Chapter 2
The applause still echoed in my ears as Rick led me back down the aisle, his hand firmly wrapped around mine.
I felt like I was floating through someone else’s dream. Or perhaps a nightmare.
Cameras flashed from every direction. Guests smiled warmly and offered congratulations as we passed. No one seemed to notice that the bride standing beside Rick Uber was not the woman they had expected to see.
My thoughts spun so violently I could barely breathe.
I had just married a man I hardly knew. A man who was supposed to become my sister’s husband.
The heavy diamond ring on my finger felt like a permanent brand. A mark sealing me into a life that had never been meant for me.
A few minutes later, we stepped into the private room reserved for the bride and groom. The door shut quietly behind us, cutting off the noise and celebration outside.
For the first time since the chaos began, we were finally alone.
I quickly pulled my hand away from his and stepped back, my pulse racing.
“Rick... this is wrong,” I said, my voice trembling. “I am not Lila. You know that. You called me by my name at the altar. Why did you not stop this? Why did you let me go through with it?”
He watched me calmly as he loosened his tie with slow, deliberate movements. There was no anger on his face. No confusion. Only that same unreadable composure he had worn since I first walked down the aisle.
“I know exactly who you are, Eve,” he replied in a steady voice. “You are not Lila. You never were.”
His words sent a cold chill through me.
I stared at him, searching desperately for some sign that he was in shock or trying to process everything. But there was nothing. He looked completely calm, as though marrying the wrong sister was the most natural thing in the world.
“You knew,” I whispered. “You knew it was me, and you still went through with the wedding. Why?”
Rick walked toward the table where champagne had been prepared for us. He poured two glasses with practiced ease before offering one to me. I did not take it.
“Because stopping the ceremony would have created more problems than it solved,” he said simply. “Your family was desperate. The guests were already waiting. Refusing you at the altar would have humiliated everyone involved, including you.”
A bitter laugh escaped my lips.
“So you married me out of pity? To protect my family’s reputation?”
He set the untouched champagne glass down and looked directly at me.
“No,” he said quietly. “Not pity.”
“Then why?” I demanded, my voice rising. “My sister ran away on her wedding day and you simply accepted me as a replacement? Like it did not matter who stood beside you?”
Rick studied me carefully for a long moment. His dark eyes seemed to see far more than I wanted him to.
“It mattered,” he said softly. “More than you realize.”
His answer unsettled me even more.
I turned away from him and wrapped my arms tightly around myself.
“I need to talk to my family,” I said quickly, desperate to escape the room and the intensity of his gaze. “They forced me into this. Maybe we can still fix it. An annulment or something—”
“There will be no annulment tonight,” Rick interrupted gently but firmly. “The marriage is legal, Eve. The documents have already been signed. You are now my wife.”
The finality in his tone made my stomach twist painfully.
I spun back toward him.
“You are not even angry,” I whispered. “Your bride disappeared and you ended up married to her younger sister instead. Any normal man would be furious. But you... you look like you expected this.”
Rick took a slow step closer to me. He still did not touch me, but his presence alone filled the room.
“Maybe I did,” he admitted quietly.
The words hung heavily in the air between us.
I searched his face again, trying to understand the man standing in front of me. Rick Uber was known in business circles as a man who calculated every move carefully. A man who never allowed emotions to interfere with his decisions. He had built an empire from almost nothing. People feared him just as much as they respected him.
And now I was married to him.
Before I could speak again, there was a knock at the door.
One of the wedding planners informed us that it was time for the reception and photographs.
Rick calmly offered me his arm.
“We will continue this conversation later,” he said. “For now, we need to play our roles.”
I wanted to refuse. I wanted to scream that I could not do this anymore.
But the crushing weight of my family’s expectations still sat heavily on my shoulders.
So I took his arm and allowed him to lead me back into the celebration.
The rest of the evening passed in a blur of forced smiles, elegant dances, and endless congratulations. I danced with Rick beneath sparkling chandeliers while his hand rested possessively against my waist. He played the role of the perfect husband effortlessly. Attentive. Charming. Controlled.
But every single time our eyes met, the same unsettling feeling returned.
He was not surprised.
He was not angry.
If anything, he almost seemed satisfied.
Later that night, after the final guests had left, we arrived at his penthouse.
The drive there had been silent. I still wore the wedding gown, though Rick had draped his jacket around my shoulders earlier to keep me warm.
His home was exactly what I expected. Sleek, modern, luxurious, and intimidating. Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked the glittering city skyline below. Everything inside was perfectly organized and carefully controlled.
Just like him.
Rick led me to the master bedroom, where a silk robe had already been placed neatly across the bed.
“You can change here,” he said quietly. “I will take the guest room tonight. We do not need to rush anything.”
I nodded silently, too emotionally exhausted to argue.
As he turned toward the door, I suddenly called his name.
“Rick.”
He paused.
“Why did you really go through with this?” I asked softly. “Be honest with me. Did you know my sister was going to run away?”
For several seconds, he said nothing.
When he finally spoke, his voice was low and careful.
“Your sister had been pulling away for weeks. I noticed the signs. I knew there was a chance she would not go through with the wedding.”
“And you still let me walk down that aisle?” I asked, my throat tightening painfully.
Rick slowly turned back toward me, his expression softening just slightly.
“Because the moment I saw you in that dress, I realized something, Eve.”
He took one slow step back into the room.
“I was not disappointed that she was gone.”
His dark eyes locked onto mine with an intensity that made my pulse race uncontrollably.
“I was relieved it was you.”
The words hit me like a physical blow.
I stood frozen in place as he gave me one final lingering look before quietly closing the door behind him, leaving me alone in the massive bedroom.
Chapter 3
I barely slept that night.
Every time I closed my eyes, I heard Rick’s voice repeating those final words.
“I was relieved it was you.”
The sentence played over and over in my mind, stirring a storm of confusion, unease, and emotions I could not name. By the time morning finally arrived, I felt completely exhausted and no closer to understanding the man I had somehow married.
The penthouse was silent when I finally stepped out of the bedroom, still wrapped in the silk robe he had left for me.
I found Rick standing in the kitchen, already dressed in a crisp charcoal suit. He was typing calmly on his laptop while a fresh pot of coffee brewed nearby. He looked perfectly composed, as if he had not a single worry in the world.
“Good morning,” he said without looking up. His tone was calm and steady. “There’s coffee. I wasn’t sure how you take it, so I left cream and sugar out.”
I hovered near the marble island, unsure how I was supposed to behave in this strange new reality.
“Thank you,” I murmured softly as I poured myself a cup with slightly trembling hands.
The silence between us felt unbearably heavy, weighed down by everything we still had not said.
After a moment, Rick finally closed his laptop and turned his full attention toward me. His dark eyes swept briefly over my appearance, taking in my messy hair and the oversized silk robe that clearly belonged to him.
There was no judgment in his expression.
Only that same unsettling composure.
“Did you sleep well?” he asked.
A short, humorless laugh escaped me.
“Are you seriously asking me that? It’s a little difficult to sleep after being forced into a marriage you never wanted.”
He nodded once, accepting my honesty without offense.
“That’s understandable,” he said quietly. “This situation is… unconventional, even for me.”
Unconventional.
That was certainly one way to describe it.
I set my coffee cup down and gathered the courage to ask the question that had been tormenting me all night.
“Rick, we need to talk about yesterday. About why you let this happen. You said you knew Lila was pulling away. How long have you known?”
He leaned casually against the counter, crossing his arms over his broad chest. The soft morning light highlighted the sharp lines of his jaw and the faint silver strands beginning to appear in his dark hair.
He was undeniably handsome.
But in a way that felt dangerous.
“I started noticing changes in her behavior about two months ago,” he admitted. “She became distant during our meetings. She cancelled plans repeatedly and avoided conversations about our future together.”
“And you didn’t confront her?” I asked incredulously.
“I did. Twice.” His expression darkened slightly. “Both times she insisted everything was fine and blamed it on wedding nerves. But I’ve spent years building my career by reading people, Eve. I knew she was lying.”
I swallowed hard as I processed his words.
“So when she disappeared yesterday… you weren’t shocked.”
“No,” he replied simply. “I wasn’t.”
The confirmation sent another wave of unease through me. My fingers tightened around the edge of the marble island.
“Then why continue with the wedding at all?” I asked. “You could have told my family the truth. You could have postponed everything. Instead, you let me walk down that aisle in her place and said nothing.”
Rick slowly pushed away from the counter and walked around the island until he stood only a few feet away from me.
He was tall enough that I had to tilt my head slightly just to hold his gaze.
“Because the moment you appeared at the start of the aisle, I had already made my decision,” he said quietly. “Stopping the ceremony would have created a public scandal that damaged both our families. Your father’s company is tied to several of my investments. Humiliating them in front of hundreds of guests would have had serious consequences.”
“So it was about business?” I asked, my voice cracking painfully. “You married me to protect a business deal?”
His jaw tightened slightly. It was the first real crack I had seen in his perfect control.
“It started that way,” he admitted. “But that wasn’t the only reason.”
I waited silently, my heart pounding harder with every second.
Rick slowly reached out and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear.
The gesture was unexpectedly gentle.
A dangerous warmth sparked through me at the touch.
“You’ve always been different from Lila,” he said softly. “Quieter. More observant. You notice details other people miss. During those family dinners, while your sister talked about luxury brands and social events, you asked thoughtful questions about my work and the projects I actually cared about. You listened.”
I blinked at him in stunned silence.
I had honestly believed he barely noticed my existence during those dinners.
“I didn’t think you even paid attention to me,” I whispered.
“I noticed,” he replied.
His voice lowered even more.
“Far more than I should have.”
The air between us suddenly felt charged with something dangerous.
I immediately took a small step backward, needing distance to think clearly.
Being too close to Rick Uber felt risky. He had a presence that seemed to pull people in whether they wanted it or not.
“This is too much,” I said shakily. “I need time to process everything. I need to speak to my sister. I need to understand why she left.”
Rick nodded, respecting the distance I created between us.
“Of course,” he said calmly. “You’re free to contact her. But I should warn you, she may not give you the answers you’re looking for.”
I frowned immediately.
“What does that mean?”
For the first time, he hesitated slightly, as though carefully choosing his next words.
“Your sister became involved in things she shouldn’t have,” he said quietly. “Things that made continuing our engagement risky for her.”
My stomach twisted uneasily.
“What kind of things?”
“That’s something she should explain herself,” he replied. “I won’t speak for her.”
His cryptic answer only frustrated me more.
Everything about Rick felt layered and carefully hidden beneath the surface. He revealed just enough truth to keep me unsettled, but never enough to give me clarity.
Over the next few days, I slowly tried adjusting to the strange rhythm of my new life.
Rick gave me complete freedom inside the penthouse and encouraged me to make myself comfortable. He even arranged for a personal shopper to deliver an entirely new wardrobe in my exact size. Elegant dresses, casual outfits, expensive shoes, and several sets of silk pajamas far more luxurious than anything I had ever owned.
He was never cruel.
In fact, he was unfailingly polite.
He respected my privacy whenever I needed space. He asked about my food preferences. He even remembered that I liked my coffee with only a touch of cream and no sugar after seeing me prepare it once.
But despite all of that, there was still an emotional distance between us.
He never raised his voice.
He never pressured me for intimacy.
Yet every interaction left me with the unsettling feeling that he was studying me carefully. Learning me. Waiting patiently for something.
Please Log In or Sign Up to continue reading.
No account? Sign Up
Unlock all Chapters with 3$
Proceed to payment to unlock all chapters and continue reading.