Chapter 1
After being abandoned by the girl he always loved, Matthew Landon found me.
He sought me out as his eighteenth stand-in.
And I was the least like her of them all.
He made a grand public announcement of our relationship on Valentine's Day, using ten million drones.
He climbed a six-mile-high mountain alone to find the herbs for my cure.
Even after his family refused to let a girl from the slums like me marry into their home, he endured the family punishment just to marry me.
Everyone said he had long forgotten the girl he always loved and was now madly in love with me.
But right before the wedding, he swapped out all the bride's details for Lydia Sutton's, making her the bride in every way.
When his friends questioned him, Matthew just gave a faint smile, saying nothing.
"Having her around these past few years meant my parents never suspected I was going abroad for Lydia.
"She was nothing but a distraction, a prop to get my family to give in. From start to finish, Lydia was the only one I ever wanted to marry," he said coldly.
Everyone was waiting for me to go crazy.
But instead, I just clutched the sky-high breakup money he wired over and breathed a sigh of relief.
Works for me.
At least now, I wouldn't have to carry the stigma of bigamy anymore.
*****
After a full day of strict training at the Landon Mansion on how to be a future wife, I finally made my way to the wedding hall, my body aching and exhausted.
After hearing those words, my heart felt numb.
So this was what it meant to love someone.
To face every hardship and thorn for her, and somehow find sweetness in it.
I forced a smile and managed a quick hello.
Matthew looked a little guilty when he saw me.
He cleared his throat and motioned to his wedding planner buddy to cover up all the decorations with my face on them.
Smiling, he reached out and took my hand.
As soon as he touched me, I drew in a sharp breath.
He paused, staring at my palm, which was covered in marks, his brows furrowing.
"Did they punish you again?" he asked.
I gave a small smile.
"Yeah, I guess I'm just too slow. I always mess up when copying lines," I said.
He let out a sigh.
"It won't happen again. Don't worry," he said.
Ever since he told his family he wouldn't marry anyone but me, and started dragging me to their fancy family dinners and the elder's birthday galas, I found myself getting called up to the mansion every few weeks.
They'd march me into the family library—the one with all the portraits of dead ancestors glaring down from the walls—and make me kneel on the hardwood floor while I copied out the family creed by hand.
One wrong letter, and I'd get it across the palms with a wooden paddle studded with tiny raised bumps. Over and over until my hands were raw and bloody.
Mess up a line from memory? Twenty smacks right across the mouth. I'd have to keep reciting with blood dripping off my lip.
And once? Once I made the mistake of letting a single tear roll down my cheek in front of him. They said I was being a 'temptress,' breaking some ancient family rule about women not causing drama.
So they made me kneel on broken gravel in the middle of the snow, in nothing but my dress, until I couldn't feel my legs anymore.
He did feel sorry for me for a moment, telling me to just tough it out, that once we were married, I wouldn't have to suffer like this anymore.
But that moment was fleeting. The second he saw a message from Lydia on his phone, he ditched me and left without a second thought.
And because I couldn't win my husband's heart, the servants forced me to strip, took humiliating photos, and sent them straight to him.
But even that didn't stop him from running off to Lydia.
And because of all this, I became the laughingstock of the entire upper class.
As I was lost in thought, Lydia burst in, her eyes swollen from crying.
"You're really going to marry her? You promised you'd love me forever, that I was the only one you'd ever marry! Did you bring me back here just to watch you marry someone else?" she cried out.
As she spoke, she yanked the cloth off the welcome sign.
When she saw her own face printed there, a tearful smile finally broke through.
"I knew it! You were just using reverse psychology on me!" she said.
Lydia slipped her arm through Matthew's and flashed me a triumphant smile.
"See, girl? All these years, he was waiting for me. Sorry you had to be my shield and take all the hits for so long.
"If life ever gets rough, just reach out. Since you played my stand-in for years, I'll make sure to help you out however I can," she added, sounding almost generous.
The two of them shared a smug smile.
The anxiety in Matthew's eyes faded, replaced by a look of pure happiness.
He pulled out a fresh card and handed it to me.
"Sorry for deceiving you. You were just Lydia's shield for me, nothing more. Now everything's back to how it should be, and we're done. The money on this card is enough to set you up for life—take it, and go find someone who actually cares about you," Matthew said.
I stared at the card, and for a second, it felt just like saying goodbye to someone I once loved.
My eyes burned, fighting back tears.
"Can't you... just wait a little longer? Just a few more days, please," I whispered.