Never Loved You, Just A Placeholder

esemblance to a ghost. Karson Willis was my carefully curated su

ound their biological daughter, and my inherit

She's broke," he scoffed. "What's the po

secretly made. At a company dinner, he kissed another woman in front of e

into my home, lettin

, a cold clarity

knee, ring in hand, begging for a s

, pulling my hand away. "Yo

pte

o a ghost. It wasn't a secret, not really, but it was the ki

Willis had been my care

ey. His studio space, tucked away in a fashionable downtown loft, was

ndescending whispers at charity galas and art exhibitions

ver

rtune was vast, a seemingly bottomless well that allowed me to dictate my

myself, staring at his perfect profile, a m

round shifted b

Suddenly, my carefully constructed world began to unravel. My inheritance, once assured, was no longer

's European branch. A polite but firm s

ed so much of myself into, feeling a strange emptiness. My footsteps were soft on the polished c

iratorial, drifted throu

ed. Fannie. Karson's art school friend, always hanging a

ainst my ribs, a frantic d

chimed in. "Clare always act

e laced with a cold amusement I'd rarely heard directed

my throat. My knuckles were white as I

nnie asked, her voice dripping with feigned concern. "Are

roke. Or will be, soon enough. What's the

echo resounded in

lingy she was," Mark added. "Always callin

ard for our 'dream wedding'," Fannie snick

terest board. The one I started years ago, filled with images of a

Please. It was always just for fun. A convenience. I mean, look at her. Sh

lurred. The

washed over me. It was like a suffocating weight

n't wanted him. I had wanted a substitute, a stand-in

illusion I'd meticulously maintained. Free from him. The charade was over, and I