CHAPTER 7: The Mysterious Woman

NORA'S POV

My fingers trembled as I reached for the drawer again. I knew I should not be looking through Tyler's things, but I could not stop myself. The woman in the photograph haunted me.

I pulled the drawer open fully this time. More photographs spilled into view, each one showing the same beautiful woman. She had dark hair that fell in waves past her shoulders. Her smile was warm and genuine.

But it was her eyes that made my stomach drop. They were the exact shape as mine. The same curve to her cheekbones. The same delicate arch to her eyebrows.

We could have been twins.

I picked up another photograph. This one showed her in a flowing white dress, standing in a garden filled with roses. Sunlight caught in her hair, making it shine like silk.

She looked happy. Carefree. Everything I would never be.

The next photograph made my breath cease. The woman stood beside Tyler, but he looked different. Younger. His face was softer, without the hard edges I had come to know. His arm wrapped around her waist.

And he was smiling. Actually smiling. Not the cold smirk he gave me, but a real smile that reached his eyes.

I flipped through more photos. The woman at the dinner table is laughing. The woman in Tyler's arms, her head resting on his chest. The woman kissed his cheek while he looked at her like she was his entire world.

Who was she? And why did she look so much like me?

My mind raced with possibilities of who she was to him. A sister? A cousin? But the way Tyler held her in the photographs suggested something deeper. Something intimate.

A sick feeling settled in my stomach. Had Tyler brought me here because I reminded him of her? Was I just a replacement for a woman he had lost?

The thought made me feel weak. I was already a possession according to that contract. But being a substitute for someone else? That was worse than anything Landon had done.

I studied the photographs more closely, searching for clues. In one image, I noticed a necklace around the woman's neck. A delicate silver chain with a small pendant. I squinted, trying to make out the details, but my vision blurred at the edges.

Footsteps echoed in the hallway outside. My heart jumped into my throat. I quickly gathered the photographs and shoved them back into the drawer, pushing it closed as quietly as I could.

The footsteps grew louder.

I scrambled back to the chair and tried to look natural, but my hands would not stop shaking. I clasped them together in my lap and forced myself to breathe normally.

The door opened. A woman stepped inside, older than me by at least twenty years. She wore a simple gray dress and her hair was pulled back in a neat bun.

"Miss Nora?" she said, her voice soft and kind. "I am Lily. Mister Tyler asked me to show you to your room."

I stood quickly, grateful for the interruption even though my mind still spun with questions. "Thank you," I managed to say, my voice steadier than I felt.

Lily's eyes swept over me, lingering on my face a moment too long. 

"This way, please." She turned and walked back into the hallway.

I followed her, my legs unsteady beneath me. The hallway seemed to stretch forever, lined with more expensive art and polished marble. My reflection caught in a mirror as we passed, and I barely recognized myself.

I looked pale. Like a ghost wandering through someone else's life.

Lily led me up a grand staircase. My hand trailed along the smooth banister, cold under my palm. We climbed higher and higher until we reached the second floor.

The hallway here was quieter. The carpet muffled our footsteps. Lily stopped in front of a door near the end of the corridor and pushed it open.

"This will be your room," she said, stepping aside to let me enter.

I walked in slowly, taking in the space. The room was larger than any bedroom I had ever had. A massive bed dominated one wall, covered in silk sheets. Heavy curtains framed the windows, blocking out most of the light.

It was beautiful but it felt like a prison.

"If you need anything, just ring the bell." Lily pointed to a small button on the nightstand. "Someone will come right away."

"Thank you," I said again, not knowing what else to say.

Lily turned to leave, but then she paused in the doorway. Her hand gripped the frame tightly, her knuckles turning white. She seemed to be having an internal battle with herself.

I waited, my heart pounding. Something was coming. I could feel it.

Finally, Lily looked back at me. Her eyes were filled with something I could not quite name. Pity, perhaps. Or fear.

"You look just like her," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "That's why he brought you here."

The words hit me like a slap. My mouth opened but no sound came out. Before I could ask anything, Lily hurried away without explanation.