Chapter 2

Hayley didn' t sleep. She sat on the floor in the corner of the room, watching the unconscious man, waiting. The sun began to rise, casting long, gray shadows across the city. Just as Brennen had promised, two men in discreet, dark suits arrived. They were quiet, efficient, and professional. They cleaned up the blood, removed the man, and left the room looking exactly as it had before. As if nothing had ever happened.

A few hours later, a maid knocked on her door. It was Martha, a woman who had worked in the penthouse for years and had always been kind to her. Today, her face was a cold, formal mask.

"Mr. Lee has instructed that you move your belongings out of this room," Martha said, not meeting Hayley's eyes.

Hayley just nodded, her heart a numb, heavy stone in her chest.

"A new guest will be arriving shortly to take this suite," Martha added, her voice flat.

"I understand," Hayley said. She felt nothing. No anger, no sadness. Just a vast, hollow emptiness. She showered, letting the hot water wash over her, trying to scrub away the filth of the last eight years. She put on a simple pair of jeans and a sweater, clothes that felt more like her own skin than the designer dresses ever had.

As she was packing the last of her art supplies into a box, the door to the suite swung open. A woman stood there, bathed in the morning light. She was beautiful, with the same dark hair and delicate features as Hayley. It was like looking at a distorted reflection.

"So you're the replacement," the woman said, her voice dripping with a mix of amusement and contempt. She stepped inside, looking around the room as if she owned it. "I'm Karina Luna. It's nice to finally see the decoy in person."

Hayley finally understood. It wasn' t just about protection. Dean had chosen her because she looked like Karina. He had spent eight years turning her into a perfect copy, a stand-in for the woman he truly wanted.

Karina's eyes scanned Hayley from head to toe. "Dean was getting impatient for me to come back from Europe. I guess looking at you wasn't enough for him anymore."

Hayley said nothing. She picked up her box, intending to walk past Karina and leave this nightmare behind.

She tried to offer a polite nod, a final, meaningless gesture.

As she passed, Karina suddenly gasped and stumbled, her arm flailing out as if she had lost her balance. It was a clumsy, obvious act.

"Oh!" Karina cried out, falling towards the floor.

At that exact moment, Dean appeared in the doorway. He moved with lightning speed, his face a mask of pure panic. He rushed past Hayley, shoving her aside to catch Karina before she hit the ground.

The shove was hard. Hayley stumbled backward, her head cracking against the sharp corner of a marble-topped table. Pain exploded behind her eyes, and she saw stars. She slid to the floor, her vision blurring.

"Karina! Are you okay?" Dean' s voice was filled with a frantic terror Hayley had never heard before, not even when she had been in a car crash. He held Karina as if she were made of spun glass.

"I'm fine, Dean," Karina murmured, clinging to him and casting a triumphant, venomous look at Hayley over his shoulder. "I think... I think Hayley might have pushed me. It was an accident, I'm sure. She must be upset that I'm back."

Dean' s head snapped toward Hayley, his eyes blazing with cold fury.

"Apologize to her," he commanded.

Hayley stared at him from the floor, her head throbbing. The injustice of it was so profound, it was almost absurd. "I didn't touch her," she said, her voice weak.

"I said, apologize." His voice was a whip crack.

She shook her head, disbelief warring with the pain. "No."

"Fine," Dean snarled. He scooped Karina up into his arms as if she weighed nothing. "You can stay in the reflection room until you learn some manners."

He carried Karina away, murmuring soft, comforting words to her. As they left, Karina looked back at Hayley. Her eyes were glittering with victory, a small, cruel smile playing on her lips.

Two security guards appeared and roughly pulled Hayley to her feet. They dragged her down a long hallway to a room at the far end of the penthouse. It was a small, windowless space, furnished with nothing but a single, hard chair. They pushed her inside and locked the door.

One of the maids, a younger woman who had always been jealous of Hayley, unlocked the door a few minutes later.

"Mr. Lee said you don't deserve comfort," the maid sneered, yanking the chair out of the room. "And no food or water until you're ready to apologize to Miss Luna."

The door slammed shut again, plunging Hayley into absolute darkness. The air was cold and stale. She slid down the wall to the floor, wrapping her arms around her knees. The throbbing in her head was a dull, constant beat. She was hungry, cold, and trapped in the dark.

She thought about the past. Dean had a phobia of the dark. He couldn't sleep without a light on. Once, during a power outage, he had become almost frantic, and she had held his hand all night, telling him stories until the power came back on. He had called her his light.

The memory was a fresh, deep wound. It was all a lie.

Tears she didn't know she had left began to slide down her cheeks. She cried silently in the cold and the dark, mourning the girl she had been and the love she had believed in.

Hours later, the door finally opened. Dean stood there, silhouetted against the light from the hallway. His face was unreadable.

"Get up," he said, his voice flat. "Get dressed. We're going out."

Hayley tried to stand, but her legs were weak from hunger and cold. She stumbled, her knees buckling.

Karina appeared behind Dean, looking fresh and beautiful in a new dress. "Oh, Hayley, look at you," she said, her voice full of fake sympathy. "You should have just apologized. Dean was so worried about me."

She glanced at a clock on the wall. "We're going to be late for the charity auction. It's a very important event."

Dean's eyes were cold. "Get her dressed," he ordered the maid who stood behind Karina. Two maids came forward and roughly pulled Hayley to her feet, stripping off her simple clothes and forcing her into an elegant, uncomfortable gown. They did her hair and makeup with rough, impatient hands, as if she were a doll.

The auction was a blur of bright lights and loud voices. Hayley felt dizzy and sick. Her head still hurt, and her stomach was a tight knot of hunger. She sat beside Dean, a silent, beautiful accessory.

She paid no attention to the glittering jewels and expensive art being sold. None of it mattered.

Then, a new item was presented. It was a small, unassuming piece. A silver locket on a simple chain.

Hayley' s breath caught in her throat. She would know it anywhere. It had a tiny, unique scratch on the clasp. It was her mother's. It had been stolen from her old apartment years ago, a loss she had grieved deeply.

It was the one thing in the world that was truly hers, the last piece of her old life, of her true self. But she had no money. Dean controlled every cent. She was a bird in a gilded cage, and the cage door was locked.

She turned to Dean, her carefully constructed composure finally breaking. She grabbed his sleeve, her fingers digging into the expensive fabric of his suit.

"Dean, please," she begged, her voice a desperate whisper. "You have to get that for me. Please."

Just then, Karina leaned forward on Dean's other side. "Oh, that's pretty," she said, her voice light and musical. "I think I'd like that, Dean."