I Stole Her Identity: Her Billionaire Fiancé Chose Me

ge

t ten a.m. I want this house s

my knees beside the coffee table, trying to re

use apparently develop legs, climb

and look up at her. "Go

m, dining room, and guest bathroom.

thing else? Should I repain

gel

in my name to make me re

ghter. Then I was helping Verena because she was grieving, or so I thought. Then helping became expectation, expec

staring at her phone. "Angela, can you steam th

clean

have

to a secret twenty-six-h

appears behind her. "And I

me and both so accustomed to handing me their problem

to breathe for you too, or ar

es me the look she usually reserves for people

s toward the dining room. "Yo

it alread

do it

d the dust she means. Trait

dining table when Verena tells m

cloth still in m

es arrives. Mirelle will g

for one of her important visitors is normal. Ap

ook suitable for yo

ment on the table, then immediately moves it bac

kind of mee

tion everythin

s that don't ma

e. "Go upstairs and

lle appears with a beige

and stare at it. "W

she says, alre

a has spent the entire morning worrying about the food

bout the company. Money has been tight for months, and every conversation about Dad's old busi

as made, I suppose wearing this ugly be

wnstairs in Mirelle's beige dress, it is almost ten. Verena takes one look at me, tells me to

lack car polished so perfectly I can see t

ather. His hair is silver at the temples, and the expensive w

coffee when his e

stay

eside th

me with his hand extended. "She's even prettier than

ogra

e?" I ask, looking from his outstretch

d me you were a bit spirited, Angela, but a good home and a comfortable life work wonders for settling a yo

d me, I can hear Lyra shifting

dge entirely. I look straight at Verena, whose smile has gr

left behind." Verena's expression barely changes. "In return, he wants a wife. You need sec

e themselves into meaning. She has

at my stepmother. The sheer absurdity of it hits me first-so ridiculous that for two seconds a laugh slips out be

, the words slipping out plain and f

ghtly, his bushy eyebrows dra

erena's voi

to a hot, sharp flare of anger. "You don't get to negotiate a marriage fo

"You will watch you

t important thing ha

often resist these kinds of arrangements

I'm going to appreciate this one

nes, her steps deliberate, until s

ied, you have lived under my roof and eaten my food without contributing anything su

shing to my face. "This is my father's house! He

harity. And charity has ended. Mr. Jones is offering you a secure future-one you certainly cannot

and suffocating. Behind her, Mr. Jones steps clos

g out toward me. "It's a lot to process. Young women get overwhelmed. O

side of my face, slipping down toward my jawline. "You'll have a comfo

t makes my

moves. I snap my arm up, shoving his chest back wit

e hallway rug. He catches his balance against the side table with a loud thud,

ad snaps sideways, and a hot sting spreads acros

grateful little brat," Verena whispers, her voice shaking with rage. "You will apologize to Mr

sed to my cheek. She doesn't look sorry.

rm, her fingers pinching through m

lls me toward him, and suddenly there are too many voices, too many hands, too many

nging backward toward the front doo

me. "If you walk out that door, do not

p the grand staircase. My mother's old silver locket is in the top drawer of my nightstand. My

s, I might not have anot

g it halfway down the street before the t