I was his stand-in wife until he wanted me for real
I didn’t marry him for love.
I married Ethan Blake because my brother was dying, and he needed a wife to secure his inheritance.
It was supposed to be a simple deal—one year. No feelings. No expectations.
On our wedding night, he didn’t touch me. Didn’t even pretend to try.
“You are not her,” Ethan said quietly, adjusting his cufflinks like I wasn’t even worth looking at.
I told myself I could survive that.
I told myself I wouldn’t fall for a man who was still holding onto someone else.
But living in Ethan Blake’s world was a different kind of loneliness.
Because he didn’t love me, yet, he watched me when I wasn’t looking and kept his distance. Yet, no one else was allowed to get close to me.
And slowly, against my better judgment…
I started hoping.
Hoping that one day, he would see me.
I was wrong.
The day she came back, everything changed.
The woman he had been waiting for.
The woman I was meant to replace.
In front of everyone, Ethan didn’t hesitate.
He chose her.
And in that moment, something inside me broke so quietly that no one noticed except me.
So I left.
No goodbye. No explanation.
Just gone.
I thought that would be the end of it.
Until Ethan Blake came back into my life, like losing me was the one thing he couldn’t afford.
But I’m not the same woman he married.
And this time?
He’s the one chasing
He’s the one breaking
while I decide if he deserves a second chance—or if I should finally choose myself.