Chapter 1

For three years, my boyfriend Adelard's ex-girlfriend, Aurore, haunted our relationship with her fake brain cancer. He swore his devotion to her was just pity, a sense of duty to his dying first love.

Then, on our anniversary, he asked me to stand by while he held a fake wedding with Aurore. He claimed it was "therapy" to cure her jumbled memories and give her closure so we could finally be together.

He swore it was the last thing he'd ever ask of me. But I soon discovered he'd known she was faking for months. I found the love letters he wrote to her on our anniversaries, on my birthdays. His friends, who knew the truth, mocked me in a language they thought I didn't understand.

He had never loved me. I was just a placeholder, a convenient stand-in until he could get closure with his true love.

So when he publicly proposed to Aurore with a sky full of fireworks, I didn't cry. I packed my bags, took the company shares he'd 'gifted' me as a symbol of our future, and walked away.

The next morning, I put on a different wedding dress.

I was going to marry Grady Barber, the powerful heir my twin sister was supposed to marry. This time, I chose myself.

Chapter 1

The cold leather of the booth felt stuck to my skin. I' d been waiting for an hour. Adelard was never on time, but this was a new record, even for him. Our anniversary. He' d promised.

I stared out the restaurant window, watching the city lights blur. A familiar car pulled up to the curb, Adelard' s sleek black sedan. My heart gave a hopeful little jump, a stupid reflex I couldn' t control.

But he wasn't alone.

He got out of the driver's side and rushed to open the passenger door. Aurore Rivera, his ex-girlfriend, emerged, looking pale and fragile. He wrapped his arm around her, his head bent low as if listening to a precious secret. He guided her into the building next door, a private, members-only club we' d never been to.

The breath left my lungs in a sharp, painful rush. It was happening again.

My phone buzzed on the table. It was him. 'Sorry, baby. Stuck in a meeting. Be there soon.'

Liar.

My fingers felt numb as I typed back a single word. 'Okay.'

I stood up, leaving a hundred-dollar bill on the table to cover the water I' d barely touched. I walked out into the cool night air and didn' t look back. The pain in my chest was a dull, heavy stone. After three years, I should have been used to it, but it still managed to hurt.

I walked without a destination until my feet ached. Finally, I stopped under a streetlamp and pulled out my phone. I didn't call him. I called my twin sister, Hazelle.

She picked up on the first ring, her voice bright and happy. "Arah! How's the anniversary dinner going?"

"It's not," I said, my own voice sounding hollow and distant. "Hazelle, about your engagement... the one to Grady Barber."

There was a pause. "What about it, Arah? Did something happen?"

"Is the offer still open for one of the Galloway twins to marry him?" I asked, the words feeling like gravel in my mouth.

"Arah, what are you saying?" Her voice was laced with confusion. "You know I can't. I love Michael. We're going to get married."

"I know," I said, my gaze fixed on a crack in the pavement. "I'm not asking you to do it."

I took a deep breath.

"I'll do it. I'll marry Grady Barber in your place."

Hazelle was silent for a long moment. I could picture her on the other end, her brow furrowed in concern. "Arah... what did Adelard do this time?"

"The usual," I said, a bitter laugh escaping my lips. "He's with Aurore. She's had another 'relapse'."

Aurore Rivera' s faked brain cancer was the ghost that haunted our entire relationship. Two years ago, she had tearfully re-entered Adelard' s life, claiming her cancer was back and she only had months to live. Adelard, my compassionate, ambitious, and utterly spineless boyfriend, had dropped everything to care for her.

He' d sworn to me it was just pity, just a sense of duty to his first love. "She has no one else, Arah," he'd pleaded. "It's the right thing to do. Once she's... gone... it will just be us. Forever."

I, a fool in love, had believed him. I' d waited. I' d put my life, my career as a chef, my everything on hold while he played the devoted nurse to a dying woman who just never seemed to die.

I was the one who found the proof. A stray medical bill I found in his car, a routine check-up for Aurore that showed she was perfectly healthy. I overheard her on the phone, laughing with a friend about how well her plan was working.

When I confronted Adelard, he admitted he knew she was faking. He' d known for months.

"I didn't want to upset her," he'd said, as if that explained everything. "Her mental state is fragile. The doctor said a shock could be very damaging."

The fight was ugly. He' d sworn it was over, that he would cut Aurore off. For a few blissful months, I thought he had. But now, here we were again.Another relapse. Another lie.

"Arah, you can't be serious," Hazelle's voice broke through my thoughts. "You don't even know Grady Barber. This is a business arrangement, a merger of our family's company with theirs. It's not about love."

"What do you think I've had with Adelard for the past three years?" I shot back, the anger finally bubbling up. "It hasn't been love. It's been a sick, one-woman show with me as the unpaid audience."

"So, I'm taking your place," I stated, my voice firm now. "You get to be with the man you love. I get to escape this hell. It's a win-win."

"I..." She sighed, a sound of defeat and sisterly love. "Okay, Arah. If this is what you really want. I'll support you."

"It is," I said, a strange sense of calm washing over me. The decision was made. The pain was still there, but it was overshadowed by a cold, hard resolve. "My relationship with Adelard Kim is over."

I hung up and started walking again, this time with purpose. I went back to the hotel where Adelard and I were staying for our "anniversary getaway." I took the elevator to our suite, my mind a blank slate.

I didn't have to wait long. A few hours later, Adelard came back. He looked tired and guilty.

"Arah, I'm so sorry. The meeting ran late, and then Aurore called. She had a panic attack."

I just looked at him, not saying a word.

He sat next to me on the bed, taking my hands. They were ice-cold. "Listen, I know this is hard to understand. But her condition is really bad this time. The doctor says her memories are all jumbled. She thinks we're still together, back in college."

I stared at him, my expression unreadable.

"She needs closure," he continued, his voice earnest. "Her therapist suggested something... unconventional. A way to give her that closure so she can heal and I can finally, truly be with you without this hanging over us."

"What is it?" I asked, my voice flat.

He hesitated, then plunged ahead. "We're going to have a wedding ceremony. A fake one, of course. Just for her. It'll fulfill an old promise I made to her. The therapist thinks it will act as a final, definitive end to that chapter of her life. After that, she'll be able to move on, and we can get married for real. I promise, Arah. It's the last thing I'll ever ask of you."

I looked at his handsome, pleading face, the face I had loved so much it physically hurt. The absurdity of his request was so profound it was almost funny. A fake wedding. To heal his manipulative ex-girlfriend's fake illness.

And he expected me to just stand by and watch.

A normal person would have screamed, or cried, or thrown something. But I was beyond that. I was somewhere else entirely, a place of cold, clear certainty.

I met his hopeful eyes.

"Okay," I said, my voice shockingly steady.

He blinked, surprised by my quick agreement. "Really? You're okay with this?"

"Yes," I said. "Are there any other conditions? Anything else you need from me to help Aurore heal?"

He seemed taken aback. "Well... she's going to be around a lot while we 'plan' this. It might be better if... if we kept some distance. Just until it's over. So she doesn't get suspicious."

He wanted me out of the way. Of course he did.

I gave a small, tight nod. "I understand. I agree."

He stared at me, a flicker of confusion in his eyes. He had expected a fight. He had a whole speech prepared. My easy compliance left him wrong-footed, and for a second, he looked almost... uneasy. But the relief of getting what he wanted quickly smoothed it over.