Chapter 2: The Morning Everything Broke

Do you take this woman to be your lawful wife?

Ethan said, i do too fast, too careless. He even laughed, a short, ugly laugh. I could smell the alcohol on him from where I stood his hand closed around mine and he turned to me with a smile that was never meant for me.

Lily finally said yes, he said.

A few guests laughed my mother lowered her head, my father looked away nobody corrected him, nobody told him the truth.

My heart was slamming so hard I could barely hear the officiant ask for my answer. I looked at Ethan, then at my family, then at Lily's empty seat — the seat that should have held the real bride.

I do, I said.

The words felt like a door closing forever.

The ceremony went on but I heard almost none of it. Every few minutes, Ethan leaned in and whispered things that cut into my chest.

I knew you'd come around.

I told them you wouldn't leave me.

I knew you'd choose me.

Choose you? I never had a choice. He wasn't even talking to me, he was talking to Lily — the woman he thought he had married the same woman my family had used to trap us both.

When the marriage papers came out, he didn't even look at them he signed fast and slid them over.

Your turn, Lily.

My fingers shook around the pen for one second I almost told him the truth. For one second I almost tore the whole lie apart. Then I saw my mother's warning look and i signed.

The moment my name touched that paper, my whole life changed.

The rest of the evening blurred past people smiled, people celebrated, Ethan kept drinking. By the time we were finally alone the calm man from the ceremony was gone. He looked happy now — too happy. The kind of happy that only comes from finally getting something you've wanted for a long, long time.

I stood by the bedroom door while he loosened his tie and sat on the edge of the bed. Neither of us spoke then he looked up.

There you are, he said, and his smile went soft.

It almost broke my heart because nobody had ever looked at me that way before. Not my parents, Not my family, Nobody. And still — even this wasn't mine to keep.

He took my hand slowly I thought you'd disappear again," he whispered.

My throat closed up. Again? That word hit me wrong. What did he mean, again? Before I could ask he pulled me closer and rested his forehead against mine.

I don't care what your family says anymore, he said. They don't get to decide for you.

I froze, none of it made sense. How many talks had he had with Lily before this? How much history sat between them that I knew nothing about? My chest caved in i wasn't just sitting in another woman's seat, i was living another woman's whole life.

The room went quiet. Painfully quiet.

Then Ethan whispered her name again. "Lily."

That one word broke whatever was left inside me I closed my eyes, because no matter how gentle he was in that moment none of it was for me It all belonged to my sister, Not me, Never me.

That night became one more secret I never asked for. One more price I had to pay for a choice I never made. When sleep finally took me, it wasn't rest. My body just gave up before my mind could.

I woke up to the sound of something breaking.

My eyes shot open a glass lay in pieces across the floor. For a second I couldn't understand what was happening. Then I saw him.

Ethan stood beside the bed, completely still. Completely sober. Staring at me.

The look on his face sent a cold wave through my whole body. The warmth was gone, the affection was gone, the happiness was gone. In their place: confusion, shock, and an anger that grew by the second.

"Who are you?"

The question hit me like a slap. I sat up slowly, my heart pounding.

"Ethan—"

Who are you? Louder now, Sharper, Dangerous.

The room felt too small to breathe in.

I'm Ivy, I said.

Silence. The color drained from his face.

"Ivy?"

I nodded he just stared at me for what felt like forever. Then his eyes dropped to the marriage certificate on the table,he grabbed it. Read it, Read it again. His whole body went stiff.

No, he whispered then he looked at me once more "Where is Lily?"

My throat tightened. "I don't know."

His jaw clenched. "You don't know?"

"I—"

What do you mean you don't know? His voice exploded through the room and I flinched.

The bedroom door burst open. Ethan's parents rushed in his mother took one look at his face and knew something was badly wrong.

What happened? she asked.

Ethan threw the certificate onto the bed, What happened?  he repeated, cold as ice. "Ask them what happened.

His mother picked up the paper her eyes went wide then she looked at me — really looked at me, for the first time — and understood everything at once.

You're not Lily, she said.

I felt it land in my ribs like a punch.

No I said, swallowing hard I'm her sister.

The silence that followed was terrifying then Ethan laughed — short, humorless, the kind of laugh that comes right before a storm. His eyes locked onto mine.

You lied to me.

"I didn't—"

You married me under her name? He asked 

I didn't have a choice.

His face went darker still and for one moment, I thought he might actually hate me.

Then his phone rang, slicing through the tension like a blade he answered right away. Within seconds, his face shifted — shock, worry, disbelief, all at once.

"What?"

The whole room went still.

What do you mean she's crying?

My stomach dropped. Lily, It had to be Lily.

He listened a few more seconds then slowly lowered the phone. His eyes came back to me, and for the first time I saw real disgust in them.

Lily says you locked her in a basement. That you stole this marriage.

The world stopped turning.

I stared at him unable to believe what I'd just heard. He stepped toward me and his voice dropped into something calm — and far more frightening than shouting.

I don't know what game you're playing, Ivy.

My heart sank I could already see where this was going, He believed her. Just like everyone always did. He believed her, and I was completely alone.

Then he said the words that turned my blood to ice.

We're staying married for now.

I blinked. What?

His eyes never left mine, but don't mistake this marriage for something real. His voice went quiet, and quiet was worse than shouting. 

You'll stay in this house his jaw tightened, you'll keep your head down. He took one more step, his stare cold as stone. And you'll learn exactly where your place is.