Chapter 7: No way home

When I first went over the incidents surrounding Elizabeth's death, even during the court hearing, I thought Diana was responsible. Every clue I had pointed to her. She had tried to end my life once. She could have done the same to Elizabeth.

Then I thought about Marshall's involvement as well, alongside her. 

But she would be stupid to get her hands dirty if Lizzie's fortune already said she would die.

And Diana was anything but stupid.

"It can't be her," I thought. “Could it be Marshall?”

I shook my head, as if that could dislodge the idea. The faster I found my answers, the better. Staying in this body playing the role of Marshall's wife. I couldn't accept that. Not after he accused me of my sister's death and promised to make sure I rotted in jail.

When Marshall came downstairs, I watched Diana follow him to the car, expecting her to sit next to him. Instead, she went to the back. I got in next to her and turned towards the window. A moment later, I realized we hadn't moved.

When I turned, they were both staring at me.

"What?"

"You're supposed to be in the front," Diana said.

I almost laughed. It looked like Elizabeth had been putting on a show in public while Marshall's true lover was made to sit at the back.

"Go make yourself comfortable there. I don't mind," I told Diana.

"You should come to the front..." Marshall started.

"Which part of what I said did you not understand, Lord Marshall?" I snapped at him.

He paused. Time seemed to stop around him. In the rearview mirror, I caught a glimpse of him, his eyes narrowed and brows furrowed. Diana's eyes were wide, almost popping out of her head.

The alarm went off in my mind.

That wasn't something Lizzie would say. And I didn't sound like her.

“I have spent more hours asleep than I have been awake the last few days. Even through my wedding. I need Charlotte.” I explained in an awkward attempt to get rid of their suspicions.

Diana shrugged like she doesn't care. Marshall, on the other hand, was mute the entire time, while his forefinger kept tapping the steering wheel as he was driving. The way his attention glued on the road ahead, his ice face visible in the rearview mirror, told me it hasn't left his mind.

We got to my family house. Marshall parked the car and ordered Diana out of the car. 

“I need to speak with her privately,” he explained. 

She fussed before getting up. Seconds after she slammed the door, Marshall threw a file on my body.

“Read Clause seven, please.”

I skimmed and found it, but a long pause followed. The heading read “contract marriage between Marshall BronzeBank and Elizabeth Rivers.”

And clause seven said I would… Elizabeth would convince the public that they are madly in love with each other through her actions. 

“You signed it. There are consequences if you do not uphold your part.”

I got out and went inside as fast as I could, with only one thought burning in my mind.

What happened to my body?

Did Elizabeth take my body when I woke up in hers? Or was my body lying unconscious somewhere?

When I asked Elizabeth for help, I didn't expect to end up in her body less than a month before her death. Whatever mistake brought me into this nightmare, now stuck in a body that might die again in a month's time, finding my own body might give me a chance to correct it. The faster I did that, the better.

My fist was still raised after the first knock when the door opened. My mother fell into my arms, breathing heavily, her sobs muffled. I lifted her face. My heartbeat pounded against my ribcage. Her makeup was smeared, her usually perfect curls, a mess.

"Where is Charlotte, Mom?" I asked.

"I know how much you love your sisters..."

"That doesn't answer my question." I tried to keep my voice low. My eyes were already scanning the house. My first thought was to check my room, where I knew I would be.

I went upstairs. The room was neat and abandoned. Cold. No one had been there.

I turned toward the room Elizabeth occupied before she got engaged. I stumbled twice trying to get there. When I opened the door, it was exactly how Elizabeth had left it.

I kicked off my heels and hurried back to the sitting room where my mother and the others were.

"She knows today is our birthday. She also knows I wouldn't celebrate it without her. Why isn't she here, Mom?" I asked, weighing two possibilities.

Either Elizabeth was in my body, or I had fallen into a coma before waking up in my sister's.

"Lizzie, calm down..."

"Don't tell me to calm down," I snapped at Diana. My fists tight. Then the alarm in my head went off.

Elizabeth never used curse words. She never raised her voice. She was the gentle one, the one who often sank into depression. Not even when we fought did she yell.

I couldn't let anyone find out about the swap. Not yet. Not until I found the person who killed her.

If my mother heard that I was in Elizabeth's body, she might send me back to the mental facility. Or plan an exorcism to cast me out of her daughter.

Mom stepped between Diana and me and held me back. Then came a fake cough.

I knew that cough. I would recognize it even in my dreams.

When we turned, we saw him standing a few steps away, opposite Marshall.

Gabriel Washington.

“What is he doing here?” I thought. He looked my way, and his eyes slid past me, like he couldn't meet my gaze.

I couldn't believe I almost gave him my virginity.

"Hello, Elizabeth. I am Gabriel Washington," he said a moment later, like a stranger, with a thin smile. And then he finally met my eyes.

My heart skipped. My thoughts went blank. Gabriel Washington wouldn't walk in here without a good reason. And there was no way he would be smiling.

I pressed my lips shut. My feet felt glued to the ground. Then my mother spoke.

"She died this morning," she sobbed. "Charlotte died this morning."