The Real Vanessa

Lily's POV

For a second, nobody in the room moved.

Rosa stood in the doorway, twisting her apron in her hands. She looked at me like she was trying to solve a puzzle. I was the woman she had called Mrs. Blackwood all week, and now another woman downstairs was using my name.

Ethan spoke first. "Rosa, is my grandmother home?"

"No, sir," Rosa said. "Mrs. Eleanor went to dinner with friends. Mr. Richard is out too."

"Good," Ethan said. "Bring the visitor up here. Don't tell anyone else she came. Can you do that for me?"

Rosa nodded fast and hurried away.

I turned to Ethan. My heart was pounding so hard I could feel it in my throat. "What are you doing? If she comes up here, she'll tell you everything."

"She can't," Ethan said. "Think about it, Lily. If Vanessa tells the truth, she has to admit her family sent a stranger to marry me. My grandmother would destroy the Sinclairs for that." He settled back against the pillows. "She came here because she heard I woke up. Now she wants her place back, and she has no idea that I already know."

"So what do I do?"

"You stay right where you are," he said. "You're my wife."

I heard her heels on the stairs before I saw her. Then Vanessa walked in, and it was like looking into a mirror that had been dipped in money. She wore a white coat and gold earrings, and her hair was the same as mine because they had cut mine to match hers. She smelled like expensive perfume.

She didn't even look at me. She went straight to the bed with tears in her eyes.

"Ethan," she said. "Oh, Ethan, I came the second I heard. I was so scared. I couldn't sleep the whole time you were gone."

Ethan looked at her for a long moment. Then he turned to me with a confused face. "Vanessa, who is this woman?"

Vanessa froze. Her mouth fell open, and I almost felt sorry for her.

"I'm Vanessa," she said. "Ethan, it's me. That girl is nobody. She's a waitress my mother found. She isn't your wife."

"That's strange," Ethan said slowly. "Because I remember a wedding. I remember a woman holding my hand and talking to me for hours while I couldn't move. And I remember my grandmother watching her sign the marriage papers." He tilted his head. "Where were you?"

Vanessa's face turned red. "I was in Paris. My mother told me to stay there until things got better."

"My fiancée was in a coma, and you went shopping," Ethan said.

"I didn't know you would wake up!"

The words came out loud and ugly, and she slapped a hand over her mouth right after. But it was too late. Even Duke lifted his head and stared at her.

Ethan's voice went quiet and cold. "No, you didn't. That's the whole point, isn't it?"

Vanessa looked at me then, really looked at me for the first time. Her eyes were full of hate.

"You think you've won," she said to me. "You think you can steal my life because you have my face. You're a cheap copy, Lily. That's all you'll ever be."

"I didn't steal anything," I said. My voice shook, but I made myself keep going. "Your mother came to me. You didn't want him, so your family paid me to stand in your place. I only said yes because my brother was dying."

"I don't care about your brother," Vanessa said.

"I know," I told her. "You've never cared about anyone but yourself."

She stepped toward me like she wanted to slap me. Duke stood up and growled, low and deep, and she stopped where she was.

Ethan didn't raise his voice. "I think you should leave now."

"You'll regret this, Ethan," Vanessa said. "When your grandmother finds out what she really is, you'll both be finished."

"Then tell her," he said. "Tell her tonight. Tell her your parents lied to the Blackwood family and sold me a fake bride. Go ahead."

Vanessa opened her mouth, then closed it. She couldn't say a thing, and all three of us knew it.

She turned around and walked out without another word. Her heels clicked down the stairs, fast and angry, and then the front door slammed so hard I felt it through the floor.

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. My legs felt weak, and I sat down hard in the chair.

Ethan reached over and put his hand on top of mine. His fingers were cold, but he held on until my hands stopped shaking.

"She'll come back," I said. "You know she will. She looked at me like she wanted me dead."

"Let her come," Ethan said. "Every time Vanessa opens her mouth, she tells us something we didn't know. Tonight she told me she never loved me. That's worth knowing."

He squeezed my hand once before he let go. "You were good tonight."

"I was terrified," I said.

"That's why you were good. She could see you weren't acting." He almost smiled. "And you stood up to her. I didn't expect that."

Rosa came back a minute later and stood in the doorway again. This time, she didn't look confused. She looked at Ethan, then at me, and something soft came into her face.

"I didn't see anyone come in tonight, sir," she said. "And I won't remember anything tomorrow."

"Thank you, Rosa," Ethan said.

She closed the door quietly behind her.

I stared at the door for a long time after she left. A week ago, I didn't know a single person in this house. Now a maid I barely knew was keeping my secret, and the man I had married while he was asleep was on my side. I didn't know how long it would last, but for tonight, it was enough.

I went to the window to get some air. The night was dark, and the lights along the driveway were on. I saw Vanessa walking fast down the steps with her white coat flying behind her. I expected her to get into a taxi or one of her family's cars.

Instead, she walked to the end of the driveway, where a gray car was waiting with its lights off. The back door opened for her before she reached it.

Under the lamp by the gate, I saw the man sitting inside. He leaned forward to say something to her, and I saw his face clearly.

It was Uncle Richard.

"Ethan," I said, and my voice came out as a whisper. "Come here. You need to see this."