Tess's POV

I feel like a child, petulant and sulking with this girl next to me.

Francesca doesn't look much better when the two of us are forced to sit on the lounge next to each other in Maxon's office. There is three feet in between us, but she still feels like she's smothering me.

I'm shocked myself. She's like another me, what with the facial features (and I'll admit, maybe the personality). But her "captivity" with the "Italian Mafia" must have thinned her up a bit. She looks like a walking stick. I bet if I blow on her, she'll fall right over. She makes me feel fat. I hate her.

Maxon opens the door and says, "America, you might want to see this."

"Maxon, I'm a bit busy at the moment."

"No, you really have to see this."

Mom acquiesces and comes through the door, but her initial stubbornness disappears when she sees Francesca and me. Mom has to blink twice, even going as far as rubbing her eyes and squinting, until she finally turns to Maxon again.

"What's—"

I sigh. "This is the girl."

Francesca stands and curtsies. "Your Majesties, I am Teresa Francesca Renaldi de'Medici, the true Missing Princess of Italy." Her accent is thick, and I'm sure it's artificial.

I will sew her lips together myself if I must.

Matthew leans against Maxon's desk and shoots me a look, probably to refrain me from saying anything sarcastic. I roll my eyes at him and look away.

"But please call me Francesca," the girl says, still standing.

"It's nice to meet you, Francesca," Mom says, still remaining to be courteous despite my icy behavior. "Please, take a seat."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

She sits down, making me squirm a bit and move until I'm against the armrest.

"Obviously, there are some...details needed to this situation," Mom says, dragging a chair to across from us.

"Then I will provide them," Francesca answers. "As the story goes, the Missing Princess was taken from the palace at two years old, which is what my orphanage's supervisor said."

"Then why didn't she take you to the palace?" I say, irritation seeping into my voice.

"The supervisor was cruel. She didn't want a starving girl to return to glamorous palace life."

Bullshit. I've never heard more lies in my life.

I scoff silently, the sound coming more of a breath rather than a ridicule.

"On my tenth birthday, I was taking a walk outside the orphanage—"

"You said your supervisor was cruel," I argue. "How come she let you outside?"

Francesca rolls her eyes this time, annoyed that she is interrupted a second time. "I escaped through a window. Haven't you seen any movies, Teresa?"

I go back to picking the invisible threads and lint on my dress.

"As I was saying, when I was ten, a man was saw me and took me. He put a bag over my head, and when I woke up, I found myself in a decrepit warehouse filled with computers and high-tech systems. The Italian Mafia is comprised of several men, but two were stationed with me. They, uh, had their ways with me."

Everyone's silent. In Illéa, it's illegal to lose your virginity before marriage. We're so used to this law, and we value it. This news is a shock to us.

"They showed me a picture several months ago," Francesca continues. "It looked vaguely like me. They told me that they had used a computer software. The ones where you take a baby picture and use it to see how you look some years in the future. They used a picture of the Missing Princess and found that it looked like me."

I want to interrupt that she could have looked exactly like me. I bet five other girls in the entire world look like me.

"One man—the kinder, gentler one—truly loved me, and he drove me to the airport. He gave me some money, and I was able to fly here. I found a family to stay with for a while, and I have to admit, I pretended to be you for them to let me stay willingly. They were nice enough, and I sent the letter and had someone drive me to the palace."

I'm still not buying any of this.

"When's your birthday?" I say, still concentrated on my dress.

"Twenty-fifth of April."

I raise an eyebrow. "How old did you say you were?"

"Nineteen."

I sit up from my slouch and look at her. "You're trying to say one thing, yet I see another possibilities. You think that you're the true princess, and what you've said about the princess matches up with my life. However, there can only be one of us."

"What are you saying?"

I hesitate. "This is absurd, this entire situation as is the probability, but...What if we were twins?"

The revelation stills the entire room to silence. "I know; we would have all known if either of us were taken at two years old," I say.

"How could our mother possibly hide that from the entire world?" Francesca argues.

"Well, do you have any other idea?" I say. "Because there can't possibly be two of us, and I think that you're just a doppelganger, a regular person that just happens to look like me. Look, I'm sorry about your history, but I just don't think you're the princess."

Francesca nods sullenly, and she start to cry. Oh, dear God. "I'm sorry," she whines. "I just thought that maybe there's a possibility for me to live a fortunate life."

I hate acknowledge the fact that I was welcomed to a warm, loving family when Francesca was taken to an orphanage, then kidnapped to nine miserable years.

A knock comes at the door, and Maxon opens it. "Your Majesty, there is a letter for the princess."

"Which one?" Francesca says, drying her her nonexistent tears.

"Me," I say, standing to receive the letter. I tear it open once it's in my hands, not bothering to check whom it's from. "'Dear Teresa,'" I read aloud. "'There is some information you must know. We have been alerted that another girl claims to be the princess. I have tried to get to the bottom of this, and I regret to say that you will probably not like this news, especially for the other girl.'"

I look around at everyone's intent faces. "Who is it from?" Matthew asks.

"My mother, the queen." I don't hold back the pointed look I give Francesca.

"'I only have one son and one daughter. My one true daughter has a mole beside her eyebrow and one on her earlobe. Also, she received a scar from a smallpox vaccination at the age of one. That is all of the birthmarks I can supply to you. Best of luck. Love, Mama.'"

I lower the sleeve of my shoulder to show my scar. There, that proves that I'm the princess. "So I guess I'm the princess," I say rather smugly.

Then Francesca starts to cry. "I'm sorry," she whines. "I just thought there was a way to escape my horrible past, and I thought that I was the princess because I looked like her. I'm so sorry."

Oh, dear.

"It's alright, Francesca," Mom says, sitting down next to the girl and giving her a hug. I feel so odd and dejected somehow. "I'm going to phone a friend, one who has always wanted children of her own, and I'm sure she'll be welcome to have you."

"Thank you so much, Your Majesty."

Mom smiles sympathetically and stands. "Tess, could you accompany me please?"

"Um, okay," I reply.

I follow Mom to her office and when she shuts the door, she turns to me. "What were you thinking?" she says. "How could you antagonize her that way?"

"I'm sorry!" I say defensively. "I just thought it ridiculous that she was trying to be me! It's like plagiarism with my identity!"

"Tess, you have to learn how to control your attitude. People all over the country will see your face, and if you can't hide your emotions in the face of a situation, who knows what everyone will think of their next queen?" Mom sighs and buries a hand in her hair. "I have to make that call."

"Am I excused?" I timidly say. I'm so humiliated.

"Yes, you may go. Just don't act so sarcastic next time."

"Sorry."

I step out to the other office. The majority of me is ashamed and humiliated. I can't even look at Francesca now. I have been treating her like crap, when she's been treated that way her entire life.

"Hey," I say to her.

She looks up at me then looks away. "Yes, your grace?"

"I wanted to say sorry for the way I treated you," I say, sitting next to her. "It was just a shock, you know? There's so much going on and I couldn't handle another issue. I'm sorry, truly."

Francesca allows a small smile. "It's okay. I understand what you mean. And I'm sorry about using your name. That was very thieving of me."

"It's different to admire someone and to outright act like you're them," I say. "Just be yourself, and you'll go from there. After all, you're quite beautiful."

Francesca laughs. "You are too, your grace."

"Please, call me Tess."

Mom pops her head through the doorway and says to Francesca, "A car will com pick you up tomorrow. You can stay at the palace for tonight."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," the girl replies.

"Well, at least I can say I met one of the six people in the world that looks like me," I say.

She giggles. "Yes, I suppose I can say that too."

I stand. "Here, I'll lead you to your room."

"Thank you, Tess."

Matt is talking to his father, so I don't feel the need to say goodbye. As we walk to her room, I try to gather my thoughts. I'm still so embarrassed that America Singer Schreave, the Queen of Illéa, scolded me. But another factor of that ordeal tickles my mind, like an inkling that begs to be noticed.

She scolded me like a parent.


I don't really know where I was going with this one. However, this chapter actually means a lot to me for reasons you might not think. Anyways, you'll find out who Francesca's new mother will be in the next chapter.

QOTD: Who do you think your celebrity doppelganger would be?

Answer to previous QOTD: Your answers were great! Here was my list:
Tess- Nina Dobrev
Matthew- Alex Pettyfer maybe, Zac Efron, or Grant Gustin
Rilane and Alexandra- Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen; maybe Shailene Woodley but two of her and one would have blue eyes; same thing with Chloe Grace Moretz
America- Amy Adams
Maxon- Max Irons but a bit older (he has always been Maxon in my head)
Alexander- Gregg Sulkin
Xander- Josh Hutcherson or Billy Unger
Maria- Isabelle Fuhrman
Jerome- Jake Abel

Thanks for the reviews!

Kiren- Idk how Tess knew it was eyeliner, but maybe you'll find out next chapter? I hate eyeliner. Thanks so much!

agb1700- I was actually going to maker Francesca her twin initially, but then I was like no that's a crappy idea. :P I hope everyone gets a happy ending :) Thank you!

LovableL101- Your cast list was perf! And it would be really cool if this was a movie :P Thanks so much!

SJWrites2014- Lol I was thinking of something along the lines of that. Perfect! Thanks so much!

theoneforever- Haha I have a feeling you're really emotional :P It's true that it's my story, but the characters are the stars. I hope you don't die no matter what happens with this story! And the cast was great. Thank you so much!

LittleMissTori- Ah, Ansel Elgort. I watched his livestream and I was fangirling the entire time. The cast list was great :) Thank you so much!

KhrystineR- Sooo glad you let me steal the question! It was a really good one. Haha Tess be taking off her earrings :P #ghetto JUST KIDDING! Aw did you really cry during Alexa's POV? I'm so relieved that my story is actually affecting people :) It means you care. Thank you so much!

Please-and-Thankyou's- I know what you mean about people that would truly get that character's actual personality. I'd make a really bad casting director :P "You look like him/her, so you won't disappoint the fans. Just read the lines, it's straight from the book. Good? Okay." Yeah...Thanks so much!

PokemonLuver151- Tbh if this was a movie at all, I'd be happy already. :P Thanks so much!

dakotamo- Awww haha you cried :) Glad you liked it! Thank you so much!

NalissaPatali- Idk, would Matt stay with her? Good question. Answer is maybe in the next chapter? Thanks!

winterprincess- Haha I hate those kinds of people: hypocrites. I'm a hypocrite myself. (Get it?) Your cast was absolutely perfect :) Thank you so much!

Athenachild101- Ooh Megan Fox. A little too sexy to be Tess :P Maybe. Idk. Spot on with Amy Adams :) Thanks so much!

selectionprincess59- Selena Gomez :) Love her. Thanks so much!

salmabookworm- I have my cast list up there! Great cast list! Thanks so much!

ReadLikeYouMeanIt- Girl, I love how you took the time to log out and went back and reviewed. #TrueDedication :P Cast list was perfect! Thank you so much!

ilona18- #TessPower :P Thanks so much!

Love ya!- AcademicGirl