From The Straits Times    |

sex, cheating, sisters, relationships, wedding, Photo: 123rf.com

Celeste had always been jealous of her older sister Alicia. Just two years apart, she was a spitting image of Alicia and from a distance, the attractive pair could easily pass off as twins.

Celeste couldn’t understand why her sibling was always the more successful and popular one – Alicia was an up-and-coming finance professional, while she moved from job to job, trying to find her niche.

“It seemed that Alicia could do no wrong while I could do no right,” says Celeste.

But even though Celeste harboured deep feelings of jealousy and resentment towards her sibling, Alicia was as loving and protective of her as any older sister would be – she was completely oblivious to how much Celeste hated her.

Then, Alicia got engaged. Her fiance, James*, was sophisticated, handsome and successful. The couple had met at a charity event and started a whirlwind romance. A few months later, James proposed.

Parents and families were introduced and the pair set a wedding date six months after their engagement.

With not a lot of time to their big day, Alicia and James got right down to the wedding preparations. Alicia asked her younger sister to be her maid of honour, and while Celeste wanted no part in the wedding, there was no way she could refuse. While Celeste was initially aloof to James, she soon found herself warming up to him.

“It was hard not to like him and his wry sense of humour. I realised he was indeed the wonderful catch that everyone made him out to be.”

James too, was delighted to get to know his future sister-in-law. Alicia had told him how much her younger sister meant to her and he wanted to make his future wife happy.

As the couple were planning a long honeymoon in Europe after the wedding, Alicia worked long hours to wrap up her work. She started staying late at the office several times a week, leaving

James and Celeste to discuss the wedding arrangements.

Inevitably, the two grew closer, building up a comfortable repartee. Gradually, James started opening up to Celeste, telling her about his wild university days, his ambitions, likes and dislikes, even his feelings about Alicia and their plans for the future.

Celeste felt she knew almost as much about him as her sister did – and realised she was falling in love with James.

“I looked forward to seeing him every evening and enjoyed the attention he showed me; I was certain he felt the chemistry too. I loathed having my sister around and hated seeing them together. I admit that I wanted James for myself – it would be the ultimate payback if he left Alicia for me,” says Celeste.

Surreptitiously, Celeste started creating opportunities to keep the couple apart, while making sure she was around James to lend him a helping hand. When Alicia couldn’t make it for her rehearsal dinner due to work commitments, Celeste seized the chance to take her sister’s place for the evening.

“My sister never suspected a thing and was instead grateful that I was going all out to ensure her wedding went off without a hitch. Likewise, James was all praises for me,” adds Celeste.

Then came the day before the wedding. In line with tradition, the couple-to-be weren’t supposed to see each other for 24 hours before the ceremony. Acting as the perfect sister, Celeste helped Alicia see to everything she needed, then headed to James’ place on the pretext of helping him with last-minute details and making sure he wasn’t getting cold feet.

James was grateful for the company. His life was about to change and he was feeling jittery. He opened a bottle of wine, one drink led to another, and the pair were soon tipsy.

“I decided it was now or never. I grabbed James and kissed him passionately before telling him how much I yearned for him,” says Celeste. Too inebriated to think clearly and yet enjoying the rush of the moment, James allowed lust to get the better of him.

The next morning, waking up with James lying beside her, Celeste couldn’t believe she had finally “won” – she had finally beaten her sister at something. What she wasn’t prepared for, however, was the look of deep regret and disgust on James’ face when he realised what had happened.

“Do you realise what we’ve done?” James shouted. “What was I thinking? This is wrong! What am I going to say to Alicia?”

With the wedding just hours away, James had to tell Alicia what had happened – he owed his wife-to-be the truth.

Alicia was surprised to see James. Instinctively, she knew that something terrible had happened.

Crying as he ruefully told her what had ensued the night before, James said that he hated himself for it and that he now realised why Celeste had been going out of her way to help them. He begged Alicia for forgiveness, but the damage was done.

“I never thought you would ever do this to me! I trusted you.” Alicia said in between sobs.

Shocked, heartbroken and feeling utterly betrayed, she called off the wedding. All this while, she had thought her baby sister was her closest ally, only to find out that she had been plotting against her.

Their parents were devastated to learn what had happened. Alicia herself never confronted her sister about James, and Celeste eventually moved out of the family home. She says she feels guilty for her actions but was truly in love with James.

“I wanted James to be my trophy, but once again, it’s Alicia who is the poor, helpless victim and I am the evil sister. After everything, I still couldn’t have James for myself.”

 

This story was originally published in the March 2016 issue of Simply Her.