Chapter 4
I pushed the door open and froze.
The entire storage room was packed with paper bags and gift boxes.
All of it was Fiona's stuff.
Skincare, handbags, shoes, jewelry boxes, everything was lined up perfectly on the shelves by color and category, putting my old walk-in closet to shame.
In the corner, there was a wall covered in photos.
In one of the photos, a woman was standing next to William.
She was wearing my camel coat and my pearl earrings, standing outside the restaurant William and I used to frequent.
She had a gentle smile, her arm linked with William's.
Under the photo, there was a note. [Happy 3rd Anniversary, Mr. and Mrs. Bennett.]
Three years of marriage.
It was our third wedding anniversary.
She took my place and celebrated our anniversary with William.
I ripped the photo off the wall.
Back in the guest room, I dug out my old phone.
When I turned it on, all my contacts were still saved.
I looked up my best friend Sienna Campbell's number and gave her a call.
"Hello?" Sienna answered.
"Sienna, it's me, Violet," I said.
There was a brief silence on the other end.
"Violet, why are you calling me? I thought you weren't ready," Sienna said.
"What do you mean I wasn't ready?" I asked.
"Last time, William said you were in recovery and didn't want to be disturbed. I sent you a ton of messages, but you never replied. Then you changed your number, so I just..." Sienna said.
"That wasn't my number," I said.
"What do you mean?" Sienna asked.
"Have you seen me at all in the past three years?" I asked.
Sienna thought for a moment. "Yeah, I ran into you at your company's annual party last year. You even greeted me.
"But you seemed really off that day. Your voice was so soft, nothing like how you used to be. I asked if something was wrong, and you told me you'd been seriously ill and it changed your whole personality."
My fingers tightened around the phone.
"That person wasn't me," I said.
"Wait, what are you talking about?" Sienna sounded stunned.
"Sienna, I was in a coma for three years. I only woke up three days ago. Whoever you saw during those years, it wasn't me," I said.
There was silence on the other end.
After a long pause, Sienna finally spoke, her voice sounding shaken.
"Are you serious?" she asked.
"Can you come over right now?" I asked.
Forty minutes later, Sienna arrived.
She stood in the living room, looked me up and down, her lips quivering as if she could barely believe it.
"It's really you," Sienna whispered.
"How do you know it's really me, not her?" I asked.
"That spark you have, she could never fake it," Sienna said, sitting down and clasping her hands.
"Violet, there's something I need to tell you, but please don't get too upset."
"Go ahead," I said.
Sienna said, "For the past three years, we all thought you'd woken up.
"William posted photos of you leaving the hospital on his social media, and he took you to all kinds of events, parties, trips, you name it.
"The woman in those photos looked a lot like you. Her style was different, but her face really did resemble yours."
"Her name is Fiona Bennett," I said.
"I didn't know her name. But I could tell she was really close to William.
"Every time they went out, she'd be holding onto his arm, and the way she looked at him, it was like..."
"Like what?" I pressed.
Sienna hesitated, biting her lip.
"Like she acted like nothing could touch her," Sienna said.
I leaned back against the couch.
"What else?" I asked.
Sienna said, "Last year, for your third anniversary, William threw a small dinner party at a hotel, maybe twenty or thirty people.
"She was right next to him in a long white dress, and William put a necklace around her neck. The whole room applauded."
"Was Darcy there?" I asked.
"Yeah, she was at the main table, looking absolutely delighted," Sienna replied.
"Who else was there?" I asked.
"People from your company, Bennett relatives, and the wives of some business partners. Everyone called her Mrs. Bennett," Sienna said.
Everyone.
"And what about you? Did you call her Mrs. Bennett too?" I asked.
Sienna lowered her head.
"I honestly thought she was you. Violet, I'm really sorry," Sienna said.
I said, standing up, "No need to apologize. You weren't the only one who fell for it."
As Sienna was leaving, she turned and asked, "What are you going to do now?"
I didn't answer.
Because I still didn't know.
But one thing was clear.
Someone had been living as me in this house for three whole years.
And my husband was in on it.
William came home late that night.
I didn't hear his car until well past ten.
I was waiting in the guest room.
His footsteps passed right by my door without stopping for a second, heading straight into the master bedroom.
I waited five minutes, then stepped out and knocked on the master bedroom door.
"Open up," I said.
There was a brief silence, and then the door cracked open just a bit.
William stood in the doorway, bathed in warm yellow light from the room behind him.
"Why aren't you asleep yet?" William asked.
"Let me in," I said.