Chapter 7
"Already did. The white one. It's custom-made and really suits her," Amelia said.
"What about the schedule for the day?" Darcy asked.
Amelia flipped through her notebook. "Guests arrive at six. Dinner starts at seven. Mr. Bennett and Mrs. Bennett will be seated at the center of the main table."
"Put Fiona's name card in Mrs. Bennett's seat," Darcy instructed.
"What about the one upstairs?" Amelia asked.
Darcy said flatly, "She's not coming."
"But Mr. Bennett said he invited her too," Amelia said.
"I said she's not coming," Darcy repeated.
I stood at the top of the stairs, catching every word of their conversation.
When Darcy turned around, our eyes met.
Her expression didn't change.
"Why aren't you in bed?" she asked.
"What were you two talking about?" I asked.
"We were just talking about the arrangements for the five-year anniversary party. You don't need to worry about it. Just focus on getting some rest," Darcy replied.
"Is Fiona coming?" I asked.
"She's attending as a member of the Bennett family. It's been three years. We can't just have her disappear all of a sudden," Darcy said.
"What about me?" I asked.
"You?" Darcy said, grabbing her bag and heading for the door. "You're a patient. Patients stay home and rest."
The door closed behind her.
I was standing in the middle of the staircase, holding onto the banister.
I could distinctly hear the car engine start up and fade away as it drove off into the distance.
The five-year anniversary party.
They didn't bother to save me even a single seat.
I called Sienna.
"Where's the five-year anniversary party being held?" I asked.
"The Harmony Hotel on the east side, sixth-floor party hall. Why?" Sienna replied.
"Can you get me an invitation?" I asked.
"An invitation? You're Mrs. Bennett. Why would you need one?" Sienna said.
"I'm nobody now. If I don't have an invitation, I can't even get through the door," I said.
Sienna paused for a moment.
"I'll figure something out," she said.
After hanging up, I went to William's study and logged into his computer.
The password hadn't changed. It was still the date of our wedding.
On the desktop, I spotted a folder labeled "Fiona, Profile."
I clicked it open.
Inside, there was a resume, a set of photos, and an agreement.
The resume was pretty basic. Fiona, twenty-seven, from a small city, with an associate degree, used to work as a salesgirl in a mall and a wedding MC.
The photos were a mix of professional shots and ID photos. She did resemble me quite a bit, but the differences stood out if you looked closely, her nose was flatter, her chin rounder.
The real kicker was the agreement.
Party A: [William Bennett.]
Party B: [Fiona Bennett.]
Terms: [Fiona agrees to show up at any social event William asks her to, posing as Mrs. Bennett and using her name and identity.
[William will pay her 50,000 dollars a month, plus cover all her living expenses.]
The contract would last three years and renew automatically.
It renewed automatically.
It didn't just stop when I woke up.
It kept rolling over, whether I wanted it or not.
On the last page, there were signatures from both William and Fiona.
The date beneath their signatures was from three years ago.
That was just twenty-three days after my accident.
While I was still in the ICU, he was already searching for someone to take my place.
I snapped a photo of the agreement and saved it to my phone.
Then I kept digging.
Inside a subfolder, I found a spreadsheet called "Social Records," tracking every event Fiona showed up to as "Violet Bennett" over the past three years.
She went to company's annual parties four times.
She went to industry forums six times.
She went to charity galas twice.
She went to family gatherings eleven times.
She went to client dinners many times.
At the very bottom, there was a handwritten note.
It read: [Feedback was positive. Most people didn't notice anything, and the few who did were personally handled by Darcy.]
Some folks were more perceptive.
Some people had their doubts.
But Darcy made sure to silence them.
I shut down the computer and went back to the guest room.
My phone buzzed with a message from Sienna.
It read: [I couldn't get you an invitation, but I did find out something.
[At the five-year anniversary party, William is going to put a custom necklace on Mrs. Bennett in front of everyone. It's engraved with a name.]
I asked: [Whose name is engraved on it?]
Sienna replied: [Violet Bennett.]
He was going to put a necklace with my name on it around Fiona's neck, right in front of everyone.
Sienna texted me again: [So what are you going to do?]
I just sat there in the dark for a long time, not moving.
Finally, I typed back two words: [Attend it.]
Three days before the five-year anniversary party, William suddenly started treating me better.
Breakfast now had two dishes and a cup of coffee, my favorite black coffee, not Fiona's sweet milk.
At noon, he came home early, bringing takeout from the restaurant I used to love.
In the evening, he even came to the guest room door, sat down for a while, and chatted with me.
"After the five-year anniversary party, Fiona will start fading out. I'm already working on it," William said.