Eva Maximus Simmons was busy deciding what to wear for the party that evening when her mother came in bearing a handful of new outfits.
"Eva dear, Dior sent in a new dress for you. It's just off the runway and their publicity team requested a picture of you in it on your feed, if possible by this week," Her mother announced excitedly before sitting down on Eva's bed. She placed her perfectly manicured nails over each other and smiled at her daughter.
Jeanine Maximus Simmons was the epitome of class and perfection, from her freshly pressed clothes to her saloon styled hair.
There was never a day Eva saw her mother with a hair out of place or a blouse creased.
"I'll wear it tonight then," Eva said as she walked out of her walk in wardrobe and took the dress from her mother. She ran her fingers along the smooth denim fabric. The dress was short and backless, perfect for a teenager at a party. Apparently Dior thought so as well.
At the age of fifteen, Eva had been introduced to one of the in house designers at New York Fashion week by her high profile mother.
The designer and social media team had loved her look, saying she looked like a young Eva Mendes. Not to mention her thriving social media platform was just what they were looking for.
Ever since then, Eva had become an unspoken ambassador for the brand, she would get free outfits and gifts in exchange for a few photos here and there to cater to the younger market.
Eva was no idiot. She knew how these in house marketing teams worked. Once she outgrew her use and could be replaced with other younger, more beautiful muses, she would be replaced.
And to be honest she didn't even care.
The only reason she took the offer in the first place was because of how happy it made her mother, Jeanine.
"Go try it on. I want to see my beautiful daughter in it," Her mother leaned back on the bed and stared at her daughter with adoration.
Eva stared at her mother, soaking all of her attention like a sponge while she could. These moments were always so fleeting but Eva knew her mother loved her. It's what she told herself everyday.
Ever eager to please, Eva nodded obediently and skipped into her wardrobe. She took out her tank top and shorts, threw on the dress and walked outside.
"How is it?" She twirled around, eyebrows raised as she waited for her mothers approval.
Jeanine clasped her hands together and smiled proudly. "Dior outdid themselves this time. Darling you look splendid."
She stood up and walked over to Eva, her long white pants swishing like water with each step. She then kissed her daughter's head and gave her a light hug before pulling away.
"You are perfect," Her mother reinforced as she squeezed Eva's shoulder's and Eva's lips trembled because she didn't believe it. Not since they dropped the truth bomb on her when she turned twelve years old.
Eva was about to tell her mother that she loved her when Jeanine's phone rang and she pulled away abruptly.
"I have to go dear but I look forward to seeing your picture," She grabbed her phone and began walking out of Eva's room. "Oh and ease up on the drinks tonight. Your belly is showing."
Her mother closed the door and Eva immediately ran to her floor length mirror to check on her stomach.
She frowned as she turned from side to side, her belly was as flat as could be and Eva never drank alcohol with mixers. Those were the things that caused the fat not the alcohol itself.
She stared at herself in the mirror. The dress looked beautiful, like it was made for her but it was already weighing her down. Just like all the other outfits in her closet, they only added to the countless amount of things she had received from her adoptive parents.
And Eva felt like it was a growing debt, looming over her shoulders, pressing it's weight over her body making her hunch over.
She sunk to the floor and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself.
She deserved their love, she knew she did. Eva looked up at her wall of achievements needing the visual reinforcement. She stood up and walked over to the board where all her top scores had been plastered for display and her positions in various clubs were pinned below.
Eva clutched her latest exam slip. She had achieved the highest score in their class and with her background, her grades and her extra curricular merits, she was almost guaranteed an Ivy league school for college.
Her father had gone to Yale and Eva wanted to prove that she could do the same too. Maybe then would she finally be worthy of her parents love.
She stared at the exam slip longer than necessary, her mind flitting back to unwanted memories. She quickly released the paper, her fingers burnt with the guilt of the past few months.
Eva wanted to forget everything that had happened. She wanted to pretend that she had earned that top spot fair and square but deep down she couldn't hide from it even if she wanted to.
How did things spiral so completely out of control? Something that had started out as an innocent joke had turned into something so ugly and disastrous, Eva couldn't have stopped it even if she wanted to.
Things had spiraled out of control a long time ago.
Eva's nerves were on edge again as she thought about how much she had to lose. She remembered the day her parents had sat her down and explained to her very carefully that she wasn't their biological daughter.
That she had been adopted.
Eva hadn't understood what that all meant at the time but eventually she did. She was living on borrowed time, with borrowed money and lodging and none of it belonged to her. There would come a day when the Simmons realized she wasn't one of them and then poof, it would all disappear in a cloud of smoke.
Which was why Eva did everything in her power to keep them happy. To keep them satisfied with her. She was the picture perfect daughter - beautiful, smart, driven. Which parent could ask for more?
But then he came along.
And he was everything she was not. A misfit, a trouble maker, his grades average at best but he had the one thing Eva would never have.
Her father's dna.
How could she ever compare? Eva had lost the battle before it even began but then things took a turn for the better.
Her mother didn't want him in the picture and apparently his family wasn't in favor either. Papers were signed and people were paid off and just like that the secret was buried.
But Eva's father never looked at her the same way again and it ate her up every single day, knowing he was thinking of someone else when he looked at her. It was then that she decided that she had to be better than she had ever been.
Eva excelled in every subject, every paper, every assignment. She trained in squash and cheer practice till her body ached from the assertion. She put her all into school and eventually she could see her father looking at her proudly.
Just like he used to.
Eva worked hard for his love, she kept her nose to the grindstone for him and maybe just maybe he would forget about him eventually and then they would be one happy family again.
But being at her peak at every minute of the day was exhausting and Eva had no outlet. Everyone saw her as this perfect person with no flaws, they guffawed around her and pretended to love her while they bitched about her behind her back.
Eva never wanted to admit it but being her made her miserable and the only person she looked forward to seeing everyday was her arch nemesis Nalini.
Nalini was the only person who dared to put her in her place, who gave her a run for her money, who challenged her to be better.
Eva's blood raced just thinking about her.
Her heart was pounding, her nerves on edge as she thought about her past and the secrets that could bring everything crumbling to the ground.
All that Eva had worked for would turn to dust if it ever came to light and the thought paralyzed her with fear. She started shaking and ran to her phone in desperation.
Eva wanted to curse herself for alienating the one person she enjoyed seeing. Everyone at school thought she hated Nalini and because of that she was never invited to parties. She wouldn't be seeing her tonight, even though that was all she could think of.
Eva dialed her number and then held her breath as the phone rang.
"Hello?" Nalini answered, her voice was almost drowned out by the noisy background.
Eva sucked in a breath and immediately cut the line. What the hell was she doing?
Feeling lonely and helpless, she placed her phone by her side and sank against the wall, wondering if judgement day was coming for her.
After all he had escaped somehow and now he was on loose somewhere. Eva could only pray that he was dead.
Her phone rang and she looked down at her screen. Her heart fell when she saw the last person she wanted to hear from.
Tyler Raeken.