All Chapters of The Week He Pretended To Be The Husband: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

My twin sister Elena’s husband died for the family.On the day Elena became a widow, the Moretti family decided over just fifteen minutes that she would again marry for the family’s sake.The man Elena was to marry this time was Nicola, the twin brother of my husband, Matteo.I heard that he had been doing dangerous work for his family and had only recently returned to the country.The marriage was still just a verbal agreement. Elena had not yet met Nicola.I was sitting on the couch in the bedroom reading a book when I learned about this news. Matteo was standing right behind me.After a long silence, he asked, “Will... Elena agree to this arranged marriage?”I replied without looking at him, “Yes.”He then asked, “So, are you going to see her?”I nodded. “Yes, I’ll see her later.”Upon hearing my words, Matteo seemed a little disappointed. However, in the next second, he looked calm again.That night, Matteo tossed and turned. He was unable to sleep. I also stayed awake t

I snapped back from the memory.The Matteo in front of me looked just like Number 23 from my memories.I could not help myself. I reached out and touched his face.“Am I dreaming?”I stood on my tiptoes, wanting to kiss him. Then, he blocked me with his hand.“Lina.”I froze in place, still on my tiptoes. However, my body had stopped leaning forward.He smiled roguishly again.“If you actually kissed me, Matteo would still kill me even though he’s my twin brother.”I turned and saw Matteo standing about seven meters away from us.So, I almost kissed Nicola?Before I could think it through carefully, I heard Matteo say, “When did you get back, Nicola?”Nicola put away that casual and unruly demeanor. He walked past me and said, “Yeah, I’ll tell you later.”I saw the scar on his arm as he pulled up his sleeve. It was the scar I could never forget.He was Number 23.I had the urge to grab Nicola, but Matteo squeezed my hand tightly. He looked at me, offended.“You can’t

I held his hand and walked into the restaurant with him.The waiter took us up to the third floor.Nicola did not reserve a private room for us. Our seats were on the small terrace that was only open to premium members.Beyond the French windows, the night skyline and the distant harbor lights stretched into view.When we were seated, I heard a familiar voice coming from the stairwell.“Oh? Lina. You two are here too?”It was Elena. She was wearing a red dress today. She looked amazing in it. Every move she made was elegant.She walked over and sat down next to me.Then, she said to Nicola, who was sitting across from me, “Since we happened to run into each other like this, why don’t you pick up the tab, Nicola?”After saying that, she nudged me with her leg under the table.I felt a little embarrassed and gave an awkward smile.Nicola clearly had not expected this situation either.I was at a loss for words. Then, I saw Matteo walking over slowly.He was frowning, and his

[Lina’s perspective.]That same night, after Nicola got ready for bed, he lifted the blanket and lay down beside me.Then, he wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me into his embrace.He rested his chin on top of my head. His breath wafted through my hair.He held me gently and let out a contented sigh. “Honey, it feels so good to hold you.”I blushed from his embrace, and my heart pounded rapidly.I never felt that way with Matteo before. That must be what natural chemistry felt like.I turned to bury my face in his chest and wrapped my arms around his waist.“Babe, you smell really nice,” I said.I never thought I would meet Number 23 again, let alone get to call him “Babe.”I tried hard to hold back my tears.Nicola then called out my name softly in the dark, “Lina.”Then, he paused for a long time.“Do you like me like this?”I did not hesitate.“Yes, I do.”He chuckled, then said, “Then... what if this version of me disappears tomorrow? Would you be sad?”

Nicola hit much harder than Matteo did.Matteo suffered two cracked ribs, multiple contusions, soft tissue injuries, and a mild concussion.He was sent to the family’s private hospital and stayed there for two days before he finally woke up.This incident alarmed both families’ Dons.In the end, both of them were punished equally.Nicola was sent to Sicellia for a month to cool off. Matteo was disciplined by the council.The head nurse reported to me that Matteo’s vital signs had returned to normal. He could be discharged after resting for a period of time. However, he refused to speak.I stood outside his hospital room. After a long silence, I pushed open the door.Matteo lay on the hospital bed with an IV line still threaded into the back of his hand. His breathing was steady.I pulled a chair over and sat down beside the bed. I noticed that he had blinked.“Matteo, wake up and face reality. Running away isn’t going to fix anything.”After a few seconds, he slowly opened h