Chapter 2

Claire could hear her own heartbeat, heavy and relentless, pounding against her ears.

Joshua's voice came without hesitation. "Disgusted does not begin to describe it. Every time I touch her, I feel like I need to scrub my skin raw.

"If her blood were not the only way to produce antibodies for Yasmin's illness, I would not give her a second glance."

Claire slowly pulled her hand away from the door. She lowered her head and saw the bandage on her wrist, where fresh blood had begun to seep through the edges.

Richard's tone carried a hint of amusement. "So when Yasmin wakes up, how do you plan to deal with Claire?"

The word "deal with" made Claire's fingers curl slightly.

"Maybe leave her to me?" Richard continued in a casual voice. "She has always been so attentive around me. I doubt she would put up much resistance."

Joshua let out a quiet laugh. The sound slipped through the crack in the door, sharp and cold. "What, you have taken a liking to that imitation?"

"Taken a liking to her?" Richard scoffed. "Yasmin is the only one I care about. As for Claire..."

He paused, his voice turning dismissive. "She only happens to resemble her a little. She cannot compare to Yasmin."

Joshua didn't argue.

"Do whatever you want with her," he said lightly. "The antibodies are almost ready. I will not need to keep up this act much longer."

The conversation inside the room continued, but Claire no longer heard any of it.

Her thoughts drifted back to five years earlier. The day her father was sent to prison, her mother sat in a hospital room holding her hand, her eyes red, unable to speak.

Her sister Yasmin lay in the ICU, surrounded by machines and tubes.

At the darkest moment, Joshua had appeared. He said he could save her, save her family, save her sister. He said he loved her.

She had believed him. For five years, she had believed every word.

"Who is there?" The butler's voice echoed from the end of the hallway.

Claire turned quickly. Behind her, the study door flew open.

"Catch her," Joshua ordered, his voice cold.

Claire ran down the stairs, her heart racing as if it might burst from her chest.

She slipped into a storage room on the first floor and pulled out her phone.

There was a number in her contacts she had never called, saved under a name: [Mr. Rivers].

Jack Rivers, the assassin whose life she had once saved three years ago, had told her he owed her a debt.

Claire was too frightened to speak. Her fingers trembled as she typed. [Help me. I am at the Warren Estate. They are going to hurt me.]

Outside, the butler's voice rang out with urgency. "Search every room. Mr. Warren wants her found no matter what."

Claire crouched in the corner, pressing her hand over her mouth to keep herself from making a sound.

Time passed, and the noise of footsteps and voices gradually faded.

She carefully pushed the storage room door open, checked that the hallway was empty, and moved quietly toward the back door.

Her hand had just reached for the handle when the lights in the living room snapped on.

"Claire, where are you going at this hour?" Joshua's voice cut through the silence.

Claire froze. She turned around and saw Joshua and Richard sitting there, calm and unbothered.

"I-I could not sleep, so I thought I would take a walk," she said, her voice unsteady.

"In your robe?" Richard lifted an eyebrow. "Or did you hear something you were not meant to hear?"

Claire stepped back until her body pressed against the cold door. "I did not hear anything... I only wanted some air."

"Stop lying," Joshua said as he stood and walked toward her, one step at a time. His eyes were cold and sharp, unlike anything she had seen before.

"It seems our obedient stand-in has decided to misbehave tonight," Richard said with a faint, cruel smile as he rose to his feet.

"Y-You have been using me all this time." Claire's voice trembled. "Everything you said about a split personality, about needing my blood to stay stable, all of it was a lie."

"What else did you expect?" Joshua stood right in front of her and gripped her chin. "Did you truly believe I would care about the person who destroyed Yasmin's life?"

"I never hurt Yasmin. I would never do that." Claire struggled as tears streamed down her face. "She is my sister. I would never harm her."

"You were the last person Yasmin saw before the accident," Richard said coldly. "The last message on her phone said that her sister wanted to meet her and that it was urgent.

"Soon after that, she was in a car accident and ended up in a coma. And you stepped into Joshua's life and became Mrs. Warren. That was very convenient. It was all carefully planned."