FOUR

KATE POV:

(The night before the Wedding.)

The house was cloaked in silence, the kind of heavy stillness that comes only in the dead hours of the night. I was lying in bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, when the sound of urgent knocking at my door startled me upright.

"Kate," came a desperate, broken whisper. "Please, open up. It's me."

Rhea.

What could she want by this time of the night?

I swung my legs off the bed and padded quickly to the door, heart hammering. I cracked it open—and there she was, disheveled, trembling, her eyes wide and wet with tears.

Without waiting for an invitation, she stumbled inside and collapsed against me, clutching the fabric of my nightgown. I've never seen her this way before, she was trembling like she had seen a ghost in her sleep.

"I can't do it," she sobbed against my chest. "I can't marry him. Kate, you have to help me. Please. He's a dangerous man, Kate." she said.

For a moment, all I could do was stare at her in stunned confusion. "What are you talking about?" I whispered, my voice thick with sleep and fear.

Rhea pulled back, her face blotchy and broken, and the words tumbled from her lips so quickly they barely made sense. "Liam and I—we're leaving. We have to. I can't marry Nikolai. I don't love him. I love Liam. We're leaving tonight."

Her fingers dug into my arms as she looked up at me, pleading. "But I can't just vanish. If I do, it’ll destroy everything. Our family’s reputation, Dad’s business—everything. I need you to take my place."

The room spun. I thought surely I'd misheard her. Did she seriously just ask me to marry the man she's supposed to marry tomorrow?

"Take your place?" I repeated dumbly.

"Please, Kate," she begged, falling to her knees in front of me, her hands gripping the hem of my nightdress. "Wear the dress. Walk down the aisle. Say the vows. Just until we’re gone. He wouldn't suspect a thing, the veil will protect your face till the very end."

My mouth went dry. "Rhea, that's insane. He’ll know.And like you said, he's a dangerous man. How is me taking your place going to help matters?"

"No, he won’t," she said desperately. "With the veil, with the makeup... It’s just a ceremony. Afterwards you can get it annulled or something. Just buy us time. You just have to get married to him."

She looked so small, so shattered, and despite everything—despite the jealousy, the years of feeling second-best to her—I felt my heart twist in my chest. Despite everything that had went on between both of us, I still pitied my stepsister. I still loved her.

Because Rhea had always been fragile beneath her perfect surface. And now she was breaking. She needed saving.

I closed my eyes, feeling the weight of her request settle onto my shoulders.

"If I do this," I whispered, "we have to tell Dad. And your mom. And this is a ridiculous idea, I don't think Father will want this."

She nodded quickly, wiping her face. "Of course. Of course. We'll tell them now, let's go to their room."

We crept through the dark halls like thieves, the house looming cold and unfamiliar around us. My father's study door was ajar, a thin light spilling out.

He sat behind his desk, reading glasses perched on his nose, a crystal tumbler of scotch in his hand. Julia, Rhea’s mother, stood by the fireplace, arms crossed, her silk robe belted tightly around her waist. I wondered what keeps them awake so late in the night.

When they saw us, my father frowned deeply. "What is it? And it has to be important, because I'm too busy."

Rhea threw herself at him, sobbing. "Daddy, please listen. I can't marry him. I can't. I can't pawn my life away to marry him."

Julia’s eyes widened in horror. "Rhea, what are you saying? We already talked about this, you're marrying Nikolai and that's it."

"I'm saying I love Liam. We're so happy together and we plan on getting married and having kids in the future. I can't marry Nikolai. But Kate—" she glanced at me, desperate—"Kate is willing to help. Kate is willing to take my place and marry Nikolai instead."

My father's face went dark. "Help how?"

Rhea spilled everything, her words coming in frantic gasps, while I stood mute, feeling as if I were watching my own funeral unfold. Dad faced darkened the more she spills.

When she finished, the room plunged into a terrible silence. Everyone to scared to break the silence.

"You can't be serious," my father said finally. "You expect me to sign off on this? To let you vanish and send Kate to marry Nikolai Voss in your place? Do you realize what you’re asking? I can't approve of this. This plan of yours will ruin everything."

Dad was mad furious, and I could sense it from the way he was yelling. He has never yelled at Rhea this way before.

"If you don’t," Rhea said tearfully, "I'll disappear without warning. It'll be worse. I'll elope with Liam and never show my face here again." She screamed, she was trying to guilt trip father into accepting her idea.

Julia pressed a trembling hand to her mouth. "Gregory, maybe... maybe it’s better this way. They favor each other. In the dress and veil— no one would even notice a thing, not even Nikolai. I can't afford to loose my only child all because of some business deal."

That's when it dawned on me that Nobody cared about me. I was taking Rhea's place, and they were just acting like I didn't exist. Step-mother doesn't even care what will be of me once I actually marry Nikolai Voss.

"You'd be committing fraud," he snapped. "We all would. And who says Nikolai won't come back for revenge, he wouldn't even agree to all this."

"But what choice do we have?" Julia pleaded. "Do you want the scandal when Rhea vanishes on her wedding day? Do you want this day to be the last day you even come in contact with your daughter?"

My father's jaw worked furiously, his fists clenching. He needed the deal between Nikolai company to strengthen his. The news isn't out yet, but its possible Dad's company my go into bankruptcy soon.

He needed to align with one of the best companies to keep his own from sinking to the group. And that's how the deal between Nikolai and father came to existence.

Finally, he looked at me. "And you, Kate? Are you truly willing to do this? Are you sure you want to risk your life for your sister?"

I hesitated, my mouth dry. Rhea and I never really got along. I was always to jealous of her, she kept on getting praises from Julia and father. And I got complaints and sometimes nothing. But I still loved her. She's family.

I thought of Rhea, begging. Of Liam, waiting for her in the night. Of the way our father would be ruined if this wedding fell apart.

"I'll do it, I'll take Rhea's place and marry Nikolai." I whispered.

A long, terrible pause.

"Then so be it," he said grimly. "But no one outside this family must ever know. We would all act like this conversation never happened and go on like tomorrow is normal."

We all nodded, a pact made in blood and desperation. I could see the glint of happiness flashes in Rhea's eyes before it vanished.

The hours that followed were a blur of preparation. Julia fetched Rhea’s gown—the ivory silk and delicate lace that Nikolai had personally selected months ago—and we worked feverishly to alter it. Luckily, Rhea and I were close enough in size that only minor adjustments were needed.

I had more body than Rhea, so the gown would be more tighter on me. But Julia would make things work out.

They coached me on how to move, how to keep my face lowered under the heavy veil, how to say the vows without trembling.

My hands shook the entire time.

At one point, Rhea knelt before me, placing her forehead against my knee like a penitent child.

"Thank you," she whispered brokenly. "I swear, once Liam and I are gone, you'll be free." she said.

Free?

I would still be married to him. It's her who would be free.

But instead I said nothing, my chest a hollow ache.

By dawn, we were exhausted but ready. Julia tucked the veil around my face carefully, hiding me from the world. My father inspected me silently, his face carved from stone. I woke up with a raging headache, my body sour and my eyes tired. After yesterday's ordeal, I had managed to catch some sleep after downing two tablet of sleeping pills

"You are Rhea now," Father said finally. "You will walk down that aisle with your head high. You will say 'I do.' And whatever comes after—you will endure it."

I nodded, numb. I had just risked the rest of my life to save my sister.

As I stood there, dressed in another woman's gown, waiting to marry a man who would hate me when he found out the truth, I realized:

There was no turning back.

No redemption.

Only forward.

Only into the storm.