobs and school, doing what she could to help keep them afloat.

Yolanda, meanwhile, enjoyed a life Rosanna only dreamed about. She lived with their father, who married into money, and with his new wife's backing, became a powerful company chairman.

Their faces might have matched, but everything else about the sisters was different. Rosanna kept to herself, always plagued by insecurity, while Yolanda was consumed by her own sense of entitlement.

For more than two decades, their lives never crossed—until Ashley's lung disease demanded a 200, 000 dollar operation. Desperate, Rosanna reached out to her estranged twin.

Yolanda finally agreed, but only if Rosanna agreed to walk down the aisle in her place.

Hearing Christopher's name as the groom sent Rosanna's heart racing.