Chapter 1
The first time I met Edward Sterling was in a recording studio.
Back then, I was a nobody, only voicing background characters for commercials. I never even got a clear look at his face. All I saw was a tall, broad-shouldered silhouette through the soundproof glass.
The producer practically rushed over to him, all smiles and respect. "Mr. Sterling, you're here to supervise the session personally?"
The man tilted his head slightly and hummed in acknowledgment.
After he left, someone told me who he was.
He was the young, accomplished CEO of Sterling Media Group, cold, refined, and known for never having improper relationships with women.
Everyone said it was because he had a childhood sweetheart fiancée.
Rumor had it that the two were deeply in love, set to marry later this year.
Relationships like that belonged in movies, not real life. Their world was a million miles away from someone like me.
I never imagined that three months later, I'd be lying in his bed.
*****
I'd just wrapped up a recording session when my agency called, telling me to go to the CEO's office immediately.
I was convinced I'd done something wrong. I spent the entire walk over wracked with nerves.
But when I stepped through the door, it wasn't Edward waiting for me. It was Eleanor Sterling, Edward's mother.
She was in her seventies, with silvery white hair and perfectly tailored clothing. She sat poised in an armchair, every inch the matriarch of a powerful family.
Her eyes swept over me from head to toe, and she got straight to the point.
"Grace Nolan, isn't it?" she said. "Your voice is a perfect match, and your build is similar to hers. Name your price."
I was completely stunned.
"What price?" I asked
An assistant standing beside her handed me a contract.
I skimmed it quickly. It was a three-month caregiving agreement with a payout of 300 thousand dollars.
I swallowed hard, but I didn't dare reach for it.
Eleanor saw the hesitation on my face and sighed. That was when she told me the whole story.
Two months prior, Edward had been in a terrible accident on a film set.
A lighting rig had come crashing down from above. Edward had pushed a small child out of harm's way, taking the full brunt of the blow to his head.
The doctor had saved his life, but the accident had left him temporarily blind.
They said there was a good chance he'd recover his sight, but only if he avoided severe stress and emotional upheaval at all costs.
Yet Olivia Hart, his childhood sweetheart and fiancée, had issued a public statement announcing their engagement was off just three days after the accident.
She'd cited irreconcilable differences as the reason, but the truth was far uglier. She'd traded her relationship for a leading role in a major film, courtesy of a famous director she'd grown close to.
Edward still knew nothing about it.
Eleanor had lied to him, telling him Olivia had gone overseas to film a project and wouldn't be back for months.
He'd believed her.
His latest checkup had brought good news: with three more months of proper rest, his sight would almost certainly return.
But Edward knew Olivia's film was set to wrap the following week.
Eleanor was terrified he'd learn the truth, and that the heartbreak would destroy any chance he had of regaining his vision for good.
She needed a stand-in, someone who could pass for Olivia during those three critical months.
I'd once dubbed all of Olivia's lines for a period drama.
Her on-camera line delivery had been unforgivably poor, and the studio had tracked me down specially because my voice was nearly identical to hers.
I studied her voice down to the last detail and nailed the impersonation so well no one could tell the difference. People online were hyping up her original lines.
Eleanor had dug into my background. She knew I came from a poor family, had no industry connections, and was desperate for money.
She repeated, "Three months, 300 thousand dollars.
"You won't have to do anything more than talk to him and look after his daily needs. The second he regains his sight, you leave quietly, and no one will ever know you were here."
My fingers tightened around the contract.
That much money would be enough to pay off my mom's crippling debts, with plenty left over for a down payment on a small house back home.
But I still had to ask one last question.
"What if he finds out I'm not Olivia Hart?" I said.
Eleanor smiled, calm and certain.
"He's blind. And your voices are identical. Miss Nolan, I'm confident you'll do whatever it takes to earn this money."
I signed the contract.
The next day, I moved into Edward's luxury penthouse.
Eleanor had told him Olivia had finished filming early and had come home to take care of him.
He hadn't suspected a thing. If anything, he'd seemed genuinely happy.
Edward was sitting on the sofa in the living room. Sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, gilding his features and making him look devastatingly handsome.
The accident had left his skin a little paler than before, only amplifying his cool, distant air.
I froze in the entryway, my feet rooted to the floor.
He turned his head toward me.
"Olivia?" he said.
I took a deep breath, mimicking Olivia's soft, breathy tone as I replied.
"Mm," I said.
He smiled, and my heart skipped a beat.
It was a bright, unguarded smile, like the sun breaking through after a snowstorm.
I walked over and sat down beside him.
He reached out, his hand fumbling slightly to find mine. His fingertips brushed the back of my hand, and he paused.
My stomach dropped. I instinctively pulled my hand back a fraction.
My hands were nothing like Olivia's.
She'd spent years pampering hers, keeping them soft and smooth.
Mine were calloused, worn from years of working odd jobs to keep myself and my mother afloat.
But Edward said nothing. He simply closed his fingers around my hand, his thumb brushing gently over my knuckles.
"Your hands are freezing," he said.
I let out a quiet breath of relief.
"It's cold outside," I said.
He gathered both my hands in his, warming them between his palms.
In that moment, a strange, fluttering feeling bloomed in my chest, one I couldn't name.