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19. Elodie

ELODIE

“ W elcome back!” Stella hugs me when I enter the penthouse after the flight. We wanted to spend the night together, and even if I’m tired, I’m excited. I like Stella, and she’s quickly becoming a good friend of mine. “How was Rome?”

“Magical.” And it was. I’ve never felt a connection to a city like I’ve felt with Rome. It’s inspiring, being surrounded by so much history and gorgeous architecture. “I didn’t want to leave. How are you feeling?”

“Getting stronger every day.” Stella has a bit more color in her face, and she’s able to stand, which is better than when she first got out of the hospital. “How was the premiere?”

“Oh, that.” I guide her to the stools in the kitchen, having a feeling she’s going to need to sit down for this. “Jax threatened to reveal some big secret if I don’t break up with Hunter by the time we get to Shanghai. ”

Stella visibly pales and swallows hard. “That fucking asshole.”

“What is he referring to?”

“Nothing. He’s being an asshole. I’ll take care of it.”

“You know, if I don’t know what’s going on, I can’t help.”

“I get that, I do.” Her eyes shine with unshed tears. “But there are some parts of my life no one knows about, not even Rachel. And I want to keep it that way.”

“That’s fine, until your ex starts threatening you.” I glance around, looking for Kai, but he’s not here. “Don’t you think it’d be good for Rachel to know about this? Or Kai?”

“Definitely not Kai,” she says quickly, too quickly. I arch my eyebrow in question, and she ignores me.

“Okay, then what about Rachel?” I ask.

“She also doesn’t need to know. Don’t worry, Jax won’t do anything. I’ll make sure he won’t.” She pulls out her phone and types on it for a few minutes, having a conversation with who I’m assuming is Jax. Strain brackets her lips the more she reads whatever he’s writing. After another few minutes, she sets her phone to the side. “I’m craving some cookies. You want to make some together?”

“You bake?” I ask, somehow shocked that Stella likes to bake.

“Yeah, I do. It’s my stress reliever.”

“Me too,” I say, and we grin at each other. “What’s your favorite? ”

“Peanut butter cookies.”

“With chocolate chips?” I ask.

“As if there’s any other way to eat them.”

I grin. “I’m surprised you didn’t eat that peanut butter pie Hunter sent if you like the combination that much.”

“It was the hardest thing I had to do.”

I laugh and pull out the ingredients we need. Stella comes to my side and gets out the bowl and mixer.

“My mom would always make these cookies for my birthday,” I say. “She’s huge on birthdays, and we’d celebrate for weeks.”

“That sounds horrifying.”

I laugh. “Not a fan of birthdays, I take it.”

“No, I hate them. When’s yours? That way I’ll be sure to avoid you during that time.”

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic. It’s May fifth and I won’t allow you to avoid me. I’m going to force you to celebrate with me.”

Stella gives me a funny look. “We have the same birthday.”

“I’m not going to lie, I’m really starting to think we might be twins and not just random doppelg?ngers.”

“Yeah, I think we need to do a DNA test. Are you okay if I call Kai to organize one for us?”

“Sure.”

After the cookies bake, Kai swabs our cheeks and promises to have the results back ASAP.

“Where were you born?” I ask .

“Connecticut, at least that’s what my mom’s always told me.”

“You haven’t looked at your birth certificate?”

She shakes her head. “I never had a need to, but I’m starting to regret that. My parents and I aren’t that close. They only care about what I can do for them, the lifestyle I can provide for them.”

“I’m sorry.” I can’t imagine what that’s like, not trusting her own parents. But I guess she has a level of fame that can change the people around her. “Were they always like that?”

“No, it changed once I got my first Grammy. Want to watch a show while we wait for the results?”

“Yeah, I need the distraction.” I’m nervous to get the results. The possibility of having a twin and not knowing makes me equal parts ecstatic but also sad about all the years we missed out on.

We lose ourselves in a reality TV show about house renovations when hours later Kai returns with an envelope. “I had my friend rush this.”

Stella grabs the envelope from him and turns to me, our knees touching as we both sit cross-legged on the couch. “I’ve always wanted a sister, and I really hope we are twins.”

“Me too.”

“Ready?” she asks.

I take a deep breath and nod.

She carefully rips open the envelope, reads for a moment, and then snaps her head up and stares at me. “ We’re twins,” she whispers before smiling. “We’re twins!”

Her words strike me like a bolt of lightning, leaving me stunned and speechless. Twins? I grab the letter from her to confirm it with my own eyes. Kai smiles at Stella from the corner, and my hands shakes as I read the confirmation in black and white.

A surge of joy erupts within me,as if a hidden part of myself has been discovered. “Twins?” I laugh and pull her into a hug. “This is the craziest thing I’ve ever experienced.”

“Me, too.” She grins. “I never thought our agreement would lead to this.”

“Right?” I laugh again, giddy. “I knew this connection between us was real.”

“I felt it too, but couldn’t explain it.”

We stare at each other for a few beats before breaking out in laughter again. I jump to my feet and say, “We need to celebrate. Let me grab some champagne.”

“Do you even know where it is?” she asks, laughing.

“I’ll get it,” Kai says.

When he returns with two glasses, we both clink them together and take a sip before Stella frowns. “I have so many questions now. Like why were we separated, how old were we, and why have my parents been lying to me? Wait, are they even my parents? Am I adopted too?”

“I don’t know, but I’m sure we can figure it out. Maybe we can start by telling each other what we know of our childhood?”

“Yeah.” Stella stares at the wall for a long moment. “Sure, why don’t you go first?”

I happily dive into what I know from Mom and then into how my life has been like. When I finish, she talks about her parents and how they pushed her into performing since she was a child, how she was an outcast in school and hated it, and how Aria is her only real friend.

“Is there something wrong?” I ask when she finishes. “Why are you glossing over the details of your life?”

“I’m sorry, it’s just… Please be patient with me. I’ve been burned too many times by trusting the wrong people. And I’m not saying you’re going to betray me, but trust is going to take time to build between us. I’ve been in the public eye for too long to not be cautious. Hell, Aria is my best friend, and she doesn’t know too much about me.”

“I understand.” I can’t imagine what it’s like to have people always with a hand out, begging her to constantly give them something. “We’ve got all the time in the world to get to know and trust each other.”

“We do.” Stella squeezes my hand in hers.

We watch some more of the show before Stella asks, “How’s it going with Hunter? Is he being difficult since finding out about our switch?”

“Not at all, the opposite really. He’s such an amazing guy, and I really like him. He even wants to throw out our contract, to make sure I know that what’s between us is real.”

“Don’t do that!” Stella yells.

I startle. I’ve never heard Stella yell before. Turning toward her, I ask slowly, “Why not?”

“I…” She opens and closes her mouth a few times, but doesn’t speak.

“What’s going on?”

“I have something to tell you, and you’re not going to like it.” She lets out a long breath and says, “Rachel and I haven’t been completely honest with you.”

“What do you mean?”

“What we’re doing? Switching places? It’s not legal.”

“Of course it is. I asked, and Rachel said it was.”

“It’s not,” she says, chugging her champagne. “Since we’re earning money off the switch through the tour, it makes this whole thing illegal. It’s misrepresentation. Imagine what would happen if the fans found out that the concert they paid for wasn’t really Stella Wilde performing? That it was you? It’d be the end of both of us, and we’d probably all end up in jail.”

Nausea bubbles in my stomach. No matter how much I try to deny her words, reject them, and insist they’re wrong, I can’t. I could go to jail ? I gag and run to the bathroom sink, throwing up the champagne I just drank.

Stella rubs my back as I rinse my mouth with water .

“You tricked me?” I ask, my voice rough after vomiting.

“I didn’t want to. Rachel insisted it was better you didn’t know. But that’s why the NDAs are in place. It’s to protect us all. Hunter can’t breathe a word of this to anyone. He’d get in trouble too.”

“Wow.” I step away from her, rage sparking inside me. It’s one thing to lie to me, to put me at risk, but it’s a whole other thing to hurt Hunter. “That’s fucked up.”

She winces. “You have every right to be angry.”

“Angry?” My hands ball into fists. “That word doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel. You know, I expect Rachel to lie to me, but you? You’re my sister…” I huff and shake my head in disbelief. “So what? Did you target me because I’m poor? Because I didn’t have much to lose if I ended up in jail?”

“No, it wasn’t like that.” Stella takes a step toward me, and I take a step back. “I didn’t target you; I chose you because of your talent and our resemblance. I’m so sorry I lied. I’ll find a way to make it right, but you deserve to know.”

“Why did you lie, then?”

“Because I was desperate for you to accept. You don’t know what it’s like to be responsible for so many people. To get to a place where I had to lie in the first place. And it’s not only the people working for me, but also my fans. I’m responsible for them. I’m their entertainment. Without them, I’m nothing. Everyone wants something from me, and for the first time in my career, I can’t deliver because my heart crapped out on me.”

“Oh, cry me a fucking river. You have the perfect life and have everything at your fingertips. You should’ve fixed your medical issues earlier. It didn’t have to come to this.”

“You’re right, I should’ve.” Tears run down her cheeks, and I pretend to not notice. “But if I take time off, I’m scared everyone will forget about me. That everything I’ve worked so hard to achieve will disappear. It’s what I’ve been told would happen if I take a break, so excuse me if I don’t want my career to end now. I’ve sacrificed too much to accept that.”

“Yeah?” I scoff. “And what could you have possibly sacrificed?”

“Everything,” she says through gritted teeth. “Absolutely everything. My personal life? A dumpster fire. No one wants me, not really. Everyone from Rachel to my parents to my label to anyone I’m in a relationship with only cares about what I can do for them. Nothing is real, no relationship is real, and it’s the loneliest fucking life in the world. Only Aria is different. She’s rich enough, well connected enough, to not care about my fame. That’s it. Out of eight billion people in the world, only one person doesn’t need me for anything.” She laughs without humor. “So yeah, excuse me if all I have is my career and I’ll do anything to keep it.”

She spins around, giving me her back as she sobs into her hands .

Fucking hell. Every second she cries, my anger lessens until I’m able to actually empathize with her. I’m nowhere near ready to forgive her, but I do understand where she’s coming from. Even with all her fame and fortune, it doesn’t sound like Stella’s had an easy life.

I touch her back and she turns and hugs me. I hold her while she cries into my shoulder. “I’m so sorry, I’m so fucking sorry,” she repeats over and over again.

I rub her back and don’t say it’s okay, because it’s not. But I do know Stella isn’t a bad person, she just made a bad decision. It also sounds like people take advantage of her kindness regularly, and she deserves better than that.

When her sobs subside, she pulls back and sniffles. “What now?”

“I’m exhausted,” I say. “I’m going to bed.”

“Are we okay?”

“Eventually, yeah. But right now? I just need some time to process everything.”

She nods and says, “I’ll give you some space. But when you’re ready, I’d really like to spend some more time with you and get to know you. Tonight was fun, before I ruined it all.”

“Okay…”

When I’m in my room, I can’t sleep. I can’t shut off my brain. I’m tempted to call Hunter, but I can’t face him right now. Not when I’m still processing the bombshell Stella dropped. His career is in jeopardy because of me because he found out I’m not Stella. Because I signed those contracts cementing the deal that I’m pretending to be Stella.

What I need is my mom and Nina, but I can’t go home. Mom would worry too much if she found out what’s going on. Nina tells me Mom’s thriving with her nurse, and I don’t want to interfere with that. But maybe I can bring Nina to me?

Me: Can you come visit me soon?

Nina: What’s going on?

Me: I’ll tell you in person. When can you come? I’ll send the plane.

Nina: In two days? See you then.

“Let’s get wasted,” I shout in the VIP area of the bar we’re at. Both Nina and Aria cried and hugged me when I told them Stella and I are twins. It’s sweet, but I’m still reeling from the fact that what I’m doing is illegal to really enjoy the moment.

“You sure I can’t confront Rachel?” Nina asks when I finish telling them about what Stella revealed. “That’s shady as shit and she deserves to be taken down a notch. Or a hundred. ”

“I’m sure.” I chug my shot and grab another one.

“S wouldn’t have gone along with it if she had another choice,” Aria says calmly. She’s the only one who’s remained calm after I clued them in, as if she suspected it or, more than likely, already knew. “I get that you feel betrayed, and you have every right to feel that way, but Stella’s not a bad person.”

“I get that and I get that you’re on team S,” I say, “but I just want to forget the past forty-eight hours.”

“Well, we can make that happen,” Aria says, passing me another shot. I down the next two and suck back a cocktail. Drinking my worries away isn’t the smartest idea I’ve ever had, but it sure is effective.

The next hours blur together until the room spins and I need to grip the couch I’m on for stability. It’s like being on a merry-go-round, but the fun kind that makes you laugh until your sides ache. I can’t stop giggling at everything. Like the way Aria makes up stories about the people around us. Or the way Nina tries to mimic the bartender’s serious expressions. They’ve taken their job seriously, to make me forget about my potential legal problems. I’ve never been more grateful to have them in my life than I am now.

“What’s Hunter up to now?” Nina asks.

“Not sure, but I miss him,” I slur, laying my head on Nina’s shoulder. “I can’t see him until next week.”

“That’s bullshit,” Nina says. “What’s the point in having access to a private plane if you can’t use it to visit him? ”

“Wait. That’s a great idea,” Aria says, lying on the couch with her arms in the air. She says it’s the best way to make the room stop spinning.

“You think?” I ask.

“Definitely,” they say in unison.

“Just one problem,” I say, “I don’t know how to book my own plane.”

Nina giggles and Aria says, “That’s an easy fix; we’ll take my plane instead.”

She holds her phone up in the air, squinting at it and typing at the same time. After a minute she pops to her feet. “Let’s roll, ladies. We’ve got a boyfriend to surprise.”

The two-and-a-half-hour plane ride passes in a blink. Another blink and we’re in a car with Brian. When did Brian appear? Was he here the whole time? I giggle and blink again, and suddenly I’m outside Hunter’s house. I stumble to the front door and laugh as I crash into it and press the doorbell.

Glancing back at Aria and Nina, they give me a thumbs-up from the car. They insisted on making sure I arrive okay and then they’re going to find a bar to continue the party and a hotel to crash at.

I press the doorbell again and lay my head against the doorjamb. Is he not home? I take out my phone to message him when he appears in front of me.

“Ella? What are you doing here?” He takes a step toward me as Aria and Nina whistle and wave goodbye before driving off .

“Surprising you?” I say, hugging him tightly. “I missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too.” He lifts me up into his arms and carries me inside. “Where are Nina and Aria going?”

“To party some more and then stay at a hotel.”

“There aren’t many nice hotels nearby. Maybe they should stay with Jake?”

“Ohhh, good idea.” I close my eyes and yawn, nuzzling the spot between his jaw and shoulder, the one I fit perfectly in. “I think Nina would get along with him.”

Hunter sets me down on the couch. “Let me take care of your friends first. Is it okay if I use your phone to call them?”

I hand it to him, and the merry-go-round I’ve been on is no longer fun. I try Aria’s way of lying down with my hands in the air to get the room to stop spinning. And…nothing happens.

“What are you doing?” Hunter chuckles when he comes back to the room to find me with my arms still in the air.

“Trying out something new?” I giggle. “Aria said it’d work, but it doesn’t. That liar.”

“Did you have fun tonight?” He brushes my hair off my face.

“I did. But there’s something I have to tell you.”

“What?” he asks.

“That… Your eyes are so beautiful. ”

He grins. “Why do I have a feeling you meant to say something else?”

“Because Stella told me we could all end up in jail if our switch is discovered and you’re also at risk.”

Hunter stares at me for a few beats before nodding. “So no ripping up the contracts, then?”

“No.”

“Fine,” he says, “as long as you understand this isn’t fake.”

“How is that your concern? We could end up in jail .”

“I mean, I do look sexy in orange.”

I hit his shoulder, or at least I try to, but I miss and hit the couch instead. “This isn’t a time to joke. This is serious.”

“It is, but we’ll be okay. Only a few people know, and no one will talk. Not if their ass is on the line, too.”

“But what if someone suspects something?” I ask. “What if they find out? I can’t go to jail.”

“I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure that doesn’t happen. If someone starts running their mouth, I’ll find a way to stop them. If that doesn’t work, we can become fugitives and hide out on a fancy island.”

He says it so confidently, that I have no choice but to believe him.

“I didn’t know,” I whisper, “when I signed. Rachel and Stella lied to me, insisting it was all legal.”

“I’m so sorry.” He cups my cheek and kisses my forehead .

He doesn’t try to defend her or tell me that it’s not that big of a deal. It’s exactly what I need. To lean on his strength and confidence while processing Stella’s secret. Tears leak from the corner of my eyes.

“Why are you crying?” he asks, alarmed.

“Because I’m drunk?” I laugh and it’s more than a little unhinged. “And I think Stella might be surrounding herself with people who aren’t looking out for her best interests. I want to hate her for putting me in this position, but I can’t, especially when I just found out she’s my twin.”

“Twins?” he repeats, shocked.

“Yeah, I’m so happy that we’re related. But it also makes it all so much more confusing because I feel this connection to her and understand why she lied. It’s hard to hold on to my anger because of it. Also, how can I hate her when switching with her is what brought me to you?”

“Meeting you has been the best thing to ever happen to me, too.”

Warmth blooms inside my chest at his declaration.

“Have I told you lately how much I like you?” I close my eyes and yawn again. “I like how calm you are. Your career is on the line by being with me, and you made a joke about orange being your color.” I chuckle and say, “But I also like that you take care of me, how you have my back, how you’re always down for a good time, and how kind you are.”

“I like you too, more than you know.” He brushes his lips against mine in a whisper of a kiss. “Come, let’s get you to bed.”

“Bed?” My eyes open. “But I just got here, and I don’t want to sleep. I want to spend time with you.”

“I know. And it’s the best surprise to have you here. But you’re drunk and tired.”

“So? What about sex?” I sit up suddenly and unzip my black dress. It pools around my waist and his gaze dips to my chest. He pulls off his shirt and helps me into it.

“Drunk sex can be fun,” he says. “But since I don’t have your consent while sober to do that, we’ll wait until tomorrow.”

“I bet I can change your mind.”

“I’m sure you can.” He lifts me into his arms and carries me to his bedroom. “But there’s no need to try. Sleeping next to you would make me the happiest man in the world.”

“You’re easy to please.”

“Only when it comes to you.” He helps me get ready for bed and forces water and painkillers on me. His arms band around me as he cuddles me from behind.

“Good night, love,” he whispers.

“Good night, love you…” I say as I drift off to sleep, happy I could finally tell him I love him.

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