BEAUTIFUL TERRIBLE FATE

I had to tell my parents. Had to tell them now.

I ran out of the room, still clutching the note, my heart hammering against my ribs. Found them in a private sitting room greeting early arrivals, donors, business partners, people who mattered.

"Mom. Dad." My voice was too loud. Too panicked. "I need to talk to you. Now."

My father looked annoyed at the interruption. "Eve, we're in the middle of..."

"NOW."

Something in my voice made them both stop. Made them excuse themselves and follow me to an empty room.

"What is this about?" Mom demanded. "Where's Sophia? She should be getting into her dress..."

I held out the note with a shaking hand.

My mother snatched it. Read it. The color drained from her face.

She handed it to my father without a word.

I watched him read it. Watched his expression go from confusion to shock to something like horror.

"No." His voice was hollow. "No, this can't be happening."

"She's gone," I whispered. "She left. She's on a plane to Italy right now."

My mother's legs gave out. She sank into a chair, her face white as the wedding dress upstairs.

"We're ruined," she breathed. "The Sterlings will destroy us. Richard will pull out of the deal. We'll lose everything...the company, the house, our reputation. Everything."

My father just stood there, staring at the note like if he looked hard enough, the words would change.

"How could she do this?" Mom's voice was rising toward hysteria. "How could she be so selfish? So cruel? Doesn't she understand what this means for us?"

Not "is she okay."

Not "is she safe."

Just "what about us."

I felt sick.

"We have to cancel," Dad said finally, his voice dead. "We have to tell the Sterlings. Call off the ceremony. Try to salvage what we can from the business deal, though I doubt..."

"Wait." Mom's voice cut through the panic. She was staring at me with an expression I'd never seen before. Something calculating. Something desperate.

Something that made my skin crawl.

"What if we don't cancel?"

Dad looked at her like she'd lost her mind. "Margaret, the bride is gone. We can't have a wedding without..."

"Eve could do it."

The words hung in the air like a bomb.

I stopped breathing.

"What?" My voice came out as barely a whisper.

Mom stood up, suddenly energized, moving toward me with frightening intensity. "You could take her place. You're about the same height. Same coloring more or less. The dress would need minor alterations but we have time..."

"Are you INSANE?" I backed away from her. "I can't marry Damon Sterling! That's...Mom, that's crazy!"

"Is it?" She grabbed my arms, her fingers digging in too tight. "Think about it, Eve. Same last name. Most of the guests don't even know either of you well enough to tell the difference. We could pull this off."

"He'll say no," I said desperately. "Damon will never agree to this. He doesn't even know I exist!"

"We'll convince him." Dad was on board now, I could see it happening. Desperation making them both insane. "We'll make him see it's the best option. The deal can still go through. The merger can still happen. We just... substitute one daughter for another."

"I am not a PRODUCT you can swap out!" My voice cracked. "I'm a person! You can't just..."

"Eve, please." My father's voice broke. "Please. If this wedding doesn't happen, we lose everything. Your grandfather's company, everything he built will be gone. We'll be bankrupt within six months. Our family will be destroyed."

"That's not my fault!" Tears were burning my eyes. "Sophia did this! She's the one who ran! Why should I have to fix her mess?"

"Because you're family." Mom's voice was steel now. "Because this is what family does. They sacrifice for each other."

"Sophia didn't sacrifice for anyone!"

"Sophia is gone." Dad moved toward me, his face desperate. "But you're here. You can save us, Eve. You're the only one who can save us."

"He won't want me," I whispered. "You know he won't want me."

"We'll make him understand it's the best option for everyone." Dad was already moving toward the door. "Let me talk to Richard Sterling. Let me explain the situation. Just...put on the dress. Be ready. Please, Eve. Please."

"Dad..."

"For once in your life, be the daughter we need."

The words hit like a slap.

For once in your life, be useful.

For once in your life, matter.

For once in your life, be enough.

I looked at my parents...these people who'd spent my entire life making me feel invisible, making me feel less than, making me feel like I only existed to serve as Sophia's understudy.

And now they needed me.

Now I mattered.

"Give me the note," Dad said, holding out his hand. "I'll handle the Sterlings. You get into that dress."

I should have said no.

Should have walked away.

Should have let them face the consequences of Sophia's choices.

But I didn't.

Because I was Eve Morgan. The backup daughter. The forgettable one. The sister who'd spent twenty-four years learning that her only value was in making herself useful to others.

So I handed him the note.

And I went upstairs to put on my sister's wedding dress.

Thirty minutes later, I was standing in front of a mirror wearing Sophia's dress while two seamstresses worked frantically to alter it to fit me. Taking it in at the waist. Letting it out slightly at the hips. Adjusting the straps.

I looked like a ghost.

Like Sophia's shadow.

Like exactly what I was, a poor substitute for the real thing.

There was a knock at the door.

"Miss Morgan?" A woman's voice. "Mr. Sterling requests your presence in the study immediately."

My stomach dropped to my feet.

Damon.

They were going to ask him. Ask him to marry me instead.

Ask him to accept the consolation prize.

"I'll be right there," I managed to say.

The seamstresses stepped back. "It's not perfect, but it'll do," one of them said.

It'll do.

The story of my life.

I walked through the mansion on legs that felt like they might give out any second. Every step took me closer to the study. Closer to whatever was waiting for me there.

I knocked on the heavy oak door.

"Come in," a voice said. Not Damon's. His father's.

I pushed open the door and stepped into my future.

AFTER the study, I stood in that bathroom for exactly five minutes. Let myself break down completely. Sobbed into my hands while pressing my back against the locked door.

Damon Sterling thought I was beneath him.

My parents thought I was replaceable.

Sophia thought I was forgettable.

And maybe they were all right.

But I'd signed the papers. I'd given my word. And in an hour, I'd be walking down an aisle toward a man who hated me.

I washed my face. Fixed my ruined makeup as best I could. Looked at myself in the mirror.

"You can do this," I whispered to my reflection. "Twelve months. Just twelve months. You've survived twenty-four years of being invisible. You can survive one more year."

My reflection didn't look convinced.

There was a knock. "Miss Morgan? We need to finish getting you ready."

I opened the door.

The glam squad descended. Fixed my makeup, styled my hair into Sophia's signature loose waves, secured the veil. Transformed me into something resembling a bride.

When they were done, I looked in the mirror and didn't recognize myself.

I looked like Sophia.

That's what they wanted. What everyone wanted.

For me to disappear completely and let Sophia's ghost take over.

"It's time," someone said.

My father appeared in the doorway. He looked at me and something flickered across his face. Relief? Gratitude? Guilt?

"You look beautiful," he said.

I said nothing.

He offered his arm. "Ready?"

"No."

"Eve..."

"I'm not ready. I'll never be ready. But I'll do it anyway because apparently that's what I do. I sacrifice myself for people who don't appreciate it."

His face tightened. "I know you're upset..."

"Upset?" I laughed, sharp and bitter. "Dad, I'm about to marry a stranger who told me I'm beneath him. A man who spent three years with Sophia. A man who looks at me like I'm trash. So yeah, I'm a little upset."

"It's only a year..."

"A YEAR." My voice rose. "A year of my life. A year of living with someone who hates me. A year of pretending to be something I'm not. And you're asking me to be grateful for the opportunity."

"I'm asking you to save your family."

The words hung between us.

Finally, I took his arm. Not because I forgave him. Not because I understood.

But because I'd already signed the papers. Already agreed to this nightmare.

Might as well see it through.

We walked toward the ceremony space. I could hear music. Hear the murmur of five hundred guests.

Five hundred people about to watch me marry my sister's boyfriend.

"Remember," Dad whispered as we reached the doors. "Smile. Look happy. We're saving the family today."

The doors opened.

And I walked toward my beautiful, terrible fate.