A Substitute No More, A Queen Returns

iancée. For five years, my brothers fin

m at the altar-returned with a fake cance

he tried to poison me with a venomo

ning her party, my brother

less substitute, a pla

tied me to a rope and left me

ked my death, and disappeared. They wan

pte

Dougl

oman on his arm at every gala, the one whose name was whispered in the same breath as his. And in five shor

ided attention. A hostile takeover that couldn't be postponed. A trip to Monaco he couldn' t miss. Our wedding, the real one, with

voice a low, intoxicating rumble that made me believe anything.

esperate part of me that had been starved its whole life was finally being fed. I th

Haleigh' s finger. The same Haleigh who had left him standing at the altar five years ago, running off

he document. Jameson never even glanced out the

Haleigh, my identical twin, looked radiant. You' d never know she was dying. That was her story, at leas

white against her crimson dress. It was a victory flag. She waved it, not

fake tears. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry for wha

ile spread across her face. "But tell me, Jameson," she said, her voice carrying across the street in the qu

's roar faded to a dull hum. I watched Jameson, my Jameson, the man who had held m

idn't answer. One secon

avy and thick as wet cement, bega

lance. "Love you?" he repeated Haleigh' s question, but

y name on his lips was a

wasn't true. I wasn't Bailey. I was just not Haleigh. A plac

rms around Jameson's neck and kissed him, a deep, possessive kiss that staked her claim. He ki

y hand flying to my mouth to stifle a so

it. It wa

oors flew open, and my three older brothers-Derrick, Bl

the oldest, boomed, holding up a bottle

her in a group hug, their voices a

, are yo

dn't be ou

get you

lly started treating me with the warmth I' d craved my entire life. They didn' t e

igh, the conquering hero, into the car. Jameso

ammed shut, and

forgotten accessory to a life

against the cold glass of the coffee shop window. Th

, everyone she met. I was the quiet, forgotten spare. She got the praise; I got the hand-me-downs. She got the lead in the school play; I was in the chorus. She got

lair family was enraged. My brothers, who had adored her, swore they no longer had a sister named Hal

igh' s name, his hands framing my face, his breath thick with whiskey and grief. "Why did y

despair, he made me an offer. "Marry me, Bailey," he' d whis

rong. I knew I was a substitute. But I thought, I pray

sai

ed the world. He held me and told me I was beautiful. My brothers, Derrick, Blake, and Kane, became the older brothers I' d al

fe, I believed I was loved.

ks ago, Halei

he protection-it all snapped back to her like a rubber band, leavin

nto a sob. Tears streamed down my face, hot and useless. A man walking h

duct on a shelf, kept in pristine condit

m

spark in the ove

a substit

gs felt like lead, but I forced them to move. I wouldn' t go back to

my hand, a useless gesture. They w

rent city. "I won't take your scraps

y chest. A pain so profound it felt physical.

straigh

g, until a sleek, black taxi pulled up

miss?" the

ialized in the portfolios of the ultra-wealthy, a firm my grandmother had used. A

l Realty on Lexington,"

er chair opposite a man named Mr. Abernathy. His su

said gently, "how

g in my lungs. I met his gaze, my own r

e surprisingly steady. "The most remote, u