The Billionaires' Substitute Bride

JASMINE

“Hurry up with those pancakes, goddamnit!” my manager, Silas, yelled at the top of his lungs, startling me. 

I wiped away sweat-soaked strands of hair stuck to my forehead and quickly flipped over the last pancake on the griddle before dishing them onto the plates scattered on the counter. Then I balanced all six plates in my arms and rushed out to the tables. 

“You’re so damn clumsy this morning,” Silas hissed when I rushed back into the kitchen to pick up the napkins I’d forgotten. 

“I’m sorry,” I muttered, lowering my head. 

I didn’t bother telling him my brain was foggy and my bones aching from scrubbing toilets all night. Getting fired was the last thing I needed right now. Not when my grandmother was dying in the hospital. 

“Get out of my sight,” he finally hissed. 

I apologized once again and rushed to the back room to catch my breath. My legs were aching so badly I had to hold onto the wall to keep from slipping to the floor. 

“Get it together, Jas,” I breathed into the empty room. “Come on…”

Before I could catch my breath, my phone vibrated in my back pocket. 

My heart skipped a beat because lately, I had gotten so used to receiving bad news. Just like the day a neighbor called to inform me that my grandmother had passed out cold on the balcony. 

When my eyes fell on the caller ID, anxiety sprouted in my chest, but I picked up anyway and brought the phone to my ear. 

“Hello? Dr. Jonathan…”

“Miss Jasmine,” his voice was cold. “Your grandmother’s bill is long overdue. You promised to come by this week to settle it and I still haven’t heard a word from you.”

“Doctor, please…” I said, clutching my phone tightly. “I’m doing everything I can—working four jobs, extra side hustles on weekends…I just need a bit more time to raise the funds.”

“I sympathize with you, Miss Jasmine, but it's out of my hands. Her condition is deteriorating, and she needs surgery as soon as possible. But hospital policy is clear: if the $25,000 balance isn’t settled by tomorrow morning, her treatment will be suspended.”

My heart lurched in my chest.

“Doctor, please! Just give me until—”

The line went dead. 

My chest felt tight as I stood there frozen, just staring at my cracked screen. 

My grandmother’s health had not been strong for the past few months, but it had only gotten worse recently. After the accident a few weeks ago, she’d been admitted into the intensive care unit and things had gone downhill from there. 

She was the only family I had, the person who raised me, and she was also my best friend. I couldn’t lose her before I got the chance to give her the wealthy life she deserved. 

So, I took an extra job. Then another. Until I was working four jobs and extra side hustles on the weekends. From waitressing, to scrubbing toilets, to stripping…I did everything to raise an income to foot the hospital bills. But it was never enough, and the progress was too slow. 

If the hospital suspended her treatment, there was nothing I could do about it. My grandmother would die. 

I floated back and forth through the restaurant like a zombie, barely surviving the rest of my shift. 

By the time I untied my apron and headed out, I was completely drained. 

Hot tears sprung to my eyes as I stumbled back against the wall in the alley. My heart felt like it was squeezing in on itself as I clapped my palm over my mouth to stifle my sobs. 

I couldn’t lose her. I just couldn't. 

How was I supposed to raise $25,000 before tomorrow morning?

I was trying to catch my breath when I heard the humming of a car engine. I quickly wiped the tears from my eyes and rose to my feet, not wanting anyone to see me in this state. 

A man and woman, both luxuriously dressed and oozing with wealth, walked out of the sleek black car. Aside from a flash of surprise that such wealthy people were in such a poor neighborhood like this, I paid them no mind. 

“Jasmine?”

Surprised, I turned around to face the woman, wondering how she knew my name. 

“Sorry, how can I help you?”

The woman gasped, her eyes glazing over with tears as she clutched the man’s arm. 

“It’s you…it’s really you. You’re Jasmine Walter.”

“Yes?” I was still confused. 

Before I could process what was happening, the woman lunged forward and pulled me into an embrace.

“Oh, my darling girl,” she cried, hugging me tight. “I thought I’d never see you again. We’ve been searching everywhere for you, my girl.”

My eyes widened in surprise as I pulled away from the hug. 

“I don’t understand. Who are you?”

The man stepped forward. “Jasmine, my darling, I know this must be a shock to you. We apologize for approaching you like this. I’m Fredrick Sinclair, and this is my wife, Marjorie. We are your parents.”

I cocked an eyebrow, scoffing as I waited for the punchline. 

“Look, I don’t know what this is about, or if this is some kind of prank, but my parents are dead. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get to work.”

I pushed past them and hurried away. 

“God, the crazy people you run into in this city,” I sighed under my breath. 

“Please, wait!” I heard the woman calling out to me. “Just hear us out.”

My chest heaved. I was already having a bad day as it was, and the last thing I needed was to be pranked. I turned around, ready to snap at them, but the look on the woman's face made the words catch in my throat.

Her eyes were red, mascara running down her cheeks as she pulled a crinkled photograph from her bag and held it out.

"Please, Jasmine. Just look at this," she sobbed, stepping closer.

Reluctantly, I snatched the photo from her fingers. My eyes widened. It was a picture of a baby wrapped in a yellow blanket, held in the arms of a younger version of the woman standing right in front of me. On the back, written in faint ink, were the words: Jasmine Sinclair, born July 23rd.

My exact birth date.

"We didn't abandon you because we didn't love you," the man said, his voice choking up as he reached out. "When you were born, our business was falling apart. Dangerous people were after us. We had to give you to your grandmother to keep you safe, but a fire destroyed our records, and we lost track of where she took you. We’ve spent twenty-two years trying to find our way back to you."

The woman—my mother—took my hands in hers. Her skin was soft, smelling of expensive floral perfume. 

"We heard about your grandmother's accident. We’re so sorry you had to suffer like this alone, but you don't have to fight anymore. We're here now."

My breath hitched. "You... you know about my grandmother?"

"We know everything," the man said. "And we’ve already wired $25,000 to the hospital to clear her debt and cover her upcoming surgery. She’s being moved to a private suite as we speak."

A gasp escaped my lips. I pulled out my phone with shaky hands, and almost instantly, a text message popped up from Dr. Jonathan.

‘Miss Jasmine, an anonymous party has settled your grandmother's balance. Her surgery is scheduled for tomorrow morning.’

I stared at the screen, a sob breaking from my chest. All the crushing weight, all the sleepless nights, the humiliation, the endless shifts…it all washed away in an instant. 

I’d always believed my parents abandoned me. But they were alive. They had found me. And they had just saved the only person I loved in this world.

"Oh, my baby," my mother wept, pulling me into her arms again. This time, I didn't push her away. I buried my face in her shoulder, letting out all the tears I had been holding back for years. "Come home with us, Jasmine. Come back to the family where you belong."

"Okay," I breathed, wiping my eyes as I smiled through the tears. "What about Grandma Sylvia?”

“She will be brought to the house as soon as she recovers from her surgery. But we can go visit her at the hospital tomorrow morning before her surgery,” my father assured me. 

I nodded and they guided me to their car, the sleek interior a sharp contrast to the dirty alley. I was still in disbelief, but my parents made me feel comfortable. They told me things about myself and my grandmother that no one else would know. After a brief stop at a shopping mall to buy necessities for my grandmother, we made a stop at the hospital to drop them off, and then we headed home. 

I longed to speak to my grandmother and tell her everything would be fine, but she was unconscious, so I decided to visit first thing tomorrow. 

As the car pulled away, I sank into the seats, closing my eyes. For the first time in a long time, I felt like I could relax. 

Half an hour later, the car slowed down and rolled through a set of towering gates. I stared out the window in awe at the sprawling mansion ahead, glowing under the lights.

"It's beautiful," I whispered, turning to my mother with a smile.

I was ushered through a set of glass doors and into a large office.

But the moment I walked in, I stumbled over, barely catching myself on the edge of a desk. 

Standing near the windows, holding a glass of champagne, was a girl wearing a silk robe. She turned around, and my breath hitched in my throat. 

It was like looking into a mirror.

She had my eyes, my nose, my lips, my exact forehead and jawline. It was terrifying—staring across a room at my own face.