Chapter Seven

Mia

Cold fear shot through my veins.

My hands shook as I lifted one of the photos to look at it. Amanda at the beach in Cancun with her college boytoy wrapping his arm around her. Amanda kissing that boytoy at sunset, for everyone to see.

Oh god.

"The dates are right before our wedding and on our wedding day," Xavier was saying.

Tears burned at the corners of my eyes.

How the hell did that client get any of this? I thought my father had this under wraps immediately. But apparently there was someone there watching my sister the entire time, gathering blackmail in order to eventually use it against us.

"It's ridiculous, isn't it?" he said. "I know you have a sister. But to suggest that you aren't Amanda and you would… what, switch places?" He laughed.

I wished I could too, join in the merriment of how crazy it would be for me to do something like switch places with my sister and marry her fiancée. Only, I couldn't because that was the truth.

"Amanda?"

I lifted my head slowly, a few tears leaking from my eyes.

Xavier frowned. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I thought you'd find it funny like I did."

"I'm…"

I couldn't lie to him anymore. Not when there was proof here. He might not believe it now, but he certainly would once Amanda and I actually switched. I'd been selfish for far too long.

Once Amanda was here in my place, he would soon see how different we both were, even if our faces suggested otherwise.

"What's wrong?" He reached over to cup my cheek, brushing a few tears away.

I didn't deserve him—maybe I never did.

"It's true," I whispered.

"What is?"

"Amanda… my sister."

His brows came together. "You are Amanda."

I shook my head, more tears falling. "I'm Mia. I… I'm so sorry."

He froze in place, staring at me with an incredulous look.

"I'm so sorry, Xavier." I was babbling now. "This was never supposed to go on as long as it did. My sister broke contact before the wedding and needed me to step in until she could come back. I'm so sorry. This was never meant to go on this long."

I sucked back a breath, realizing now that I was sobbing.

"You…" He shook his head, his eyes darkening. "You tricked me."

"No!" I reached out to grab at him but he quickly retreated, standing up to get away. "All of it was true. The letters, what we have here. That was all me."

"What are you saying? You wrote those letters?" His expression morphed into anger. "So, none of that was Amanda at all?"

My heart felt like it was shattering. I shoved all of the photos and paperwork back into the folder and stood up to face him. "I wrote you those letters, yes. But all of what I said was true. That's how I really felt. Really feel."

"How can I trust that?" He stepped further away from me, as if he were disgusted. "Does your father know about this?"

I swallowed, lying. "No."

"I want my real wife." He demanded. "I want the woman who was promised to me."

"I'm so sorry." My words were choked, in between sobs.

"I can't even look at you right now," He turned away from me, throwing his hands up. "All of this was a complete lie."

"It wasn't." Was there any use in trying to defend myself? I didn't know. My entire body hurt from trying to stop from having a meltdown.

He was never supposed to find out like this—or at all, for that matter.

"You're leaving as soon as your things are packed." Xavier stormed over to the door. "And then you're sending your sister back here."

"Xavier—"

"Don't." His eyes were filled with hurt as he looked at me over his shoulder.

Without another word, he left me in the wake of my misery.

I sobbed while packing my things, my life feeling like it was falling apart around me.

I was ushered to the front door where a driver met me to take my bags and bring them out. I didn't see Xavier at all.

Is this how it would all end? With him hating me and thinking that all the love we shared together had been completely fabricated?

How would I be able to explain it to him when he was too upset to listen?

By the time we reached my family's estate, I was a complete mess. My driver must've sensed that I wasn't going to get out of the car without force because soon there was someone knocking on my window.

"Mia?" My father said as he opened the door. "What happened? Why are you here?"

I threw myself at his chest and sobbed into it. "He knows."

"What? Who knows?"

"About the lie. About the fake marriage. He… he wants Amanda…"

My father cursed under his breath and slowly gathered me out of the car and helped me into our family home. My hysterical cries must've attracted the attention of the whole house because soon, both my mother and sister were joining us in the foyer as I collapsed into a heap onto the floor.

"What the hell happened?" Amanda asked.

"It seems that Xavier has found out that Mia was impersonating you. He's requesting you go over there immediately."

"What?!" My sister's distraught squawk grated on my nerves. "I thought Mia was handling it!"

"I don't know the details, Amanda, but go with the driver and smooth things over with the Kings. We'll send you your things first thing tomorrow morning."

"I can't just go like that, dad!"

"Amanda," my father snapped. "Go. Now. We'll sort out the details later."