01

"Let's go to the city’s court and get our marriage certificate tomorrow, now that I’m back.”

"W-What?" Mia stared at Adam incredulously, so taken aback that she dropped the Tv remote she was holding on the floor.

A certificate of marriage? Oh no! This is a big mistake.

She became terrified.

"Now, let's make up for our wedding night, too.” Adam said, ignoring her fear as he unzipped his white shirt and approached her.

He returned suddenly when she least expected it at the wrong time, and as if that was not bad enough, he wanted them to made love. Mia’s eyes darted left and right as her breathing stopped. Abruptly, she noticed her phone on the table and retreated a step. She bent down and picked up the phone immediately. She smiled awkwardly and replied, "my phone hehe.”

A flicker of coldness appeared in Adam’s eyes as he just observed her. It seems that he really disgusted his wife.

But it’s been almost two years… shouldn’t she be excited to see him?

Mia was afraid to even look at him. She opened her phone and attempted to text her sister for help.

Abruptly, a large hand grabbed her phone. She looked up in a fright and was suddenly confronted by a set of chilly, piercing eyes.

"Is the phone more important than me?" Adam asked, looking directly at her.

Mia bit her lip slightly and acknowledged that the man in front of her was quite attractive and had an irresistible raw charm. 

She was about to get her phone back when he abruptly diverted his attention to it. However, she swiftly pulled her hand away when she saw the screen was already off.

Adam arched an eyebrow and tossed the phone onto the nearby couch after not seeing any texts.

Mia was sweating, her heart racing. With both hands, she grasped Adam’s shirt, but all of a sudden, she lost her balance and was pushed onto the bed by Adam.

She felt as like she was about to pass away as she gazed at the man's attractive features. She had to defend her innocence at any costs!

"Mr. Bowen.."

"Call me honey!" Adam said in a deep, slightly irate voice.

Mia stared at him in terror, her eyes nearly welling with tears. He was attractive, but when he got angry, he was really scary.

"H-Honey. But my Aunt Avery is visiting me today,” Mia said, biting her lip as she gave him a pitiful look. “No, I meant this whole week. Oh no, this entire week is unattainable."

"Your aunt?" Adam asked, looking down as though seeking further information.

Feeling as anxious as a scared deer, Mia hastily told another lie not to expose her first lie,  "Yes H-Honey. We'll have plenty of time in the future now that you're back. We don't have to hurry it today, do we?”

After giving her a disappointed look, Adam Bowen turned over and lay next to her. Before long, Mia heard steady breathing next to her. She  exhaled deeply in relief. She was only able to postpone it for a week.

Nyla should be back before the weekend and switch place with her as agreed.

Mia was terrified and soon dozed off. She dreamed. In her dream, she was abruptly confronted by Adam with a set of stern, frigid eyes. His eyes continued to stare at her icily, regardless of how she fled or got away.

"Ah!" She awoke from her dream with a shout and sat up on the bed. There was light in the bedroom. After a moment of blank staring, she abruptly realized that the eyes from her dream had not vanished.

Adam who should have been lying next to her was seated on the opposite sofa as she looked up in terror. His attractive face was as chilly as frost, and his eyes were icy.

In his large right hand, Mia’s phone whirled.

"Nyla," Adam muttered, curling his lips. "Oh no, i meant Mia. Now I’m confused, should I call you Mia Kirk or Nyla Burton?"

Mia’s face went pale in an instant!

Oh no… he knew. Omg! He knew she was not Nyla.

What should she do now?

Wasn’t he asleep when she slept off? But she thought he was asleep.

How did he know her password? Oh no, he must have been looking at her when she took her phone earlier on the table and unlocked it with her password.

Mia started to perspire. All of a sudden, she had no idea what to do. All she could do was stare at him in horror and panic.

When she was seven years old, her world was torn apart. After her parents’ bitter divorce, she was forced to live with her father, while her identical twin sister, Nyla, stayed with their mother. From that moment on, Mia became the forgotten child—abandoned by her mother and sister who were supposed to love her too.

Eighteen years later, when Mia is struggling through college while caring for her critically ill father who is in a vegetative state after an accident from a vehicle accident, her mother and sister who ignored her existence suddenly return.

But their return is far from heartfelt.

Desperate to secure an alliance with the powerful Bowen family, Mia’s mother has promised Nyla’s hand in marriage to the enigmatic and cold young master, Adam Bowen. The problem? Nyla refuses to marry him because she is a famous pianist and wants to focus on taking her career to the next level rather than become a full house-wife.

So Mia is given an impossible choice.

Her mother secretly hides her sick father and blackmails Mia into taking Nyla’s place at the altar. If Mia agrees to marry Adam Bowen while pretending to be Nyla, she will be told where her father is being kept and released to him.

With no way to refuse, Mia steps into a life that was never meant to be hers and married Adam instead; with a condition that once Nyla has strived in her career, becoming the number one most popular pianist in the whole of B city in two years, she would then return back and take her place as Adam’s wife and Mia can leave.

It was two years now, Nyla has indeed become the most popular pianist in the city, and she is supposed to switch place with Mia by the weekend which completed the time they agreed, while her father is given back to Mia, and she leaves.

To not make people see her and think she’s Nyla, Mia was always with a mask.

But Adam suddenly came back from his business trip which he traveled a year ago, and now he also has found out that Mia is a substitute bride and not Nyla who he thought he was married to!

Mia could tell Adam Bowen is not a man easily fooled. He’s Cold, powerful, and dangerous. Now, she wondered what he would do to her now.

But he wasn’t supposed to find out this soon! He wasn’t even supposed to come back from his business trip so soon. He was supposed to come back...so soon.

"Twins, huh...I never expected that, the Kirk family actually gave me such a big gift," Adam  said, laughing as he carried on playing with Mia’s phone. “I'm interested in how you two sisters handled it. You can easily fool people because you’re identical twins. Do you switch shifts every day?"

"No!" Mia balled her fists and nearly bit her lip till it bled. "Mr. Bowen, I—“

"I told you to call me, Honey. Didn’t I?"

Mia had a murderous impulse.  She wanted to cry when she thought about her dad. She wouldn’t have married him if not for her dad.

"Who was the one who had a wedding ceremony with me?" Adam inquired icily, ignoring her flushed eyes.

With a feeble voice, Mia bit her lip and said, "It was me."

“Has Nyla ever stayed here in the past two years?”

Mia hurriedly covered for Nyla, "You know, she's a pianist. You were on a business trip soon after the wedding, and she's really busy. So—“

“So, it's always been you?" Adam interrupted her icily.

“Yes, it was me. I have been living here for the past two years. But—“

Abruptly, Adam got up, grabbed the phone, and went to the bedside while glancing down at her. "Call her."

“Who?” Mia asked.

“Nyla. Call her now.”

Mia gave a sniff. With shaky palms, she accepted her phone back from

Adam’s right hand.

After scrolling to Nyla’s number, she gave her a call. Nobody responded the first time.

Nobody responded the second time.

"Continue!" Adam yelled icily, and Mia’s fingers quivered as she hit the dial once again.

For the third… and fourth time, Nyla didn't answer the phone till the seventh time.

Mia was about to say something when Nyla’s  irate and agitated voice abruptly said, "what Mia? Are you crazy? How come you're calling me at this late hour? You keep phoning as if you want to murder me! Do you wish for your father to pass away sooner?”

For her father? Like it wasn’t the same father they had.

Adam narrowed his deep eyes a little.

"Nyla, please come back tomorrow, your husband—“ Mia said and stopped taking, not knowing how to tell her that Adam has found out about their secrets.

"What are you panicking for? I am aware that he returned to B City and also I forget to tell you that he’s gay. If you’re worried that he’ll want to sleep with you, well he can’t cause like I said, he’s gay. You shouldn’t have called me so many times because of this. Did you forget i’m busy? You’re stressing me. I—“

Suddenly, Mia’s heart fell. Everything she had just said to Adam to not make Nyla seem like a bad person was ruined by this big-mouthed Idiot.

"But Nyla-“

"Enough! I don't hesitate to inform you, that Adam has no affection for women. And he’s gay. In order not to make anyone suspect him, that was why he even wanted to marry me in the first place. I've looked after your dad well this two years. If you disturb me, all you'll see is his corpse."

Bip…and the phone was abruptly hung up.

However, Mia’s heart was in her throat! Was Adam really gay? Then why did he want to sleep with her before?

Now she has heard Adam’s secret. To keep it a secret, would she be killed by him?

As soon as Mia looked up, she noticed that Adam was clearly furious. She tossed away her phone to the couch because she was so terrified. With haste, she moved her hands to the edge of the bed. She was certain that he would choke her if she moved a bit more slowly.

But Adam only gave her that look, as though he was thinking about something. Mia was so uncomfortable that she gripped the covers hard with both fists under his icy gaze.

"Don’t forget that we’ll be getting our marriage certificate tomorrow.” Adam suddenly said after a while.

What?

What is going on in his head? Did he forget she was not Nyla?

Is he still going to marry her after what just transpired?

"But I don't have Ny-Nyla’s ID card.” Mia said in a low voice, afraid what he’ll do to her.

"I'm talking about you, dummy.”

Mia opened her eyes wide in disbelief.

"Me?"

“Of course you, Mia Kirk.” Adam said.

Hold on… what was going on?