Bound By Lies: The Substitute Wife

Chloe Hayes's jacket was no match for the wind and rain. It was soaked through within minutes, clinging heavily to her body as the cold seeped deep into her bones, spreading through her bloodstream and slowly invading her limbs.

The downpour hammered relentlessly against the parking lot of St. Mary's Hospital, turning the asphalt into a glossy black mirror that reflected the city's blurred and distant lights. Her sneakers splashed through puddles with sticky squeaks.

She pulled out her phone, struggling to wake the soaked screen.

A notification popped up almost immediately.

Another overdue payment reminder from the hospital billing department.

Her stomach tightened sharply, tangling with the ever-present fear into a heavy knot that made it hard to breathe. She bit down on her lower lip, using the pain to force herself to stay focused.

Upstairs in the hospital, her grandmother Martha was being kept alive by machines, and the cost of keeping those machines running for a single hour was nearly equal to an entire week's wages for Chloe.

A slurred voice suddenly cut through the rain.

"Hey there, pretty girl. Lost your way?"

Chloe jerked her head up. A tall man stepped out from the shadows between a parked delivery van and a pickup truck. The stale stench of old beer mixed with cheap whiskey drifted toward her through the rain. His gaze moved over her body slowly and shamelessly, making every hair on her arms stand on end.

Rick Hicks.

The man who used to frequent the restaurant where she had worked part-time, always leaving greasy fingerprints on the counter and disgusting comments behind when he left.

"I'm fine, Rick." She tried to keep her voice steady, but the tension underneath still leaked through. She attempted to step around him while secretly gripping her keys tightly in her palm, the sharp edges digging painfully into her skin.

Rick moved faster than she did, his large frame stepping directly into her path and blocking it completely.

"Come on, don't be like that. We always got along so well back at the restaurant, didn't we?"

Before she could react, he grabbed her wrist. His hand tightened around her like a steel clamp, cold and rough. The heavy smell of alcohol rolled off him, making her stomach churn.

"Let go of me!"

Chloe struggled violently, trying to yank her arm free, only to realize it felt like fighting against a wall. The smile on Rick's face widened, revealing teeth stained yellow by years of cigarettes.

"Relax. I just want to talk."

Fear flooded her lungs like icy water. She twisted desperately and opened her mouth to scream for help, but Rick seized the opportunity and shoved a small white pill into her mouth.

Chloe grabbed at her throat and gasped desperately, trying to spit it out, but it was useless. She didn't need to guess what it was-it had to be an aphrodisiac. Her eyes darted frantically around the parking lot, searching desperately for any possible help. If the drug took effect, she was finished.

Beneath a dim streetlamp in the distance sat a Rolls-Royce, motionless in the rain like a solitary island in a storm-tossed sea.

It was the only piece of driftwood left for her to cling to.

She focused every ounce of her strength, adrenaline surging through her veins, and stomped hard onto Rick's foot.

"Shit-"

Rick grunted in pain, and for a split second his grip loosened.

It was enough.

She tore herself free and sprinted into the rain, heading straight for the Rolls-Royce. She pounded desperately on the rear passenger window as rain streamed down from her hair, impossible to tell apart from tears.

"Please!"

Her voice was nearly torn apart by the storm.

"Help me!"

Inside the car, Julian Montgomery IV sat with his eyes closed, the heel of his hand pressed tightly against his brow. Every crack of thunder felt like a hammer slamming into his temples. The migraine had pushed him to the edge of his endurance. He had been forcing himself to maintain a steady breathing rhythm, trying to survive the latest wave of pain, but the frantic pounding against the window shattered the last remnants of silence inside the vehicle.

"Drew, make her leave."

His voice was low and hoarse, carrying unmistakable irritation. He didn't need trouble, and he certainly didn't need an emotional stranger barging into his world.

Yet the next second, he opened his eyes.

Through the rain-streaked window, he saw a blurred face.

Her eyes were wide, her lips trembling slightly, as though she were desperately clinging to the last lifeline available to her. That raw, instinctive fear struck something deep inside him, somewhere he had thought buried long ago.

At the same moment, Rick Hicks had caught up to her. Heavy footsteps splashed through puddles, sending water flying into the air. He reached out once more, his thick fingers only inches away from her shoulder.

Click.

The door unlocked.

Chloe barely had time to react before the car door swung open from the inside. A powerful hand grabbed her arm and pulled her quickly into the vehicle. The door slammed shut behind her, instantly sealing the storm outside and plunging the car into sudden silence.

The air was filled with the scent of expensive leather and woody cologne, mixed faintly with tobacco smoke. It was utterly different from the cold, miserable world outside, as though a single door separated two entirely different realities.

"Drew," the man said quietly from the darkness, his eyes still closed, "deal with him."

Driver Drew stepped out immediately. Chloe never even saw what happened. Rick, who had been standing in the rain only seconds earlier, disappeared completely from sight as though he had never existed at all.

A few minutes later, Drew returned to the car and lowered his voice. "It's taken care of. But the weather is getting worse, and your condition isn't stable. We should head back."

The man kept his eyes tightly shut, his jaw clenched against the pounding in his head. He gritted his teeth and let out a slow, restrained breath.

"Drew, your shift is over."

Drew froze for a moment. "Sir, with all due respect, I really don't think it's a good idea to leave you here alone in this weather-"

"I said leave."

His voice cracked through the silence like a whip, sharp and furious for the first time that night.

Drew immediately fell silent.

For a long moment, neither man spoke.

Finally, Drew lowered his head. "Understood."

The driver's door closed softly behind him.

Only when silence finally settled inside the car did Chloe become painfully aware of her position.

She was practically sitting in a stranger's lap.

Heat rushed into her cheeks as she scrambled upright and moved away.

"I'm sorry, I just... I really didn't have any other choice. He was just-"

The man tilted his head but didn't answer. Instead, a suppressed groan suddenly escaped his lips.

He raised a hand to his temple, his entire body tense as the pain finally overwhelmed his restraint. To steady himself, he instinctively reached out and gripped her shoulder. His palm was burning hot, the heat unmistakable even through her soaked jacket.

Chloe's breathing caught.

She instinctively tried to pull away, only to feel the hand steadying her trembling faintly.

She tilted her head up toward him; the darkness hid his face entirely, yet she could sense how agony tore at him-his grip rigid and unsteady from whatever pain he endured.

"Are you okay?" she asked softly. "Do you need a doctor?"

Holding onto his hand, Chloe tried to make out his features in the darkness so she could better assess his condition. At that exact moment, her own consciousness began to blur. Her body moved toward him against her will, and suddenly the world tilted violently around her.

Julian was forced awake enough to catch the hand that had fallen against him. When he turned his head, all he could see were those watery eyes inches from his own.

"You brought this on yourself."

Large hands closed around Chloe's slender waist, pulling her firmly against him.

A bolt of lightning illuminated the sky, revealing the two figures tangled together in the back seat as fog slowly spread across the windows.

Chloe remembered only fragments after that-the burning heat of his body surrounding her, the roar of rain outside swallowing the world whole, and her consciousness drifting endlessly between freezing cold and unbearable heat.

In scattered moments that refused to connect, she felt herself being held tightly, like a drowning person clinging to the only piece of driftwood left afloat. She tried to struggle. She tried to speak. But the chaos in her mind blurred everything beyond recognition.

By the time Chloe finally regained control of her thoughts, the events of the past few minutes felt so surreal that she could hardly believe they had actually happened.

In the darkness, she still couldn't see the man's face clearly, but the steady rise and fall of his breathing told her he had slipped back into sleep.

For some reason, that realization made him seem less dangerous.

Heat rushed to her cheeks as she hurriedly straightened her disheveled clothes. Taking advantage of the darkness, she gathered her belongings and slipped out of the car as quietly as possible, fleeing in embarrassment as though escaping the scene of a crime.

The moment her feet touched the sidewalk, the sharp ring of her phone shattered the silence.

A name appeared on the screen.

Felicity.

Her stepsister.