Chapter Three- She Left The Country?

By the time Mira returned home, the news of her kiss with Alexander had already spread. She had barely stepped into the living room when Benita hurried toward her, phone in hand and a smile that seemed far too wide for the hour.

“Look at you! You're all over the news.” Benita turned the screen toward her. Several pictures showed Mira kissing Alexander outside the restaurant, followed by another of them smiling at each other as though they had just shared a romantic evening. “This is perfect. Now I can finally live my life with my real name, Benita Nolan, and do whatever I want. If things go wrong, I’ll still have somewhere to fall back on.”

Mira glanced at the pictures, then at the sister who had arranged for her to take her place. Benita looked genuinely pleased, as if Mira’s life were simply a spare key she could keep in her pocket until she needed it. Mira didn’t answer. She walked past her and headed for the stairs, but Benita’s words followed her, bringing back memories she had spent years trying not to revisit.

Six years earlier, Mira had stood beside her mother’s hospital bed after a terrible accident nearly took Laura’s life. The doctors had managed to save her, but the injuries left her needing long-term treatment. Mira suspected Vanessa had been involved. Vanessa wanted to become Richard Nolan’s wife, and Mira couldn’t understand why her father refused to consider that she might have had a hand in the accident.

When Mira confronted him, Richard dismissed her accusation.

“Vanessa would never do something like that,” he insisted.

“You don’t know what she’s capable of,” Mira argued. “She wants Mum gone so she can have you.”

“Enough. Your mother is fighting for her life, and you’re making accusations without proof.”

Less than three days later, Vanessa arrived at the Nolan home with a young woman who looked so much like Mira that Mira stared at her in disbelief.

“This is Benita,” Vanessa announced. “Richard, she’s your daughter.”

Mira immediately objected, but Richard agreed to a DNA test. The results confirmed that Benita was his biological child, and from then on, the family Mira knew began to fall apart. Vanessa moved into the house, and Laura could no longer bear living under the same roof as the woman she believed had tried to destroy her. One night, she took Mira and left.

“Mira, are you all right?” Richard’s voice pulled her back to the present. She had reached the third stair, but she stopped and looked over her shoulder. Her father was watching her from the living room, wearing an expression that might have passed for concern if she hadn’t spent years learning how little his concern meant.

“Why are you asking?” she replied. “Why are you suddenly sounding like you care?”

Richard’s mouth opened, but no answer came. Mira waited a moment, then shook her head and turned toward Benita.

“Start packing your things and leave the country,” she said. “If you breach our contract, I’ll make sure you see hell.”

Benita’s smile faded. “You’re the one who agreed to this.”

“And I’m the one who’ll make sure you regret it if you don’t keep your end of the deal.” Mira didn’t wait for another argument. She continued upstairs, leaving Benita with the warning and Richard with his silence.

The next morning, Mira dressed for work and came downstairs, hoping to get through breakfast without having to deal with either of them. Richard and Vanessa were already seated at the dining table, eating as if nothing had happened the previous evening. Mira ignored them and headed toward the front door.

The doorbell rang before she reached it. She changed direction and opened the door, only to stop in surprise when she saw Alexander standing outside in a dark suit, holding an envelope.

“Why do you look shocked?” he asked, studying her reaction.

Mira recovered quickly, but her thoughts had already raced ahead. Why was he here? More importantly, what would happen if Benita came downstairs and saw him? Mira hoped her stepsister would stay in her room long enough for her to get Alexander away from the house. She couldn't afford to let him discover the arrangement before the wedding, especially when he had already made it clear that he wanted the marriage for his own reasons.

“Anyway, I’m here to pick you up and give you the wedding date,” Alexander said. He held out the envelope, his manner brisk and businesslike. “Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m not interested in you. I just want to make sure my brother doesn’t get our father’s shares.”

Mira accepted the invitation. So this was what mattered to him: not the woman he was marrying, but keeping his brother away from the inheritance. She could understand wanting to protect his interests, but she had no intention of pretending his reasons made the arrangement any less insulting.

“Hold on a bit,” she said.

Before Alexander could ask what she meant, Mira stepped inside and shut the door behind her. She walked straight toward the dining table, the envelope still in her hand. Richard and Vanessa had stopped eating and were looking at her, apparently waiting to hear what Alexander had said.

“Where’s Benita?” Mira asked.

They exchanged a quick glance. That small pause told Mira enough to make her uneasy, but she waited for one of them to answer.

“She left this morning,” Richard said at last. He returned to his breakfast as if the matter were settled. “You’ll be her for the next three years. Don’t mess this up.”

Mira stared at him. “She left the country?”

“That was the agreement, wasn’t it?” Vanessa replied, finally looking up. “She’s given you the chance to do what needs to be done. All you have to do is follow the contract and make sure no one discovers the truth.”

Mira wanted to remind them that Benita had been the one who wanted this arrangement, while she was the one being forced to carry its consequences. Instead, she looked down at the envelope and slid a finger beneath its flap. She pulled out the invitation and read the details printed inside.

For a moment, she thought she had misunderstood the date. She checked it again, then looked up at her father, hoping he might at least have the decency to explain why everything had been arranged so quickly. Richard simply continued eating, while Vanessa reached for her glass.

“The wedding is in three days?”