Chapter 2

"What did you say?" Elliot gasped, feeling as if the entire world was spinning around him. "How could she have gotten into a car accident?"

He refused to believe it.

"Is this just because something suddenly came up and I couldn't go with her to her prenatal appointment? Was it really necessary for her to hire someone to put on this show with her?"

Even now, he still thought Neely was just acting.

"Neely." He called out her name, his tone dripping with absolute certainty. "Aren't you usually very obedient? You never question anything I do, so why are you making such a big deal out of this thing with Angela? Are you jealous? Say something!"

But she couldn't utter a single word. The only answer he got was from the anxious paramedic.

"Sir, what exactly is your relationship with the patient? I'm a paramedic. The woman you call Neely really is injured. Severely injured!"

The paramedic held the phone closer to the monitor, then toward the wailing ambulance siren.

"Do you hear that, sir?"

But before Elliot could answer, a sweet, delicate female voice came through the line.

"Eli, there's something wrong with the faucet in the bathroom. Could you fix it for me? Our daughter wants to take a bath."

Elliot frowned. He knew Neely must have heard that, and a sharp, uncontrollable pain seized his heart. Just as he was about to explain, a toddler's innocent voice interrupted him.

"Daddy!"

The sound reached Neely's ears clearly, and she found it increasingly difficult to breathe.

Did Elliot already have a child?

Tears slipped from the corners of her eyes.

Angela Boatwright had left the country five years ago. Back then, she was the campus beauty of one of the country's top colleges. A smiling photo of hers went viral, racking up more than a million likes online.

Neely had created a makeup look that made her look like Angela. She then took a photo of herself and posted it online. The photo garnered more than 1.4 million likes.

That was how Elliot noticed Neely. And from then on, he kept her by his side.

Ever since then, she had spent every day in public wearing Angela's face, never once taking the disguise off. Only late at night, when Elliot wasn't around, could she finally remove the makeup.

She had almost forgotten what she actually looked like.

The truth was, she was beautiful too. She had been the prettiest woman at her vocational school.

Thinking back on the timeline… If Angela had been pregnant when she left back then, then the child would indeed be old enough to say "Daddy" by now.

It was just a shame that their child might never get the chance to call anyone "Daddy".

…

The ambulance soon arrived at the hospital.

Before hanging up, the paramedic left Elliot with one final remark.

"Come or don't, it's up to you. Such a shame for such a beautiful woman to end up disfigured, though. And she might lose the baby too."

The paramedic had wiped away Neely's makeup, revealing her original face underneath.

She waited for Elliot's answer, but all that remained was the sound of a disconnected line.

If she could survive this, she would never paint her face to look like someone else again. She would never again be a stand-in who could be tossed aside at a moment's whim.

The ambulance doors opened. She was lifted out and rushed straight to the ER.

Elliot hadn't clearly heard what the paramedic had said at the very end, because his daughter, Susie, had snatched the phone from him and hung up.

He frowned in annoyance.

"I don't know how to fix a faucet. Call someone else. I have something else to take care of. I'm leaving."

Angela looked at the anxious expression on Elliot's face.

"Did Neely get in a car accident?" she asked, almost absent-mindedly.

Elliot headed toward the front door.

Angela continued, "Getting into a car crash the moment I come back? How interesting. I remember back when we were dating, whenever I wanted you to spend more time with me, I would use excuses like being sick, taking a fall, or getting into an accident, too. I never thought that after all these years, you'd still fall for the same tricks.

"I'm back now, Elliot. Can you stop treating her like she's me? You can just love me directly. We even have a child together. All these years, I've been going back and forth about whether I should come find you. But our daughter made the decision for me. Susie wants her dad.

"Let's get married, Elliot."