Chapter 1

The day Henry Shaw finally agreed to date me, I was so happy I drank way too much. The next morning, I woke up in a strange man's arms. Just as I was panicking and about to call the cops, Henry called first, his voice laced with amusement. "That guy's name is Lucas Reed. He looks a lot like me, doesn't he? Now that you've got a stand-in, can you stop bothering me?"

It felt like I'd been plunged into ice water. I was shaking so hard I couldn't get a word out. When he realized he'd pushed the joke too far, his tone finally turned serious. "All right, I was kidding. Nothing happened between you and Lucas. Emily's back in town. I'll be busy for a while, so let him keep you company for now."

After the call ended, I cautiously glanced at the man still asleep beside me. Then my eyes lit up. Lucas looked even more like Sam than Henry did. Henry was already twenty-seven, but Lucas looked barely past twenty.

Watching the gentle way he slept, my heart trembled. Thick lashes, a high straight nose, lips that naturally curved even at rest... he looked about seventy percent like Henry, yet somehow even more like Sam.

I couldn't help reaching out to trace Lucas's face. My cool fingertips brushed his lips, and he woke up. The young man blinked in confusion, then flushed red with panic and embarrassment.

"I... you... Henry asked me to come. Emily Foster's back, and he's going to be busy for the next couple of weeks, so he told me to stay with you. Nothing happened between us. When I got here last night, you were already asleep."

I stared at him without saying a word. He only got more flustered. "Emily Foster is Henry's god-sister. He didn't mean to leave you hanging. Ms. Linwood, please don't be too upset..."

That clumsy but sincere attempt at comforting me made him seem even more like Sam. Before I could stop myself, I threw myself into Lucas's arms, my voice hoarse. "Don't worry. I'm fine."

Lucas went stiff all over, his heart racing. Only after a long while did he ask in a rough voice, "Ms. Linwood, everyone says you like Henry so much you'd die for him. But this... is this really what liking him looks like?"

His hoarse voice sounded just like all those nights when Henry, frustrated by my refusals, would snap, "You won't even let me touch you. Claire Linwood, do you really like me?"

Of course I never liked Henry. The one I loved was his older brother, Samuel Shaw. When Sam was twenty-two, we fell into a whirlwind romance abroad. At twenty-five, he came back to Westland and died in a car accident.

I couldn't accept it, so I came back too, only to find I couldn't even get into the Shaw Family Cemetery. So I set my sights on his younger brother, Henry. Similar face. Similar build. Even the way he spoke was alike.

The moment I saw him, I was dazed, and after that, I couldn't pull myself away. I wanted to be with him. Even more than that, I wanted a legitimate reason to come and go from the Shaw Family Cemetery and pay my respects to Sam, even if it meant marrying Henry.

So I pursued him shamelessly for three years. When he got sick, I ran through the rain to bring him medicine. When he had business dinners, I drank on his behalf. When he wanted to go bungee jumping, I jumped with him without a second thought.