CHAPTER TWO

JASMINE

“W-What…who…who are you? What’s going on?”

I stumbled back, turning around to face my mother. But her face had completely hardened, her warm demeanor replaced by a look of disgust. 

"Wipe those pathetic tears off your face," she spat, her tone slicing through me like a blade.

I froze, the smile dying on my lips. "What?"

"Do you really think we spent weeks tracking down a dirt-poor vermin like you just to play happy family?" she scoffed, turning to me. "You are here because your twin sister ruined everything. And you're going to fix it."

My blood ran cold.

I lunged for the car door handle, throwing my weight against it to get out into the hallway.

But a large hand grabbed my wrist, pulling me back roughly. 

“Don’t be a fool, Jasmine,” my supposed father growled. His grip felt like iron around my arm. The soft, gentle man who had cried in the alley just minutes ago was gone. In his eyes was nothing but ice. 

“Let go of me!” I spat, struggling to escape his hold. My heart was pounding hard as I glared at them. “You liars! Who the hell are you? Let me out!”

My mother…Marjorie…whoever the fuck she was…slowly turned her head, looking at me like I was garbage. She reached into her handbag, pulled out her phone and tapped a button before holding the screen in front of my face.

“Try to run, and I’ll call the hospital," Marjorie said. “One word from me, and they will withdraw the $25,000 deposit for your grandmother’s surgery.”

All the air drained from my lungs. My hands trembled as I stared at her.

“You…you wouldn’t,” I breathed, my chest heaving. “She’s dying. Her surgery is in twelve hours! How can you do this? Are you even my mother? What kind of mother abandons her child and comes back decades later just to kill her?”

Marjorie let out a dry laugh that made my skin crawl.

“Unfortunately for me, yes. Giving birth to you was the worst thing that ever happened to me. You tore through my body during labor, ruined my health, and almost killed me. I bled for weeks because of you. I hated you from the second I laid eyes on you.”

Tears burned the back of my eyes, but I refused to let them fall.

“And as for that old woman you call your grandmother?” Marjorie smirked. “She isn’t your grandmother, you stupid girl. Sylvia was our house nanny. After I threw you away in the back alley of the hospital, that woman secretly rescued you and raised you in the gutter where you belong.”

The world tilted beneath my feet.

Grandma Sylvia... wasn't my grandmother? 

The woman who worked until her hands bled, who skipped meals so I could eat—she was just a nanny who saved my life?

“So you see, Jasmine,” Fredrick cut in. “You owe that old woman your life. And right now, her life depends on us. You will do exactly as you are told, or she pays the price.”

He shoved me forward. 

“Willow, this is your twin sister,” Marjorie said dryly, looking almost bored. 

Willow. So that was her name. My identical twin sister. It was almost eerie looking at her, like staring at a materialization of my own reflection. 

But where my skin was tired, pale, and dry from working endless night shifts, hers was glowing and flawless. Where my hair was knotty and tied in a cheap hairband, hers was glossy and fell in thick waves over her shoulders.

Willow looked me up and down, her eyes traveling slowly from my worn-out shoes up to my messy hair. Her lips curled in disgust as if I were a stray dog that just walked into her living room.

“God, Mom,” Willow whined, taking a slow sip of her champagne and turning her back to me. “Is this the trash you found on the street? She smells like cheap grease and floor cleaner. You actually expect me to let this creature pretend to be me?”

“She has your face, Willow,” Marjorie snapped, walking over to pour herself a drink. “And right now, her face is the only thing keeping this family out of prison.”

Willow turned back around, scoffing as she walked up to me. She was so close I could smell her expensive vanilla perfume. She reached out with one manicured fingernail and tapped my shoulder, cringing as if touching me physically pained her.

“Look at her hands,” Willow giggled, her voice sharp and mocking. “They’re rough as sandpaper. Mom, if she goes to the Callahan house looking like a servant who just washed dishes, they’re going to know in two seconds she isn’t me. I have standards, you know. I can’t have some broke street rat ruining my reputation before I even leave.”

She didn’t care that I was her sister. She didn’t care that our parents had abandoned me or that I had spent my whole life struggling while she lived in luxury. To her, I wasn’t even human. I was just an ugly nuisance standing in her space.

My fists clenched hard at my sides. My knuckles turned white, but I forced my mouth to stay shut.

“She will be trained, Willow,” Fredrick said sternly. “Now sit down and shut up.”

Marjorie turned back to me, her gaze cold. “Our company is bankrupt, Jasmine. The Sinclair name is facing total financial ruin. The only thing that can save us is an arranged marriage with the Callahan family. But Willow refuses to marry into a family like theirs.”

“So you brought me here to take her place,” I whispered, staring between my mother and the girl who shared my face.

“To protect their money, the Callahans are putting a $10 million dowry into a Joint Escrow Account under Willow’s name,” Fredrick explained, stepping up behind me. “The money is released to us after thirty days of marriage. All you have to do is play Willow for thirty days, sign the papers, and stay quiet. Do that, and your nanny stays alive. Refuse, and she dies.”

****

The next two weeks were torture.

I was locked in the east wing of the mansion and wasn't allowed outside. Every day was a blur of exhausting lessons. Teams of beauty workers scrubbed my skin, fixed my hair, and sprayed me with Willow’s expensive perfume.

Instructors spent hours making me copy Willow’s life. I had to walk like her—head high, full of confidence. I had to practice her laugh, memorize the names of her rich friends, and practice her tone until I sounded just as spoiled and rude as she was.

Every night, I lay awake on the huge bed with my body aching and my head spinning. I had no phone, no news, and no way of checking on Sylvia. The only thing keeping me going was keeping her alive.

But while my parents thought I was just obeying them, I kept my eyes and ears open.

I noticed how jumpy Willow was. She was always on her phone, pacing the halls late at night, whispering angrily to whoever was on the line. She didn't look like someone who was glad to avoid a marriage…she looked like she was planning something.

On the twelfth night, I found out the truth.

It was two in the morning. I couldn't sleep, so I quietly opened my bedroom door to go to the kitchen for water.

As I passed Willow’s room, her door was open just an inch, a line of light shining onto the hallway floor.

“—it’s foolproof, Travis,” Willow’s voice giggled from inside.

I froze, pulling back into the shadows, and strained my ears to listen. 

“My parents think I’m going to let that girl stay in the Callahan house for thirty days so they can get the $10 million,” Willow scoffed. “They have no idea. The minute the contract is stamped tomorrow night, I’m using my security passcodes to drain the whole $10 million escrow account into our Swiss account.”

My brows shot up in surprise.

What the actual fuck?

“By the time the Callahans realize the money is gone, you and I will be on a jet to Europe,” Willow sighed dreamily, “Guess who will take the heat? I’m the only one who has the passcodes so of course it’ll be me. Except, it’s not me. My trashy little twin sister will be right there to take the blame for the heist, my parents will go to prison, and as for us…” she giggled “…we’ll be rich in Zurich.”

I backed away from the door slowly, breathing hard.

It was a setup inside a setup.

Willow wasn't just running away from the marriage. She was stealing the Callahans' $10 million dowry, ruining her parents, and leaving me in the Callahan house to take the blame for a crime I didn't commit.