The Switch

The next thirty minutes went by in a rush.

I had twenty minutes to get ready.

I stared at the wedding dress. I designed this dress for her. And throughout the sleepless nights I spent making sure every stitch was in place, I never once imagined myself in it.

It’s not even my style.

As I put it on and looked at my reflection in the mirror, I looked exactly like her. No one would know we’d switched places, except for those careful enough to read the pain in my eyes.

Identical twins. A lot of people would wish to have one. But for me, it has been a nightmare for the past twenty-three years of my life. Being seen as nothing but a shadow, a doppelgänger for Aria.

“All done,” the makeup artist said with a smile.

She’d been asked to fix my face up in just five minutes. It wasn’t much makeup, but it was enough to hide the swollen under-eyes from all my crying yesterday.

My mother pushed the door open so forcefully it ruined my train of thought.

“One last thing,” she said with a smile before picking up the designer bottle of Aria’s favorite cranberry perfume.

She sprayed a generous amount on the dress and on me.

The scent made me feel exactly the way they wanted me to feel, like a placeholder, Aria’s placeholder.

“Perfect,” she said, then stretched her hands to help me up. But I refused to take them and stood on my own.

“Let’s get this over with,” I mumbled.

We had ten minutes to get to the church, which was more than enough.

My father stood by the car outside, waiting for me as if I would escape if he let me out of his sight.

Please, I’m not Aria.

A sense of reality dawned on me the moment we stepped into the wedding hall.

The decorations were so luxurious they could feed half of this town for months. Cameras were everywhere; the media men were hungry for content. Reporters wanted anything and everything they could get from this wedding.

The guests were all adorned in designer suits and dresses worth more than my father’s net worth.

This was the wedding of the century.

The Vale heir was finally getting married. What he didn’t know was that his bride had been switched.

It was time for me to walk down the aisle. Dad held my hand tightly.

Each step I took toward the man in the finely tailored suit was a nightmare, a heartbreak so deep I feared I’d crumble.

As the wedding bells rang and Dad and I slowly inched closer to the altar, his grip on me got even tighter. It wasn’t out of love, but pure possession.

If I tripped, he wouldn’t catch me; he’d just tell me to walk faster.

The closer we got to the altar, the clearer I could see my husband, no, my sister’s husband, Edrick Vale.

We made it to the altar in one piece. Dad softly placed my hand in Edrick’s. I almost shivered from how cold his hands felt. I dared to look up at the man with deep brown eyes. His face was blank, and he wasn’t even looking at me.

I looked back at his hands, cold, yet I felt like my palms would burn if he held them too long.

The priest started the ceremony, talking and talking until it was time to take our vows.

I was too caught up in the brewing panic and mental struggle to hear Edrick’s vows, except for the last line:

“And know this, you are mine. Every thought, every heartbeat, every breath. I exist only in you.”

I gulped hard. Those words weren’t meant for me. He’d just poured his whole heart out to Aria, yet here I was, in her dress, feeling the butterflies.

My vow was short, simple, something I’d tweaked that morning. Nothing close to his poetic masterpiece.

“Do you, Edrick Vale, take Aria Dawson to be your lawfully wedded wife?” the priest’s voice filled the hall.

The mention of Aria’s name made me tremble. I prayed Edrick wouldn’t notice how profusely I was sweating.

“I do,” he said. His voice was flat, almost robotic. His eyes still weren’t on me. And it made me wonder, did he catch our lie already?

“And do you, Aria, take Edrick Vale to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

“I do!” I said. It was so quick I almost choked on my saliva.

“You may kiss the bride.”

The words sounded like a death sentence.

Edrick leaned in, and I feared he would hear how loud my heart pounded.

What’s more awkward than marrying your sister’s fiancé? Maybe kissing him.

I shut my eyes tight the moment his lips brushed mine.

It was fast, pale, with zero emotion, as if he dreaded it as much as I did.

I was glad the absurd celebration was over.

We were all moved to the Vale mansion, where the reception would hold.

I spent half the time trying to reach Aria. Still nothing.

“Mom, I’m getting worried about Aria,” I whispered when we were alone.

“Shut up about that, dear. Your dad will handle it,” my mom said. She’d had that wide smile plastered on her face ever since we stepped into the Vale mansion. She was trying so hard to please Mrs. Vale. I wished I could tell her she was just embarrassing herself.

“Look at the marvelous dress your in-laws sent you,” she said, raising the burgundy gown. It was adorned with real diamonds! the heaviest dress I’d ever touched. Even as a designer, I was undeniably impressed by how exquisite the sewing was.

“You mean Aria’s in-laws,” I said, just to piss her off.

She shushed me instantly and called the dressers to get me ready.

The makeup artist worked on my face while another curled my hair. My nails were being painted too, all at the same time.

For a moment, I closed my eyes and pretended this was my life. Just to enjoy the pleasure of this luxury.

But that little daydream ended when one of the Vale sisters, who was chatting with my mother, said,

“I heard our bride has a twin sister. I didn’t spot her anywhere.”

My mom let out a crooked chuckle.

“Oh, yes. Alina. We don’t talk about her much. She felt some party was way more important than her sister’s wedding.”

Her words burned me. I took deep breaths to stop myself from crying. How could she?

“Well, that doesn’t sound good,” the lady said.

“Oh, well, we always learn to live without the rebels,” Mom added with another awkward laugh.

I was so close to standing up and announcing that I was Alina, and that the so-called deviant was Aria.

But I reminded myself this was for my sister, not for me or my parents.

A couple of hours later, the door pushed open and Edrick walked in, wearing a new suit that matched my dress.

He stared at me for an awkwardly long moment. I expected him to say something.

Instead, he inched closer and reached for my hand.

“The guests are waiting,” he said.

I gave a quick nod.

We were about to step out when the man I recognized as Mr. Vale walked in.

“Father,” Edrick said, clear discomfort in his eyes.

But his father’s gaze held nothing but warmth and love, not just toward Edrick, but toward me too.

“You look beautiful, Aria.” He gave me a hug, and for the first time today, I smiled genuinely.

“Thank you, Mr. Vale.”

“Oh, Aria, it’s Dad to you now.” His warm smile made me feel comfortable instantly.

“I brought a little gift for the couple of the century!” He handed us the white envelope he was holding.

“Two months?” Edrick yelled the moment he read what was stamped on the envelope.

“That’s bullshit, Father. What about the company?”

“I’ll handle the company. I want you and your wife to have a good time for as long as you want,” Mr. Vale said.

Meanwhile, I was still reading the contents of the envelope: one-month vacation on a private island owned by the Vales, and another one-month tour across Europe.

It felt like a fairytale. A dream come true.

But of course, the trip was meant for Aria, not me.

I let out a weak sigh.

“You two enjoy yourselves,” Mr. Vale said, then walked out of the dressing room.

I was about to follow, but Edrick held my wrist tightly.

“You may have gotten what you wanted,” he said, his tone low and sharp. “But let me make this clear, Aria, this marriage is nothing but a charade. You’ll never be a wife to me.”

With that, he walked out, leaving me to digest his words.

Holy crap.

I need to get to Aria.