Chapter 5

The knock on my door at exactly nine o’clock felt less like a greeting and more like a police raid. I stood in the middle of the threadbare living room, clutching a chipped ceramic mug, watching the thin morning sunlight stripe the worn carpet. I was still in the same jeans and sweater I wore when I stood up to Alessandro, a desperate attempt to cling to the woman I was before the contract.

I opened the door.

The man standing there was not Alessandro, but a wall of polished black wool and severe professionalism. He was the driver from last night, though he introduced himself formally.

“Mrs. Conti,” he stated, the title falling from his lips with terrifying ease. His gaze, however, didn’t register me. It registered the state of my home. “I am Marcus. I’ve brought the team and the necessary items, as requested by Mr. Conti.”

Before I could process the words, a sleek black van materialized behind the Mercedes, and two women emerged, carrying garment bags and makeup cases that looked more expensive than my entire house.

The lead woman, slender, chic, and radiating Parisian disdain, stepped forward. “I am Celeste, Madame. The schedule is tight. We must have you ready for Mr. Conti’s grandfather by eleven sharp. Where is the space with the best light?”

I blinked, momentarily speechless. “The best light? Look, this is my home, not a photo studio. I have a tiny bathroom and a kitchen—”

Celeste waved a dismissive hand, her eyes sweeping over the cramped room with an air of profound offense. “Nonsense. The kitchen table will suffice. Marcus, clear the area. Set up the lamps.”

It was a complete takeover. In minutes, the room was transformed. My old, rickety wooden kitchen table, where Leo and I used to do his homework and share watery soup, was suddenly covered in high-definition lighting rigs, silver mirrors, and an impossible array of cosmetics. The scent of exotic perfumes and new leather instantly suffocated the familiar, comforting smell of dust and old coffee grounds.

I retreated to the corner, clutching my mug. “I feel like I’m watching an alien invasion,” I muttered to myself.

“The selection is ready, Madame,” the second woman, a stylist named Chloe, announced, pulling open a garment bag. Racks of clothing appeared, seemingly from nowhere, silks, cashmeres, sharp wool suits, all in muted, expensive colors. “Mr. Conti specified elegant, modest, but memorable for the initial meeting. And no pastels.”

My eyes glazed over the price tags I didn't dare look at. “He’s so thoughtful,” I said, dripping sarcasm that was entirely lost on the two professionals. “He didn't send clothes; he sent a uniform. A costume for the role.”

Celeste, already mixing foundation on a palette, looked up, a slight frown marring her perfect brow. “Madame, Mr. Conti is a man of impeccable taste. You must look the part. You are the partner of a titan. You must project stability and grace. Now, sit. We have twenty minutes for the face.”

I sank onto the chair, feeling utterly powerless. As Celeste began to meticulously transform my face, smoothing away the dark circles that were the badge of my exhaustion and debt, I pulled out my phone and quickly texted Mia.

ELARA: SOS. The Conti army has invaded. I am currently being polished like a trophy wife. Send moral support.

Mia responded instantly with a series of frantic capital letters.

MIA: TELL ME EVERYTHING. ARE YOU AT THE MANOR YET? HOW DOES THE CLOTHING LOOK? HE’S A MONSTER BUT HIS MONEY IS MAGIC.

I held the phone to my ear, muffling my voice against my shoulder so Celeste wouldn’t hear. “It’s ridiculous, Mia. I’m still at the house, but it’s unrecognizable. They brought enough haute couture to clothe a small nation. I look up and see a fifteen-thousand-dollar silk blouse where my father’s old newspaper pile used to be.”

This is the price. Every brush stroke, every smooth layer of expensive foundation, is paid for by the loss of my old life, but bought for the gain of Leo’s. Ten million dollars of silk and shame. I must stop thinking of it as my clothing.

“And the man?” Mia pressed. “Did you talk to the ice cube again?”

“No, he’s probably too busy calculating the next acquisition. He just issued orders through his servants. It’s all so new, Mia. The whole operation is designed to make me feel small, disposable, and utterly reliant on him. He doesn't even have to look at me to control me.” I sighed, watching Chloe carefully remove the earrings I’d worn since high school, replacing them with subtle, heavy diamond studs.

“Tell me about the face, Elara. Do you still look like you?”

“No,” I whispered, watching Celeste darken my eyebrows and define my cheekbones, carving out a sculpted look that belonged on a magazine cover. “I look like a stranger. I look like a woman who has never worried about a co-pay or a late bill. She is beautiful, Mia. But she’s not me. I’m scared, Mia. What if I can’t play this role? What if Arthur Conti sees straight through the diamonds and the designer clothes and knows I’m a desperate fraud?”

“Then you get slapped again, and you stand up again, only this time you have ten million dollars in the bank,” Mia said fiercely. “Stop panicking. You are the most resilient person I know. And look, you already got him to drop his professional facade once with that slap! You have a fire he clearly forgot existed. Use it.”

“He didn’t get angry, Mia. That’s the problem. He got cold. It’s worse. The coldness means he doesn't care enough to feel angry.” I paused, the memory of his hard, perfect jaw and the faint bruise still vivid. “But when he grabbed my arm last night, there was this surge. I hated him, but I was aware of him, of his strength. And when he was talking about the contract kiss… there was this horrible, deep-seated part of me that was terrified and yet… curious. He’s the enemy, Mia, but he’s also physically devastating, and that’s the most humiliating part of this whole lie.”

“Don't confuse his good genes with his good heart, Elara. He is a stunning package with a rotten core. You are there for Leo. Say that name over and over again.”

“Leo,” I repeated, the name a grounding anchor. “Okay. I can do this.”

I ended the call just as Celeste pulled away, examining her handiwork with a look of critical satisfaction.

“Better. The cheekbones finally project authority,” Celeste murmured, moving toward the clothing rack.

Chloe presented a fitted, dark navy dress, simple, structured, and devastatingly elegant. I changed behind a makeshift screen, the silk fabric cool against my skin. It was heavier, more substantial than anything I had ever worn. It felt like money.

Chloe returned, fastening a delicate, antique silver necklace around my throat. As she bent close, her fingers brushing the sensitive skin of my neck, the proximity was somehow. She was simply doing her job, but in this forced intimacy, wearing these clothes, I felt a sharp, sudden wave of panic and unwanted tension. The boundaries of my personal space, my identity, and my privacy had been completely obliterated.

I looked up into the mirror, and the woman staring back at me was an immaculate stranger. She had the eyes of Elara Vance, still tired, still holding sorrow, but they were framed by the perfect, unyielding polish of Mrs. Alessandro Conti.

“Excellent. You are ready,” Celeste announced, packing up her station with the speed of a military operation.

Marcus approached, holding a velvet box containing a pair of diamond earrings and a simple gold wedding band. “The ring, Mrs. Conti. And the earrings. Mr. Conti will expect you to wear them at all times in public.”

I reached out and took the ring. It was heavy, cool, and symbolized the ten million dollar lie. I slipped it onto my finger. It fit perfectly. Of course it did. Alessandro Conti would not deal in approximations.

I walked out of the kitchen, the sleek heels Marcus provided clicking lightly on the worn floorboards, a sound that was utterly foreign in this house. The team filed out, leaving the empty shell of my old life behind.

I paused at the front door, looking at the scuffed, familiar wall where Leo had measured his height every six months. My childhood home. The last memory of my father.

Marcus held the car door open. “The Manor awaits, Mrs. Conti. We mustn’t keep Mr. Arthur waiting.”

I took one final, burning breath of the stale, familiar air. Goodbye, Elara Vance. Hello, Elara Conti. I stepped out and slid into the deep black leather of the Mercedes.

As the car pulled away, leaving the modest house and the heavy shadow of debt behind, all my calculated coolness evaporated. I was terrified. 

Facing the cold monster who bought me was one thing. Facing the benevolent, perceptive man who believed in love, the man I had to deceive, was going to be the hardest performance of my life.