Chapter 3

The Fairmont Hotel suite offered the privacy I needed—neutral territory where neither Cameron nor Isabella would think to look for me. I adjusted the 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the door handle before checking my watch. Vanessa Price would arrive in fifteen minutes.

I surveyed the room, mentally reviewing my checklist. The contract with Body Double Elite was locked in my briefcase, alongside the first installment of Vanessa's payment. On the coffee table lay a leather-bound notebook containing everything she would need to know about my life—my habits, my schedule, the names of our housekeepers and gardeners. The intimate details of a life I was preparing to abandon.

A soft knock interrupted my thoughts. Early. Good sign.

"Coming," I called, adopting the pleasant, controlled tone I'd perfected as Cameron's wife.

I opened the door and found myself staring at... myself. The resemblance was uncanny—same height, same chestnut hair, same wide-set eyes. Only the slightly nervous twitch of her lips betrayed that she wasn't me.

"Ms. Laurent?" she asked, using my grandmother's surname—my new identity.

"Please, come in, Vanessa." I stepped aside, studying her as she entered. The Body Double Elite service hadn't exaggerated.

Vanessa set down her bag and turned to face me. "This is surreal," she said, her voice carrying the same soft cadence as mine, though lacking the practiced restraint I'd developed over years of Whitmore family dinners.

"It's about to get more surreal." I gestured to the seating area. "Shall we begin?"

For the next three hours, I transformed Vanessa Price into Aria Sterling. I demonstrated how I stirred my tea—three clockwise circles, never clinking the spoon against the cup. I showed her how I tucked my hair behind my right ear when listening intently, how I crossed my ankles but never my legs when sitting in my father's presence.

"Cameron calls at odd hours," I explained, pulling out my phone. "We need to practice your responses."

I dialed my own number, watching as Vanessa composed herself before answering.

"Hello?" Her greeting was too bright, too eager.

"No," I said firmly. "I always answer Cameron with a slightly distracted tone, as if he's interrupting something important. Try again."

We repeated the exercise seven times until she had it perfect—that delicate balance of attentiveness and independence that Cameron expected from his trophy wife.

"Now," I said, pulling up a photo of Isabella on my tablet, "let's discuss my sister."

Vanessa's eyes widened slightly. "The one who's sleeping with your husband?"

"The very same." I kept my voice clinical, detached. "Isabella touches her hair when she lies. She'll test you, subtly. When she does, you need this expression."

I demonstrated the slight eyebrow raise I'd perfected—skeptical but not confrontational. The look that said I noticed her games but wouldn't lower myself to acknowledge them.

"Like this?" Vanessa attempted the expression, coming close but not quite capturing the years of sisterly resentment behind it.

"Again," I instructed. "Think of someone who's wronged you but still holds power over you. Channel that."

Something shifted in her eyes—a flicker of genuine pain. Her eyebrow arched perfectly this time, carrying just the right note of wounded dignity.

"Better," I nodded. "Much better."

By late afternoon, we'd covered my daily routines, my medication schedule (allergy pills, nothing more), and my passwords. I'd taught her my signature, my laugh, even the way I absently sketched flower patterns when bored in meetings.

"Tomorrow," I said, closing my notebook, "you'll accompany me to the Whitmore estate in Napa. A trial run."

The Whitmore family luncheon was ostensibly about finalizing a partnership with a neighboring vineyard, but I knew better. It was another opportunity for my father to parade Isabella's accomplishments while subtly undermining mine.

Vanessa and I arrived separately. I watched from a discreet distance as she navigated the sprawling estate grounds, greeting the staff with the perfect blend of familiarity and reserve that I'd drilled into her.

Through a carefully positioned compact mirror, I observed the luncheon from the garden. Vanessa performed flawlessly—laughing at my father's tired jokes, delicately declining a second glass of wine just as I would.

Then Isabella leaned in, her voice carrying just enough for me to hear: "Remember that summer in Washington? Or was Napa always your favorite?"

A test, just as I'd warned.

Vanessa hesitated, just a fraction too long. "Washington was lovely, but Napa has always been special."

Wrong answer. We'd vacationed in Washington only once, and I'd been miserable the entire time, something Isabella knew perfectly well.

I saw the flash of triumph in my sister's eyes, quickly masked behind her practiced smile.

One mistake. Just one.

But in the world of the Whitmores, one mistake was all it took to become prey.

As I slipped away from the estate, I realized our timeline had just accelerated. Isabella suspected something, which meant we had less time than I'd planned.

The question was: had I collected enough of Cameron's money to disappear completely before they realized what I was doing?