Unwelcome.
This all too familiar feeling is creeping up on Diana once again, as she looks at Chantal's birthday invitation. Her sister will be turning 22 this year, and once again, will host a grand celebration as if every birthday is her debut. Weird enough, this should have also been her birthday celebration, and yet again, her name is absent in the invitation.
Chantal has always been the one who loves to throw parties, she's always been the one to show off their wealth. And Diana is quite the opposite. She is more practical, but a little rebellious. She does love to dress up just like any girl, but she prefers functionality more than fashion. Whereas, Chantal is just one Fashion diva, which is why their family supported her career as a Fashion Designer. For Diana, it's enough that she gets a College Degree, that way it won't be as embarrassing when introducing her to the public. With how different the two women are raised in the Winchester Family, nobody would assume that they were twins.
Winchester Family is a wealthy family in the country, Great Blackhampton. Vergil Winchester is the Patriarch and Regina Quentin-Winchester is the Matriarch of the family. They only have two offspring, their son, Osmond who married Vanessa Carlton, also from a rich family who owns businesses in the entertainment industry. And their daughter Cassandra Winchester-Barnes married Winston Barnes, an owner of a famous restaurant overseas. Cassandra is a chef in Winston's restaurant, which is how they met. They live overseas with their son Harlan who is 20 years old and is studying Culinary.
Diana is the eldest daughter of Osmond and her sister Chantal is only younger by 15 seconds. But growing up, Chantal is the favored child in the family. Whatever Chantal does is right. Whatever Diana does is disappointing. Perhaps, in the beginning, Diana tried hard to be favored just like her younger sister. She tried to act cute and even would cry so the adults will pacify her the way they do with Chantal, but when it comes to her, they scold her for being an attention-seeker. As she grew older, she developed immunity against their criticisms.
She feels closer to Cassandra and her family at Maconia more than her grandparents, parents and sibling.
There were times when she doubted whether she was adopted instead. But that was impossible, since she was Chantal’s twin. They may not look identical but they were born on the same day and from the same mother.
Now as she stares at the paper with Chantal's name, she knows what to expect. She is expected to attend and appear joyful on her sister's occasion. Presenting a unified Winchester family in front of strangers.
And like a psychic, she guessed that her phone would ring.
Vanessa is calling Diana which the latter picked up on the second ring. She decided not to let it ring for too long. She didn't want to suffer an hour of a rant from her today.
"Yes, mom," Diana answered.
"Hmph!" Vanessa sounded annoyed. "Where are you now?"
"I'm in my apartment." She responded briefly.
"Have you received the invitation?" Vanessa asked coolly.
"Yes. I have it here."
"Okay. Remember to come. Get rid of your miserable face, do you understand?" Vanessa reminded Diana. Her voice was laced with displeasure.
"Yes, mom," Diana answered, waiting for Vanessa to hang up. As she did, Diana leaned against the couch, closing her eyes. She looked miserable, causing her roommate Heather Bennett to worry.
"Di? Are you okay?" Heather asked her, giving her a cup of chamomile tea.
"Mmm--Same thing." Diana sighed as she showed Heather the invitation card.
Heather frowned at the print on the paper and snorted. She has always been unimpressed with Diana's relatives. Winchester Family may be rich but they are nothing compared to the Great 7 that dominate the major industries. But for the members of the Winchester Family, they're living as if everybody else is beneath them. Except for Diana. She has always lived as Chantal's shadow so she never got to feel like she is from one of the wealthy families.
Heather and Diana have gotten along well together since High School so they decided to share an apartment as they studied at Henhall University, one of the top universities in the country. They have studied different courses in College, Heather earned a Criminology degree and Diana earned a Medical Technology degree. They shared a few similar subjects back in College so they pretty much can understand each other's work lives. Heather knows all too well how the Winchester Family treats Diana, they treat her as not less than an orphan.
"Cheer up. Don't let yourself get affected by their nonsense. Since there will be a blast of a party, just enjoy it. Eat. Drink. Dance. Maybe hook up with a guy." Heather joked. Diana snorted at this.
"As if. All guests are Chantal's friends. And you know the kind of company she keeps. I'd rather get dried up than make a mistake by getting involved in one of those peacocks."
Heather plopped herself on the couch close to Diana and turned on the remote.
"You and me both." She smirked. "But don't forget to take some food, especially desserts."
Diana laughed at this. "That's the plan."
They’ve been best friends for a long time and yet not once was she able to invite Heather to a grand birthday celebration like Chantal can to her friends. Usually, they would just celebrate it whenever they have free time.
On TV, a news channel popped up, showing the news at a conference talking about the new vaccines. The camera showed the scientists from all over the world zooming in on the President of Forrest Research Institute, the leading research institute in Great Blackhampton.
Diana glanced at the powerful figure on the screen before reading her mailbox on her phone, not even sparing a thought whether the person on the screen is handsome or not. After all, she will never get a chance to meet him in person. Although the Winchester family is considered wealthy, they were nowhere near that person.
What use is there to dwell on such thoughts?
At the age of 22, Diana would never have imagined she would be thrown into a life of passion involving this man. She would never have expected that soon, her life without the feeling of belongingness that one could get from their family would possibly happen to her.