The Sacrifice

MADILYN'S POV

Betrayal hurts the most when it comes from someone you least expect. I wasn't just the substituted bride but a sacrifice to the most feared mafia family.

***

We rode home together, and throughout the ride, I sat quietly at the back of the car. None of them spoke, not even a single word about their fucking plan.

I had so many questions and different thoughts spiraling in my mind as I sat there, but I said nothing.

In three years, I had completely forgotten how the world looked outside the walls of my prison. What it felt like to be free and how beautiful the world looked like.

I watched through the window as we drove past the tall buildings, stores, and every beautiful place I had once been to. Not much had changed. The city was still the same busy and beautiful.

I was grateful that, for once, I could see this again after years of being locked up, but even though I was out of the mental home, I wasn't really free from anything.

I was not just crazy and a witch, but I was a fake.

Taking my sister's identity, I was still locked up, but rather than a mental home, I was trapped in a life that was never meant to be mine.

I had to eat like her, talk like her, walk like her, look like her, smile like her…

I had to be sane like she was.

That was the hardest part of being Marilyn.

I had to be sane.

For three years, I had convinced myself that I was crazy and that this ability was only a curse that was going to end me. I never looked anyone in the eye. I never associated with people.

I hid myself and my curse from the world, locked up and isolated, but now I suddenly needed to be sane?

How the fuck was that supposed to happen?

How could I pretend to be the perfect twin they loved and adored so much that it irked me?

We looked exactly the same. Same blonde hair, same grey eyes, same height, and even the same voice, but how the heck was I going to pull this through without giving us away?

Who the heck was I getting married to, and why did Dad and Mom seem so terrified of him even when his name hadn't been mentioned?

Why was Marilyn missing two days before her wedding?

Was she kidnapped, or did she suddenly run away?

Who kidnapped her?

Why was she the target?

Didn't it put both of us in danger if I showed up as her instead?

If she ran away from home, which was clearly impossible, Marilyn was not the type to cause trouble. But if she did run away, why did she do that?

There were so many questions in my mind, but I couldn't find an answer for any of them.

“Is nobody going to tell me anything?” I finally asked.

I was tired of sitting there and pretending like any of this made sense, like I understood any of this bullshit going on.

“You know what you are supposed to know,” Mom snapped at me, staring at me through the rearview mirror.

“And what is that? That Marilyn is missing and I need to attend her wedding as her?” I scoffed, the whole thing becoming even more confusing now that I had said it out loud.

“It's only for the meantime. We will switch you both back once she has been found.”

Switch us back?

Like the man we were getting married to was a dumb fool or fucking blind?

Was that the plan?

The whole plan was to switch us right back like it would be that easy?

I didn't fucking believe any of this.

This was probably a trap I was walking into.

They were going to push me into the lion's den and hope I didn't get eaten up.

“Switch us back?” I muttered in disbelief.

“You want to steal her place? You think you could ever live as my daughter?” she spat.

Her daughter?

What was I then?

A fucking bastard look-alike?

“You dragged me out of the mental home and forced me to get married in place of your daughter, but I'm the one stealing her place?”

“I don't want to hear a word from any of you.” Dad's voice was firm and left no room for any further questions.

I shut my mouth and looked out the window while replaying every conversation from the hospital till now.

The rest of the drive was quiet, and in a few minutes, we had arrived at the mansion, the place I had once called home…

A place where I had once laughed, smiled, and was genuinely happy.

We went inside the house, and Mom led me into Marilyn's room.

She locked the door behind her. She stared at me for a long while before letting out a soft sigh.

She brought out a piece of paper from her handbag and placed it on the dressing table together with a pen.

“Sign it, Madilyn,” she instructed, and I frowned.

I slowly picked up the paper and read through it.

My eyes widened, my mouth hanging loose as I read the content of what she wanted me to sign.

“Marilyn didn't go missing, did she?”

She chuckled softly, and I knew the answer before she could even say a thing.

“Your dad thinks she is missing,” she muttered, playing with the ring on her finger.

“We will pay you to take her place quietly, and in thirty days, you can be free,” she added, and I scoffed.

I wasn't going to be just a substitute bride for a missing sister.

I was a stand-in because Marilyn didn't want anything to do with her husband.

Dad had no idea, and this was all a planned arrangement.

Mom had hidden her favorite daughter away because she didn't want her to be sent away into an arranged marriage, not just as a bride but as a surrogate.

I had to go in her stead, get pregnant for her husband and within thirty days switch places with her. And not just that, she was also going to claim my child as hers once I gave birth.

“How could you? There…”

“I'm doing you a favor here. You could finally be free from the mental home, and trust me, you are getting paid well for this.”

She didn't even let me finish before she spoke.

“If I don't sign this, what would you do?” I dared to ask, and I saw the smile that appeared on her face when I did.

She was fucking crazy.

To think that she planned all of this was terrifying.

She acted so well while Dad was there back in the car and even at the hospital.

She had accused me of kidnapping my twin sister, knowing fully well that I had nothing to do with it.

How could she even be my mother?

“You would go back to the mental home where you belong, and trust me when I say it would be much worse than before,” she threatened.

“I don't care. I won't sign it.”

“I know you're going to refuse. Trust me, that is not the worst thing that would happen if you refused to sign this agreement.”

“Your dad's company is going bankrupt, and he has no other choice than to give his daughter away in marriage to the Tharlos family. What do you think would happen if they find out he can't keep his end of the deal?”

“So I'm going to be the sacrifice?” I muttered, my voice barely audible.

I knew the Tharlos family, the number one biggest business empire in the whole of California, and not just that, they controlled the underworld, and they were known for their ruthlessness.

They were known for not showing any mercy to anyone who got on their wrong side.

I see why Dad seemed to be tense and why he was desperate to send me in place of my sister.

He was going to be killed if they found out that there was no bride at the wedding tomorrow.

But things would get worse if they found out I was the fake twin.

Either way, Dad was going to be in big trouble.

How the heck was the company even going bankrupt?

We had been the best logistics company in the whole country, and now we were suddenly going bankrupt?

How did that even make any sense?

“So what is it going to be? Watch your father die and return to the mental hospital, or sign the goddamn papers.”

She didn't care if Dad was going to die or if I was going to get caught and die too.

All she cared about was one thing: making sure her favorite daughter was safe.

I shouldn't give a fuck about Dad.

He stood there three years ago when I was forced into a mental institution. He watched as I was being maltreated and tortured.

He announced my death together with Mom at a press conference, but even when he had hurt me so much, I couldn't dare to say no.

Rowan had died because of me.

If I had tried harder and made sure he didn't go out that day, he would still be alive…

If only I had tried.

It was only a matter of time before the death shadow appeared behind Dad.

I could feel it.

Only I could save him, even if he might never find out about this.

I picked up the pen and slowly signed the contract.

“Good. Make sure no one else finds out. The Tharlos mustn't find out you are fake. You know what happens if they do.”

Of course I did.

And trust me, nobody wanted that to happen.

Not me. Not Mom. Not Dad. Not Marilyn.

None of us would be safe.