Raised in a quiet village, she grew up as an ordinary girl, or so everyone thought. Switched at birth with the wealthy family’s true daughter, she was only reclaimed by her birth parents at eighteen, a stranger in the opulent world she was born into. Rumors paint her as the “evil sister,” and few know her true talents, she’s a hidden protégé of a renowned jewelry designer, a masterful street racer, and a girl with a photographic memory who tops the class she started at the bottom. Then she’s handed over as the substitute bride to the wheelchair bound heir of the wealthiest family, whose own arranged fiancée, the girl who took her place at birth, refused him. He sees her as a pawn in their families' game. But on their wedding night, her quick wit and unexpected spark shatter his expectations when she teases, “Keep me happy, or I’ll let everyone know your legs are just fine.” Intrigued and captivated, he’s soon swept up in her unpredictable world of secrets, talents, and a charm that’s anything but tame. What begins as a marriage of convenience turns into a whirlwind romance as he discovers his "accident bride" may just be the love he never knew he needed.
View MoreThe grand ballroom of the Caldwell Estate glittered under the glow of crystal chandeliers, and the air was thick with the scent of champagne, designer perfumes, and the murmur of high society.
Everywhere she looked, Sarah Miller saw faces turned not to her, but to the dazzling figure just steps ahead.
Victoria Reed, the girl everyone believed was Eleanor and Richard Caldwell's daughter, moved through the crowd with the ease of someone who knew she belonged.
Her dress, a sleek midnight blue silk that fit her like it was made for her alone, shimmered with every step.
The Caldwell name was attached to her life, to her past, to her future, or at least, it had been until three months ago.
In stark contrast, Sarah stood beside her countryside mother, Mary, in a modest cream colored dress that felt wrong against the opulence surrounding her.
The dress was too simple, too plain, a stark reminder that she’d only just learned to navigate the chaos of a city’s department store, let alone the high fashion world of the Caldwell family. Still, she was here, however out of place she felt.
She was here because, against everything she knew to be true, she was their daughter. Or rather, she was the "other daughter," the one who had lived eighteen years on borrowed time.
Mary’s hand squeezed hers, and Sarah felt the weight of her mother’s words. “You don’t have to be here.”
The ache in Mary’s voice echoed in Sarah’s chest. She knew her mother meant it with every fiber of her being. And yet, she couldn't leave. Not tonight, when she needed to show everyone, even herself, that she was more than just a misplaced pawn in someone else’s life.
“Mom, I’m okay,” Sarah whispered back, though she wasn’t sure if it was true.
Her gaze lingered on Victoria, watching as her “sister” laughed, tossing her dark hair over her shoulder, all the while ignoring Sarah as if she were no more than a shadow.
Sarah’s stomach tightened. She knew what the people around her were thinking, the whispers that trailed through the crowd like smoke,
"Why couldn’t they have just left the poor girl where she was?"
"Why disrupt everyone’s lives for this awkward country girl?"
For the last three months, Sarah had heard every cutting remark, every sideways glance, every word of pity mingled with disdain.
The city, with its lights and high rises, had felt like an alien world, and the Caldwell mansion was no different. It wasn’t home, not to her.
Her heart still yearned for the winding country roads, the little house she’d grown up in, the small joys of her old life.
She looked down at her shoes, scuffed at the toes, and a pang of shame stabbed at her.
She could feel the eyes of the crowd, judging her, comparing her to the flawless socialite only a few feet away.
“Oh, Victoria is so charming, isn’t she?” someone said near her, loud enough for Sarah to hear. “What a shame this… this mix up had to happen. It’s so disruptive.”
Sarah bit the inside of her cheek, the words hitting like stones.
She wanted to disappear, to slip into the shadows of the grand room and pretend she wasn’t there. But she didn’t move. She stood, her chin up, a quiet defiance settling within her. She wouldn’t let them see her break.
Victoria’s laughter rang out again, clear and musical, drawing every eye.
She glanced in Sarah’s direction, her smile briefly tightening. For a split second, Sarah thought she saw something dark pass across her sister’s face, a flicker of anger, or perhaps disdain. But it was gone in an instant, replaced by a smile so dazzling it seemed impossible to question.
“Welcome, everyone!” Victoria’s voice silenced the murmurs, commanding attention as she raised her champagne glass. “Tonight is about celebrating family,” she declared, her gaze flicking to Sarah with a calculated warmth that barely masked the glint in her eye. “Family is everything to us Caldwells, isn’t it?”
A wave of murmured agreement rippled through the crowd.
Sarah’s chest tightened, she could feel the weight of the gazes around her, sizing her up, wondering if she’d somehow turn out to be worthy of the family’s name.
As Victoria continued her speech, Sarah caught sight of Richard and Eleanor Caldwell, watching her from the edge of the room.
Eleanor’s mouth was drawn tight, her expression unreadable, but her eyes were locked on Sarah.
Was it curiosity?
Disappointment?
Sarah couldn’t tell, and the uncertainty gnawed at her.
Her adoptive mother’s voice cut into her thoughts. “Sarah, we can leave if this is too much.”
Mary’s hand tightened, grounding her.
They will never truly understand me, Sarah thought, but then she met her mother’s eyes, and she knew that someone here did.
Mary, who had loved her when no one else had, would always understand.
“No, Mom,” Sarah said softly. “I’m staying. I have to.”
Across the room, Victoria’s speech ended, and she handed her glass to a waiter, her eyes cutting through the crowd until they landed on Sarah. With a saccharine smile, she started toward her, heels clicking sharply against the marble floor.
The chatter in the room dimmed as everyone watched Victoria’s approach.
“Sarah,” Victoria greeted, her voice as smooth as honey. She leaned in, lips curving into a whisper only Sarah could hear. “Enjoying the party? I hope it’s not too much for you.” She paused, her voice turning cool. “I know this is all very new to you.”
Sarah’s pulse quickened, but she forced a calm smile. “Thank you, Victoria. It’s… a lot to take in.”
Victoria raised an eyebrow, the faintest smirk playing on her lips. “Yes, well, some things aren’t meant for everyone to take on, are they?” Her gaze dipped briefly to Sarah’s dress, and Sarah could practically feel the judgment prickling her skin.
Before she could respond, Victoria turned back to the crowd, her charm back on display. But the words had hit their mark, lodging themselves like barbs in Sarah’s mind.
She clenched her fists, the fabric of her dress twisting beneath her fingers as she fought to hold herself steady.
As Victoria swept away, drawing everyone’s attention with her, Sarah let out a shaky breath.
She’d known tonight would be difficult, but she hadn’t expected it to feel this...
Every part of her ached to run, to return to the simple life she knew, but she forced herself to remain still.
The voices of the guests blurred around her, but she could make out fragments, whispers of her name, and the phrase she was coming to dread, the other daughter.
The sun was dipping low over the horizon, casting a rich, molten gold sheen across the endless stretch of cerulean water surrounding the private island. Waves lapped lazily at the pristine white shores, and the sweet scent of tropical blooms filled the salt heavy breeze. Four years had passed since the darkness that had almost swallowed them whole. Four years since Sarah had been ripped from Alexander’s arms and nearly broken beyond recognition. Four years since Alexander had been confined to a wheelchair, only to fight tooth and nail to walk again, fueled by sheer willpower, physical therapy, and Sarah’s unyielding belief in him. And today, today was a celebration not just of survival, but of life. Laughter rang out from the sprawling beachfront villa, decorated with colorful ribbons, balloons, and flowers that spilled over tables heavy with food and gifts. Small hands clapped excitedly as the Blake twins, three year old terrors with grins that could melt glaciers, chased each
Gerald’s world had flipped, literally and figuratively.The scent of leaking gasoline still clung to his shredded suit.His once polished shoes were coated in blood and gravel, and his jaw ached with every breath he took.The crash had thrown him like a ragdoll, flinging his body into a ditch after his vehicle, tires blown out from a desperate chase, had careened off the hillside road.He’d blacked out for a moment. Maybe more.But when he came to, it wasn’t mercy that greeted him.It was Darius.He’d heard the boots crunching over leaves and dirt long before the shadows finally stretched toward him.Then came the firm grip of gloved hands dragging his broken form to a clearing, rifles trained on him, and a half circle of men in black combat gear standing like a wall of death.And at the center of it all, Darius.Pristine as ever, yet colder than a winter grave.Darius stood tall, hands behind his back, his expression unreadable as he stared down at the bloodied man in front of him.G
Sarah turned slowly to Alexander, her hand still pressed to her mouth. “We’re… we’re going to have a baby.”His eyes glistened with fresh tears, shock, joy, fear, all colliding in one single breath.He reached out to cradle her face with both hands, his broken leg momentarily forgotten.A baby.A child made from chaos and pain, love and survival.“I don’t deserve this,” he whispered hoarsely. “Not after everything I’ve done. Not after I almost lost you.”“You didn’t lose me,” she whispered back. “And you won’t. Not now. Not ever.”He kissed her forehead, resting there for a long moment, his tears soaking into her hair. “I swear I’ll protect both of you. Even if I can’t walk. Even if I have to crawl to the ends of the earth, Sarah.”She laughed through her tears, arms wrapping around him tighter than ever. “Then we’ll crawl together. And when we’re ready… we’ll run.”They held each other in the stillness of that room, at the beginning of something even greater.A heartbeat they hadn’t
Sarah stayed curled in Alexander’s arms for a long moment, breathing him in like he was the only tether keeping her from floating away.His hand cradled the back of her head, his chest rising and falling in unsteady waves as if he still couldn’t believe she was real, that she was here.But then her eyes drifted down.Her gaze locked on the white sheets, crumpled and slightly lifted around his lower half.Something tugged at her memory, the shot.The sharp crack of a bullet.The sight of him falling behind her as she ran, screaming his name. Her stomach twisted.She leaned back slightly, her hand moving instinctively to the edge of the blanket, brushing against the thick padding of a cast beneath.Her voice was soft. “You were shot… I remember… I...”Alexander caught her hand gently, pressing it to his lips. “It’s okay. I’m here.”But Sarah’s heart had already begun to race again. “You were limping… and I saw… but I didn’t know it was this bad.” Her eyes darted toward the crutches now
The first thing Sarah registered was the scent of antiseptic, clean, sharp, and nauseating.Then came the ache. Deep in her bones. In her chest. In the marrow of her soul.She stirred, her fingers twitching over crisp hospital sheets as her body shifted ever so slightly, and her mind scrambled to catch up.She wasn’t tied down. She wasn’t cold anymore. She wasn’t in that dark room. That house. That… nightmare.She was safe.Or… something like it.Her eyes fluttered open slowly, lashes damp from tears she hadn’t even known she’d been crying.The ceiling was a sterile white blur. The walls hummed faintly with distant activity, soft footfalls, medical monitors, the low murmur of conversation somewhere outside the door.But none of it mattered.Because he wasn’t there.And without him, none of this felt real.Her lips parted, cracked and dry, and she tried to speak. Tried to push out the name that had lived on the edge of every prayer she'd whispered during captivity.It came out broken a
Alexander turned his head, his eyes bloodshot and glistening. “I’ll be a burden now. She’ll never say it, but I’ll see it in her eyes. Pity. Guilt. I’d rather she hate me than pity me.”“She’s not that kind of woman,” Darius said firmly.A pause. Then Alexander swallowed hard and asked the question that had been clawing at him since the moment the doctor said the word paralysis.“What if she stays… just because she thinks she owes me?”Darius’s brow furrowed. “Then you remind her what you both have been through. Remind her who the hell you are. And what you mean to each other.”Silence again.Then Alexander leaned back against the pillows and stared up at the ceiling. “Gerald got away.”Darius’s expression hardened. “Barely. One of my men put a tracker on his vehicle before he escaped. Victoria got caught in the crossfire. Gerald used her,” Darius replied coldly. “He doesn’t care who dies as long as he gets what he wants.”Alexander’s jaw clenched. “Then we’ll burn every last shadow h
The sterile beep of Alexander’s heart monitor filled the hospital room like a metronome, steady and soft. The worst had passed, so the doctors said. He had survived the bullets, the blood loss, the surgery. He had defied death.But outside the room, just as Darius turned to check on Sarah again, something in her expression shifted.Relief.That was the first thing he saw.A full bodied, all consuming relief that weakened her spine, dulled her eyes, and uncoiled every taut muscle that had kept her upright through pain, fear, and heartbreak.Then she crumpled.“Sarah...!” Darius lunged forward and caught her just before her knees slammed into the polished floor.Her body was limp in his arms, barely conscious, her breathing shallow and unsteady. Her bloodied hands slipped against his shirt as he pulled her close, his voice sharp and commanding as he yelled over his shoulder, “Get a doctor! Now!”Within seconds, nurses flooded the corridor. A gurney was wheeled over, and Darius laid her d
The woman he’d secretly crushed on since the first night he saved her bleeding and defiant.“Holy shit,” he muttered.But she was already in the driver’s seat.The moment her fingers wrapped around the wheel, she changed. Her spine straightened. Her breath slowed. The fear didn’t vanish, but it sharpened, fused into her bones like steel.And when her foot hit the gas, the tires screamed their fury into the night.The SUV became a blur under her hands.Trees melted past them. Headlights glared like ghosts. The world narrowed to instinct and motion.Sarah didn’t flinch when they nearly sideswiped a truck. She didn’t panic when the back tires fishtailed across loose gravel. She was in it.. back.Back to the part of herself she’d buried when she married into the Blake family.Back to Sparrow.“Hang on,” she said under her breath, glancing at Alexander in the mirror, his head resting in Darius’s lap as the man tried to stop the bleeding.“He’s fading,” Darius warned. “We’ve got fifteen min
The air turned electric as Darius’s boots pounded the forest floor, his rifle cradled tight against his shoulder. His men moved ahead of him like shadows, silent, fast, lethal.Their coordinated breaths were drowned out by the distant echoes of gunfire erupting from the estate.Alexander was still fighting.He was alive.But for how long?“Alpha to all units,” Darius growled into his earpiece, “entry on my mark. Hostile count is high. Primary objective, get Alexander out alive. Secondary level anyone who tries to stop us.”“Copy that,” came a chorus of calm, battle hardened voices.Behind him, the night swallowed his words.But not all of it.He turned briefly, his sharp gaze locking onto Sarah, who stood beside the black SUV Darius had arrived in. Her body trembled, her eyes red from tears, but she had not collapsed.She hadn’t fallen apart.And that, Darius admired deeply.“Can you drive?” he asked, voice hard but not unkind.Sarah blinked, startled. “What?”“If this goes south, we’
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