CHAPTER 5: THE CALL TO DESTINY.

Elena's POV.

Westvale Manor felt like a mausoleum. The grand foyer that had once hosted elegant parties now echoed with desperate whispers and the rustle of wedding preparations. Staff hurried through halls carrying flowers and favor boxes, their faces carefully blank.

I found Mother in the morning room, still in her robe despite the late hour. Dark circles shadowed her eyes, and her usual perfect composure had cracked around the edges.

"Elena." She looked up as I entered, relief flooding her features. "Thank God you're here."

"What's wrong? Where's Vivian?"

Mother's hands shook as she reached for her coffee cup. On the table beside her lay a single sheet of paper, elegant stationary that I recognized as Vivian's personal stationery.

"She's gone."

The words hit me like ice water. "Gone where?"

"I don't know." Mother's voice broke on the admission. "She left this morning. Before dawn. Left this behind."

She handed me the letter. Vivian's familiar handwriting sprawled across the page:

*"Mother—I can't do this. I know what this means for the family, for the business, for everything we've worked for. But I can't marry a man I don't love for money, even to save us. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Give Elena my love. —V"*

I read it twice, the implications crashing over me like waves. "She's not coming back."

"The wedding is in six hours." Mother stood abruptly, pacing to the windows. "Three hundred guests. Media coverage. The mayor, two senators, half the Fortune 500. The merger contracts are signed contingent on this marriage."

"Can we postpone?"

"With what explanation? 'The bride decided she didn't want to marry a billionaire'?" Mother's laugh held hysteria. "The stock markets would crash. The media would crucify us. Alexander would walk away, and we'd lose everything."

I sank into a chair, my mind reeling. Vivian was gone. Really gone. After months of preparation, weeks of final details, hours of last-minute arrangements—she'd simply vanished.

"We have to call it off," I said. "Tell people there was an emergency."

"And watch three generations of Westvale legacy disappear overnight?" Mother whirled to face me, desperation making her eyes wild. "Elena, you don't understand. The debts aren't just significant—they're catastrophic. Without this merger, we lose everything. The house, the business, our reputation. Everything your grandfather built, everything your father expanded—gone."

I thought of the wedding dress hanging in my workshop. Months of work, weeks of careful stitching. A gown created for a bride who would never wear it.

"There has to be another way."

"There is."

Something in Mother's voice made my blood freeze. She moved closer, her eyes bright with an idea that looked like madness.

"You."

"What?"

"You and Vivian are identical. Same height, same measurements, same everything. The dress will fit perfectly—you made sure of that."

Understanding dawned like horror. "Mother, no."

"Think about it, Elena. You know the family business better than Vivian ever did. You understand the fashion world, the creative process. You've been part of every major decision for years, just quietly. Alexander respects your input—I've seen how he listens when you speak."

"This is insane." I stood, backing toward the door. "You can't seriously be suggesting—"

"I'm not suggesting. I'm begging." Mother dropped to her knees, her pride shattering. "Elena, please. You're our only hope. You're the only one who can save this family."

"Alexander will know. He's not stupid. One look and he'll realize—"

"Will he? You've been invisible to him for years, always in Vivian's shadow. He sees what he expects to see. And by the time he realizes anything's different, the contracts will be legal. The merger will be complete."

I stared at her, this woman who'd raised me to be dutiful, quiet, accommodating. Who'd always made it clear that Vivian was the important daughter, the one with the bright future. Now she was asking me to become her.

"I can't."

"You can. You've been pretending to be invisible your whole life. This is just... pretending to be visible."

"And what happens when the truth comes out?"

"Maybe it doesn't. Maybe you make this marriage work. Maybe you find happiness you never thought possible."

My heart hammered against my ribs. Happiness. With Alexander. The dream I'd buried so deep I'd almost convinced myself it had never existed.

"He doesn't love me. He doesn't even see me."

"Then make him see you. You have something Vivian never did—you have a heart that actually feels. Use it."

The grandfather clock in the hall chimed eleven. Five hours until the ceremony. Five hours to decide whether to commit the most elaborate deception of my life or watch everything I'd ever known crumble.

"Elena." Mother rose, gripping my shoulders. "I know this is enormous. I know it's terrifying. But you're stronger than you think. You always have been. And maybe... maybe this is your chance to stop living in shadows."

I thought of Marcus's words from yesterday. About Elena deserving better. About circumstances trapping people in wrong lives.

I thought of Alexander, cold and controlled and unreachable. What would he do when he discovered the deception? Would he be furious? Betrayed? Or would he understand that sometimes desperate times required desperate measures?

I thought of the anonymous sketchbook, the note about dreams worth drawing.

"The guests—"

"Will see a Westvale bride marrying Alexander Thorne. That's all they need to know."

"The media—"

"Will get their fairy tale wedding. The merger will go through. The family survives."

"And Alexander?"

Mother's grip tightened. "Alexander gets a wife who will love him instead of tolerating him. He gets someone who sees past his money to the man underneath. He gets you, Elena. Maybe that's what he's needed all along."

The room spun around me. This morning I'd been the shadow twin, the spare daughter, the one who watched life happen to other people. Now Mother was asking me to step into the light, to claim a destiny that had never been meant for mine.

It was insane.

It was impossible.

It was the answer to every secret prayer I'd ever whispered.

"I need to think—"

"There's no time to think. The wedding party arrives for photos in two hours. Hair and makeup start in one. Elena, I need your answer now."

The clock ticked in the silence. Outside, staff prepared for a celebration that might not happen. Somewhere in the city, Alexander was getting ready to marry a woman who'd abandoned him. Somewhere else, Vivian was starting a new life while the old one collapsed.

And here I stood, balanced on the edge of everything.

Mother's phone rang. She answered with strained politeness.

"Yes, the bride is ready... Of course she's excited... No, no delays expected..."

She hung up and looked at me with eyes that held our family's entire future.

"That was Alexander's assistant, confirming timing. Elena, he's counting on this wedding. His business partners, his investors, his family—everyone is expecting Alexander Thorne to marry a Westvale daughter today."

"But I'm not—"

"You are. You're Vivian's twin sister. You're a Westvale daughter. You're talented and intelligent and beautiful. You're everything he needs, even if he doesn't realize it yet."

The words hung between us like a challenge. Like a promise. Like a door opening onto a life I'd never dared imagine.

Mother stepped closer, her voice dropping to a whisper that sounded like destiny calling.

“Elena Westvale. You’re going to be the bride.”

The world tilted. The air left my lungs. The impossible became inevitable in the space between one heartbeat and the next.

Then the door burst open.

I turned—and froze.

Alexander Thorne stood there, dressed in a black tuxedo that made him look like a sin in silk and vengeance. His eyes locked on mine with a frown.