The Substitute Heiress
He wanted a replacement. I was the original.
For three years, I was Evie, a woman with no past, saved from a tragic accident by the devastatingly powerful Nathaniel Blackwood. He gave me a name, a home, and a purpose as his contract lover. I thought it was love. The night he proposed in a shower of gardenias, I believed my fairy tale had come true.
Until she walked back into his life.
Serena Sterling. His missing first love. The woman whose face is my mirror image. In a single moment, my world shatters. I discover I’m not his beloved, I’m her gilded substitute. Every detail of my life, from my perfume to my smile, was curated to match her. And now that the original has returned, the copy is discarded.
Heartbroken and betrayed, I vanish from his penthouse with nothing but the clothes I wore when I woke up in the hospital three years ago.
But my escape uncovers a truth more dangerous than his deception. I am not a nobody. I am Alessandra Vanderbilt, the missing heiress to a billion-dollar empire. The accident that stole my memory wasn’t random, it was an attempt on my life. And the woman who shares my face may have been the one who ordered the hit.
Now, I have two battles to fight: reclaiming my legacy from the aunt who wants me gone, and resisting Nathaniel Blackwood, who has realized too late that the woman he threw away is the only one he truly craves.
He’s using every resource from ruthless business deals, public grand gestures, and soul-baring groveling to win me back. But how do you trust a man who loved you only as a reflection of another?
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Chapter: Chapter 4Nathaniel It was the fourth day she had left.I woke up with Serena’s arm clamped around my chest, her face mashed into my shoulder like she was trying to crawl inside my skin. Her breathing was too loud. I had never gotten used to it. Evie slept quietly, a soft rhythm you could barely hear. I peeled her arm off gently. She made a small sound but didn’t wake. I slid out of bed and stood there for a second, looking at her, still pale and fragile, I never asked her what had happened to her in the past three years that made her disappear. But here she was, in flash and blood. Oh how long I have waited for a moment like this, but now that she was here, it still feels like something was missing.The hallway outside the master suite was so quiet it hummed. I walked down it, my bare feet cold on the floor. I stopped at the guest room door. I hadn’t gone in since she left.I pushed it open.It was clean. All the clothes I had bought her were well arranged. The dresses, the cashmere sweater
Last Updated: 2026-01-26
Chapter: Chapter 3EvieHe stepped out of the SUV, opened the back door, and looked at me like he had already made the decision.“Get in.”“No,” I choked out, stumbling back. “Who are you? Get away from me!”He moved fast. A hand on my arm, not rough but impossible to break. He guided me into the back seat like I was luggage. The door slammed, then the locks thudded down.“Please,” I whispered, pressing myself against the door. “I don’t have any money.”He got into the driver’s seat and started the engine. He looked at me in the rearview mirror. “I’ve been looking for you for three years, Miss Vanderbilt.”The name didn’t ring a bell or fit.“My name is Evie.”He reached the passenger seat, picked up a tablet, and handed it back to me without looking.On the screen was a grainy photo, taken outside Mount Sinai Hospital. I, in my dress, hair a mess, face pale with shock stared at the hospital doors. I was a blur in the background of a news shot about a charity wing. This was from the day I traced Damien
Last Updated: 2026-01-26
Chapter: Chapter 2EvieThree days later, she moved in.Nathaniel brought her in himself, one hand carrying her suitcase, the other resting at her waist like she might collapse if he let go. She was wrapped in my cream cashmere robe, the one he bought for me in Paris because he said it made my skin glow, and I stood there watching her cross the foyer like she had every right to be there.“It’s cold in here,” she murmured, tucking herself closer into his side.“I know,” he murmured, adjusting the robe around her shoulders without thinking, then he looked at me.“Evie,” he said carefully. “Serena will be staying with us for a while in the guest suite.”Serena lifted her head and looked straight at me, assessing me, Then she turned back to Nathaniel and her voice became softer.“Thank you, Nate,” she whispered.Nate.Nathaniel stiffened when she called him that, just for a second, then something in him gave way. His hand tightened at her back, his expression was gentle.That was the first day.The next mor
Last Updated: 2026-01-26
Chapter: Chapter 1EvieThe smell of gardenias was so strong I could taste it in the back of my throat. They were everywhere, choking the rooftop terrace. My favourite, Nathaniel had said.He had picked out this dress too. White silk, Zac Posen design. He laid it on the bed himself, a gesture he pulled off most times I have to dress up.“Wear this tonight. You know you love Zac Pose.” I don’t. And if I did, I didn’t remember. But I trusted him. I always trusted him with everything, because three years ago, I woke up with no memory of who I was. It was a miracle I survived and I owe him for that.I still remember the blur of hospital lights and then his face, calm and reassuring, like he was the only one who ever cared for me in my lifetime. He met me with a smile, telling me he had taken care of everything, he had saved me from a gastric accident that claimed the life of my driver.He took me to his mansion. He fed me, clothed me, and taught me what good wine tasted like. It was the perfect life any wo
Last Updated: 2026-01-26
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