Chapter 1
Three years of fake marriage, and Riley Wells finally got the call.
“Your sister’s coming back in a month.” Her mother’s voice cut like ice. “Keep pretending to be Ivy, and I’ll give you thirty million to get the hell out.”
Riley stared at that damn wedding photo—Adrian looking like some perfect prince while she smiled that bullshit smile.
“Finally,” she whispered.
It had all been a lie from day one.
Ivy Wells was supposed to marry Adrian Kane, but the selfish bitch ran off the night before the wedding.
To save their precious business deal by this arranged marriage, Riley’s parents dragged her out of the nowhere town where they’d dumped her and shoved her into a wedding dress.
Three years of being the perfect wife to a man who didn’t even know her real name.
Three years of sleeping in the guest room while he chased his first love around Europe.
But Riley didn’t give a DAMN about his love. Never had, never would.
All she wanted was OUT.
And now she was finally getting it.
But when the “perfect wife” stopped playing games and showed her true colors, Adrian Kane was about to learn what REAL regret felt like.
——
Three years into her marriage with Adrian Kane, Riley Wells got the news she’d been waiting for.
She could finally leave him.
“One more month and your sister’s back.” Her mom’s voice came through the phone, cold as always. “Keep pretending to be her until then. Once this is all over, I’ll give you thirty million and you can go live whatever life you want.”
“Got it.” Riley’s voice was quiet, emotionless.
She hung up and looked at the huge wedding photo on the wall.
Adrian looked perfect in his tux—insanely handsome, like he belonged on a movie screen. She was wearing an expensive wedding gown, smiling that sweet, perfect smile.
“Three years…” she whispered, tracing the frame with her finger. “Finally ending.”
Three years ago, the Kane and Wells families made headlines with their arranged marriage. Her twin sister Ivy was supposed to be Adrian’s bride—the perfect wife they’d picked out.
But right before the wedding, Ivy ran off and left a note:
[Mom, Dad—I don’t want to be trapped by this arrangement, but I know it’s my duty. Give me three years to find my freedom. I’ll come back after that.]
To save the deal between the families, Riley’s parents had to bring back their other twin daughter from the countryside overnight—the one they’d dumped in some small town, the one who wasn’t even allowed at family gatherings.
That’s how Riley, who grew up in the middle of nowhere, became a substitute bride under Ivy’s name.
“Adrian doesn’t love your sister,” her mother said coldly the night before the wedding. “He’s in love with some scholarship girl his family sponsored. You’re gonna have a rough time, but just keep quiet and get through these three years as Ivy.”
Riley remembered just nodding back then.
She knew who Adrian Kane was, of course. The guy was all over business magazines—Manhattan’s most famous golden boy, the kind of heir that countless socialites were chasing after.
And she’d heard about him and Elena Pierce too.
The scholarship student that the Kane family sponsored. Adrian loved her deeply, ready to go against his family to be with her. But Elena was proud and stubborn—she didn’t want a relationship without anyone’s blessing, so she chose to break up and go abroad.
The Kane family was thrilled and immediately arranged the marriage.
The days after the wedding were harder than she’d imagined.
Adrian’s study was full of Elena’s photos. Every week he’d fly to Paris to secretly see her. And Riley, his wife, wasn’t even allowed in the master bedroom—she had to sleep in the guest room at the end of the hall.
Riley was careful and cautious, working hard to play Ivy’s role perfectly. To make sure the family business deal stayed intact, she spent these three years being crazy good to Adrian.
When he worked late, she’d leave the hallway light on all night waiting for him.
He had stomach problems, so she’d get up at 5 AM every day to make him healing porridge. He liked quiet, so she made herself the most invisible person in the house.
Gradually, people in their circle started saying Mrs. Kane was desperately in love with her husband. And the way Adrian looked at her seemed to change too.
Elena’s photos disappeared from his study. The weekly Paris trips stopped.
He started remembering her birthday, would come home early when she was sick, and even… they started sleeping together.
Riley almost thought that maybe, just maybe, some real feelings had grown in this fake marriage.
Until three months ago, when Elena came back.
Everything went right back to square one.
Adrian’s heart was completely taken over by Elena again. He started staying out all night, filled his study with Elena’s photos again.
Everyone was laughing at Riley, calling her pathetic, but she just smiled quietly and didn’t make a scene.
Because she’d never loved Adrian anyway.
The only reason she stayed was for the money and freedom her parents had promised. Sure, it was easier when he cared about her, but if he didn’t, she didn’t really care either.
Nobody knew that even though Riley and Ivy were twins, their lives couldn’t have been more different.
Their mother nearly died from bleeding when Riley was born.
Ever since then, mom looked at her with disgust, and their father—who worshipped his wife—saw Riley as nothing but bad luck.
When she was five, they shipped her off to live with a nanny in some small town.
She remembered that winter when the nanny’s heater broke.
She was shivering and freezing, didn’t even have a warm coat. Meanwhile, Ivy was in their heated mansion, wearing expensive wool dresses, completely spoiled by their parents.
Eighteen years of being treated so differently from her sister had completely killed any hope she had for family love.
Now, just one more month and she’d get the thirty million for playing Ivy these past three years. Then she could leave this city and finally live her own life.
Just as she was feeling good about it, her phone buzzed. The caller ID made her stomach drop.
Adrian.
She took a deep breath and answered. “Hello?”
“Get some period stuff to Nightfall in twenty minutes.” Adrian’s voice was ice cold. “The overnight kind.”
He hung up just like that. Riley stared at her phone, instantly knowing who it was for.
Adrian remembered Elena’s period better than he remembered his own company’s IPO date.
It was pouring outside. From the Kane mansion to Nightfall club, the drive was at least forty minutes on a good day.
But Riley grabbed an umbrella and headed out anyway.
Halfway there, traffic came to a complete standstill. She checked her watch—twelve minutes left. Gritting her teeth, she pushed open the car door and ran into the rain.
The rain soaked through her clothes instantly. Her heels kept slipping on the wet pavement until she lost her footing completely and crashed hard into a puddle, her knee stinging with pain.
But she didn’t have time for that. She got up and kept running, finally making it to the club with one minute to spare.
Outside the private room, just as she was about to knock, she heard laughter inside.
“Dude, Adrian, you seriously made your wife drive out in this storm to bring tampons? It’s gotta be at least forty minutes from your house.”
“Elena’s really hurting.” Adrian’s voice was cold. “She’ll find a way to get here.”
“I mean, yeah, everyone knows how crazy in love your wife is with you. Three years she’s stuck around, even knowing you’re hung up on someone else.”
Someone else laughed: “But come on, Adrian—having a gorgeous woman that devoted to you for three years… didn’t that mess with your head even a little?”
The room suddenly went quiet.
Riley held her breath and heard Adrian pause for a few seconds before saying:
“No matter what, between Elena and her, I’d always choose Elena.”
Those brutal words should have hurt, but Riley actually felt relieved. She waited until they finished talking, then knocked on the door.
When she walked in, everyone stared at her in shock.
“Holy shit, right on time!”
“Damn, what happened to you? You’re soaked!”
Adrian stood up, frowning. “What the hell happened to you?”
Riley handed over the pads she’d kept dry. “You said twenty minutes, right? I was worried you were in a rush, so I got out of the car and ran.”
She didn’t mention falling or that her knee was throbbing so bad she could barely stand.
Something shifted in Adrian’s eyes. He suddenly took off his suit jacket and wrapped it around her. “Put this on.”
Then he pointed to the pads in her hand. “Take those to the women’s restroom.”
Riley nodded and obediently headed to the bathroom.
When she knocked, she heard Elena’s weak voice inside: “Who is it?”
“Delivery for you.”
After a few seconds of silence, the door cracked open. Riley handed the stuff through the gap and turned to leave.
Back home, she took a hot shower. Her knee was still aching from the fall.
Lying in bed, thinking about how she’d finally be free soon, she felt strangely peaceful.
Just as she was about to fall asleep, her bedroom door was suddenly kicked open.
Adrian stormed in and grabbed her wrist. “Get up!”
Before Riley could react, he dragged her roughly out of bed and pulled her stumbling toward the stairs.
“Adrian? What are you—”
Before she could finish, a powerful shove sent her flying backward. Her head cracked against the steps and she tumbled all the way down the staircase.
Pain exploded through her entire body.
She lay at the bottom of the stairs, vision blurry, warm liquid trickling down her forehead.
“Why…” she struggled to sit up, “are you doing this… to me?”
Adrian stood at the top of the stairs, backlit so she couldn’t see his face, but his voice was ice-cold:
“Did you push Elena or not?”
Riley looked up at him, confused. “What?”
“Stop pretending!” He walked down the stairs step by step. “You’ve been playing nice these past few months, just waiting for today, right? Do you have any idea what you did? You pushed Elena off the balcony—she’s got broken bones everywhere and almost died!”
“I didn’t…” she shook her head weakly, but the movement made her head wound throb and everything spun.
Adrian crouched down and grabbed her chin roughly. “Ivy, did all the attention I gave you these past few years mess with your head? Let me spell it out for you again—we’re just an arranged marriage. There’s no love here.”
He leaned close to her ear, his words sharp and deliberate: “The love you want? You’ll never get it from me!”
Riley’s vision was going black from the pain, and she almost wanted to laugh.
Because she’d never… she’d never wanted his love anyway.
