The Look-Alike.

Emily POV.

I yanked the piece of paper off the front door. This was the third time this week our landlord had given us a quick notice. The rent was long overdue, and I barely had enough money saved up to clear it. I was sure he was fed up with the excuses I came up with.

This week had been tough like many others. After getting laid off from work, the financial load tripled. I was currently job hunting, but still nothing.

Sammy, my boyfriend, wasn’t making much from his so-called gambling business. It wasn’t even enough to cover the electricity bills. Some of his jobs were dangerous and always ended in disaster. It was either someone got killed or beaten over money.

I was never in support of it.

“Anything for the money,”

he would tell me.

I’d tried to convince him to get a part-time job—at least then I could live without the fear of knowing he was out there and something bad could happen to him. But he hated the idea of working shifts and earning peanuts at the end of the day. Now, he was out doing only God knows what.

The old fan rotated with great difficulty, releasing more heat into the room than it cleared. I walked over to the fridge. I opened it and sighed at how empty it was. At least there were leftover pancakes I made last night. Great. I guess one of us would be skipping breakfast this morning. I slammed the fridge door shut. Rats ran out from a cracked hole in the wall, not caring if I was present—and honestly, I didn’t care either. We’d lived like flatmates all these years, only they didn’t contribute to the rent.

I sat cross-legged on a worn chair, chewing my leftover dried pancake. My eyes were glued to the TV in front of me as I aimlessly flipped through channels until I stopped at a news report. At least the news kept it real no fake smile, just cold truth. The picture was blurry, but the headline was loud and clear.

“Billionaire Kelvin Edwards offers $1,000,000 for any information on his missing pregnant wife.”

I coughed, choking on my pancake. “Huh?!”

I dropped the remote on the table, my eyes not leaving the screen. Was I dreaming or something? I couldn’t believe it not because of the reward, but because of the woman’s photo on the screen. I squinted, trying to believe what I was seeing.

It was like looking in a mirror. An elegant woman with dark hair like mine. A smile that looked just like mine. She looked exactly like me except richer and elegant.

“Emily, did you see that?” Sammy burst into the room, catching his breath like he ran all the way. A mischievous glint in his eyes. He pointed at the TV, grinning like he’d just won the lottery, a cigarette between his lips.

“That’s you. That’s literally your face, baby,” he said, puffing smoke.

I blinked. “That’s not me.” He looked unconvinced. Did he really think that was me?

“I’m serious, Sammy. That’s not me.” But deep down, I still couldn't wrap my head around the shocking resemblance.

“Come on, Em. Don’t play dumb. I know it’s not you but unless you’re secretly screwing a billionaire behind my back. That would break my heart…” He smirked. I frowned.

“But seriously, you could pass for her twin. You freaking look alike.” He inhaled again and puffed out smoke.

Sammy sat beside me, excitement buzzing off him. “You heard what they said. A million dollars. Do you know what that means for us?” His voice dropped to a whisper. “This is a chance. A big one.”

I shook my head slowly, still trying to process the woman on the screen. “Yeah, no shit. One million dollars…” I murmured. Then it clicked. I now understood what he meant.

“Sammy, no! If this is one of your schemes, please just leave me out of it. You’re unbelievable—and crazy.” I waved away the cigarette smoke and continued chewing the horrible pancake.

He scoffed. “Why wouldn’t I be? Look around, Em. We live in a one-room dump. We skip meals to pay rent—which we’re about to be kicked out of if we don’t pay up. And now, fate drops a golden ticket in our lap. All we have to do is play smart.”

I faced him. “Can you even hear yourself? You’re saying we should take advantage of a man who’s desperately looking for his pregnant wife. just for money?”

Now he seemed irritated by my outburst. “A man who’s filthy rich, you mean. Rich people don’t care about the poor. And no money’s going to fall from the sky if we don’t seize this opportunity. If we take just a dime from his pocket, it won’t kill him. It’s obvious he has more than enough, offering that kind of reward. We need this money, Em. Think about what we could do with it, live that comfy life we’ve always wanted, pay off your tuition so you could go back to school, clear our debts everything. I’m just asking this little from you.”

I looked at him. His eyes were filled with desperation. And when Sam was desperate, it was hard to change his mind.

“I don’t know, Sam…” I paused a bit. “Think about it. She’s pregnant, and how are you going to pull that off? Dumbass. Think.”

“No worries, Em. Faking a pregnancy isn’t that hard.”

I glared at him. Knowing what that meant, he quickly added, “Relax, it’s a normal thing. People fake pregnancy all the time.”

“Well, not this one. And this is a stupid idea, Sammy.”

He smirked, his hands playing with my hair. “Or I can get you pregnant if that’s what you want—case closed.”

I slapped his hand away.

He chuckled a bit. “Relax. I was just kidding. Pregnancy isn’t a big deal.”

He shrugged. “Say you’re in the early stages. You don’t even need a bump. Wear loose clothes, hold your stomach, act tired. It’s not like they’ll scan you on the street.”

“It’s wrong. What if something bad happens? We don’t even know who this woman is. Then what happens when they find her? We don’t know what we’re getting into.”

He cupped my face gently, his tone softening. “Nothing will happen. Just think about it, babe. We take the money, disappear, start over. You’ve always wanted a real life, a fresh start. This is how we get it.”

I frowned at how carefree he was about the whole plan. I knew Sammy had done bad things in his life, but I couldn’t believe he was seriously considering this. We may need money, but my desperation hadn’t gotten to this level.

Not yet.