The Substitute Wife's Sweet Escape

o the powerful Donovan Blackwood. It was a contract. My payment f

a woman he truly lo

e pushed me into

e screamed for the rescuers to sa

e to a torturer

, but for the money. He mistook my sile

act didn't break my heart, it just

er. The fifty million d

his pillow and walked awa

n. He's just now realizing the truth, and he's coming for m

pte

brary of the Blackwood mansion. It was my moth

ime. The three year

scent of old paper and leather filling my

greedy edge. "Fifty million dollars. Once the contract is of

ast, empty room. It was the on

a still lake on a windless day. The

studded with diamonds I never looked at too closely. It wasn't mine. Nothing in this hou

host. A s

. It was a merger of families, a deal sealed with a wedding vow. But Isabella, who

Millers couldn't afford to lose the B

said, his face pale with panic. "You l

a trust fund attached to the contract. Fifty million dollars. It becomes yours wh

van Blackwood is not a man to be trifled with. He had a woman he loved, Chloe Sanders. Our deal forced them apart. He w

mansion was a study in silence and invisibility. I lived in a separate wing. We ate at opposite ends of a comically l

iked his coffee, the precise temperature he preferred for his study. I th

Once, he even said, "Thank you," when I brought him a file he'd forgotten. A tiny flic

e Sanders

, which was barely on me to begin with, snapped back to her. My existence was

secret that kept me safe, a shield around my h

-dollar payday. That money was my real goal. It was my escape from a childhood where I was always second best, the shadow to Isabella's sun. The qu

as a year ago, a storm raging outside, mirroring the one that was

n. The pharmacy is about to close. Go get it and take it

in the garage, and drove into the storm. The wind and rain were so violent I

hen I heard voices from the living room. Dono

house?" his friend asked. "After everything? C

complicated. But make no mistake, if I had to choose between her and

ipping from my hair onto the plush carpet. The

ked at me, my drenched and pathetic state. For a fleeting momen

as quickly a

ugh," he said, his

not even looking at me. I walked over to the couch where Chloe

stood under a hot shower, trying to wash away the chill. B

t night, his face a mask of fury. He

to her?" he snarle

thi

's hysterical. She sa

he edge of the rug. I fell, my head hitting the corner of the

," I whispered

what this is, Ava. Or Isabella, or whoever the hell you are. This is a contra

al clear. He was right. It was just a contract. And tomorrow, it would be