Chapter 11

~ LENA ~

By the time I got back to the house, my head felt heavy and every part of me ached.

It wasn’t just tiredness. It was the kind of exhaustion that sinks into your bones. Physical. Mental. Emotional. The kind that comes from smiling too much, from pretending too well, from answering questions that didn’t belong to you.

Elise had called it ‘final confirmations’.

It hadn’t been final. It had felt endless.

We had gone over everything again. Every single detail of the wedding ranging from the menu, to the floral installations, to the seating chart, to wine pairings, order of speeches, the exact timing of the string quartet…

The string quartet. To my surprise, Elise had arranged for them. In my presence, they had rehearsed the exact version of the bridal march I would walk to.

Kim had wanted perfection, and Elise was delivering it.

The only problem was, I wasn’t Kim.

Every girl wanted her wedding to be beautiful, unforgettable. But having over three hundred wedding guests, a giant, towering seven-tier wedding cake, and orchids flown in from somewhere expensive and unnecessary were a bit overboard for me.

You don’t have to like it, I’d told myself in the middle of it all when my head began to spin. All you have to do is smile and pretend. Pretend to be Kimberly, ’cos that’s who you are now.

And that was exactly what I’d done.

Ashley had arrived halfway through the meeting. To my surprise, she appeared much more friendly. Even asked me politely if she could join in.

I didn’t refuse. Even though I wanted to.

She was all smiles as she sat beside me like we were friends. She asked questions about the centerpieces. Even complimented my ‘taste’.

Around her, I was more conscious of myself. Hyper-aware of how I acted and every word I said. Watching her, I couldn’t help but wonder what was really going on behind those bright smiles. Was she genuinely being nice, or was she studying me, dissecting me in ways I couldn’t see?

By the time the meeting ended, my temples were throbbing. When I stood in front of the townhouse, my shoulders sagged. I’d had enough noise for one day. All I wanted was peace, and silence.

I slipped the key into the lock and pushed the door open—then froze. For a split second, the possibility that I might have entered the wrong house crossed my mind.

There were roses everywhere. Red. White. Not one bouquet, not two, but several, arranged in tall glass vases.

They covered every available surface in the living room—side tables, the console near the stairs, the dining table… Even the window ledges. The air was thick with their sweet scent.

It wasn’t Valentine’s Day. I double-checked the date in my head as I slowly stepped inside and closed the door behind me.

On the coffee table in the center of the living room was the largest bouquet of all—a lavish arrangement of blood-red roses, with white roses precisely arranged in the middle to spell out the name KIM.

Surrounding it were gift boxes of varying sizes. Some wrapped in satin ribbons, others encased in sleek ivory packaging stamped with familiar designer logos.

Speechless, and with fingers that shook slightly, I picked up the card resting in the bouquet, reading it even though I already knew whom it was from.

I know today was stressful. I wanted you to come home to something that makes you smile. I hope you love them.

— N

The words lingered, warming my heart.

I swallowed. I shouldn’t be smiling. This wasn’t for me. It was for Kimberly, the woman he believed I was.

Still…I couldn’t stop myself.

No one had ever done anything close to this for me. No one had ever filled a room with flowers just to brighten my day.

I sat down slowly on the sofa, staring at the boxes like they might disappear if I looked away. With excitement bubbling up inside me, I reached for one of the smaller boxes, despite the voice of guilt creeping into my mind, telling me I was about to open another woman’s gifts.

The little velvet box revealed a delicate diamond bracelet, glimmering like the massive stone of Kim’s engagement ring resting on my finger. I gasped, nearly dropping it in shock as I lifted it out. It was so beautiful. Elegant. Expensive. Probably worth more than a year of hospital bills.  

Gently, I set it aside, curiosity pulling me towards the next box. Inside was a bottle of designer perfume.

The third one held silk lingerie, the kind that made me blush just imagining myself wearing it in front of Nathan.

 I wanted to stop opening boxes but I couldn’t. My curiosity was stronger than my guilt.

I unboxed heels next. They were exactly my size. So elegant they looked like they belonged in a glass case.

Then a dress that went perfectly with the shoes. And a Birkin bag. My mouth dropped open. I had never even dared to dream of owning one.

Finally, an envelope. Inside was a platinum membership to one of Manhattan’s most exclusive skincare clinics—private entrance, a personal aesthetician, unlimited treatments.

My breath left me slowly. Any woman could fall for a man like this. Any woman.

Then the smile on my face faded.

“This life isn’t yours, Lena,” I whispered to myself. “He thinks you’re Kim. He loves Kim, not you. Get it into your head.”

Why did that thought hurt? Why was I suddenly wishing I was Kim?

My phone rang unexpectedly, making me jump.

It was the new phone. The one Julian had handed over to me along with Kim’s ring. The one that completed my cover as Kimberly.

Nathan’s name flashed on the screen. I wasn’t surprised. He’d called me earlier, while I was still with Dahlia and Elise. At the end of it all, he made sure his chauffeur took me home.

“Hello?”

“Did you get home safe?” His voice was warm, calm, protective. He was a very busy man but he was also caring and attentive, making it seem like he had nothing else in the world to do but check on me.

“Yes,” I replied, then paused as I looked around the room again at all the flowers and gifts. “Nathan—the presents…”

“You like them, I hope?” There was something almost vulnerable in his tone.

“Of course, I do,” I said quickly. “I love them!” I shook my head, tears staining my eyes. He really had no idea, did he? “You made me speechless. This is…too much.”

“Too much?” He sounded oddly surprised, as though the words ‘too much’ coming from Kimberly was something he wasn’t accustomed to.

I quickly took back the words.

“No, I mean—I’m just so surprised. I wasn’t expecting this at all.”

He chuckled softly. “Good. That’s the reaction I was aiming for.”

“My living room looks like a garden. But I love it!”

He laughed at the thrill in my voice. “I’m glad you do, love. I was going to steal you away for lunch,” he continued, “but I was told the wedding army held you hostage.”

I laughed. He sounded so relaxed. Not like the powerful CEO everyone else saw.

“Dinner then. What do you say?”

My heart skipped. Dinner meant sitting across from him. It meant him looking at me in that way that always made me feel uncomfortable. Him kissing me again, touching me.

I hesitated. But before I could respond, he went on after a brief pause on his end, like someone closeby had just whispered something to him.

“Wait. How about we make it tomorrow night? Something just came up. I’ll be leaving the office late today.”

Relief washed over me so quickly that I felt guilty.

“That’s fine,” I said—too fast.

He noticed. “You sure?”

“Yes. I… I’ll manage without you tonight.”

We spoke for a couple more minutes. He told me not to stress myself. To rest and not to overthink anything about the wedding.

Overthink. If only he knew…

When we hung up, the room felt too quiet. I looked at the roses again. At the bracelet, the lingerie… At the life laid out before me, a path I had chosen to save my sister’s life.

Nathan was a good man. He was kind, caring, attentive… And right now, that terrified me more than anything. Because I could already feel it happening—that softening, that part of me that was beginning to respond to him against my will.

Sighing, I ran my fingers lightly over the petals of the roses in the bouquet with Kim’s name on it.

They were soft, beautiful…just like this life. And just as dangerous.

Because they had six months attached to them. Six months of pretending. Six months of smiling at a man who believed I loved him. Six months of sharing a bed, of letting him touch me, of learning the rhythm of his breathing at night.

Would I still be normal afterwards? I wondered.

What if the real danger wasn’t being discovered? I asked myself. What if the real danger was falling in love before the six-months lie ended?