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1571 Words
Harper’s POV
“Mother, I cannot marry him!” Esther wailed, her voice shaking the walls of our bedroom suite.
It was Christmas morning, but nothing about the atmosphere felt festive. No warmth. No joy. No cinnamon in the air. Only tension thick enough that I could barely breathe through it.
Today was Esther’s wedding day. A massive, expensive, heavily publicized Christmas wedding to Damon Hale, the billionaire heir who had not been seen in public since his devastating accident three years ago. People whispered that the crash had left him disfigured. Others said it turned him into a recluse. Some even claimed he was no longer human in personality or appearance.
And Esther believed all of it.
“Esther, listen to me.” Mother tried to take her hand, but Esther jerked away violently.
“No. You listen to me, Mother,” Esther snapped, her face blotchy from crying. “I cannot marry a man I have never seen in over three years. Did you hear the things I have heard about him? People say his face was crushed. They say he hides behind masks. They say he has burns. They say he became a monster. A monster, Mother.”
Her voice cracked at the last word.
I stood in the corner quietly, hands clasped in front of me, watching them. Watching the chaos ripple through the room like a storm.
Three years ago Damon Hale was everywhere. Magazines, television interviews, business summits. The man was golden. Charismatic. Charming. But after that terrible accident on the Hale private bridge, he vanished. No interviews. No photos. No appearances. His family locked down every shred of information.
Which only made the rumors grow.
Mother’s voice broke through my thoughts. “We cannot cancel this wedding, Esther. Do you hear me? We cannot. The Hale family will destroy us if we even try. They will crush our business. They will sue your father. They will take everything we have.”
I rolled my eyes before I could stop myself. Trust Mother to think of money first.
Esther kept pacing, her silk robe dragging against the carpet. “I will not ruin my life because you are scared of losing money.”
“You do not understand,” Mother cried. “We owe them. Your father owes them. The Hale family paid your grandmother’s hospital bills last year. They covered your school fees. They have funded half of our company. Without them, we would be begging on the streets.”
“So I am supposed to marry a mask wearing monster because you and Dad do not know how to manage money?” Esther shouted.
“Esther,” Father snapped from the doorway, his face turning red. “You will marry Damon Hale and that is final.”
Esther shrieked. “I will not!”
Father slammed his hand on the dresser so hard the perfume bottles rattled. “Do you think we paid for this wedding for you to ruin everything? Do you think we can escape the consequences of humiliating the Hale family?”
“He is a beast, Father,” Esther sobbed into her hands. “Do you want me to live in fear for the rest of my life? Do you want me to sleep beside a monster every night?”
My chest tightened at the sight of her breaking apart. Esther and I were twins, but we had never been treated as equals. Esther was always the prized daughter. The pretty one. The chosen one. The one Mother planned to marry into power.
I was the shadow. The backup. The one they remembered only when they needed something.
“Enough,” Father said sharply. “You will marry him.”
“No.” Esther swallowed back a sob. “If you push me into that church, I will run away. Right there. In front of everyone.”
Father froze.
Mother gasped.
Esther’s voice wavered, but her eyes were fierce. “I will destroy this family before you destroy me.”
She stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.
Silence fell like a hammer.
Mother collapsed onto the edge of the bed, trembling. “What do we do? What do we do? We cannot call off this wedding. Damon’s mother will ruin us. Their lawyers will bury us alive.”
Father dragged his fingers through his hair. “There is only one option.”
Both of them turned to me.
The sudden shift in their attention felt like ice water pouring down my spine.
“No,” I whispered. “No. Do not even think it.”
“You and Esther are twins,” Mother said quickly. “Identical twins. You have the same face. The same body. The same height. Harper, this is the only way. The guests will not know. The media will not know. Damon will not know.”
My stomach twisted violently. “I cannot marry him. He is not mine. Esther is the one he is engaged to.”
“And Esther is the one refusing to save this family,” Father said coldly. “So you will do it.”
The air left my lungs.
Mother stood and grabbed my shoulders. “Harper, please. Your grandmother cannot survive without her medication. We cannot afford it without the Hale support. They will stop helping. They will let her die.”
My hands shook. “Do not use Grandma against me.”
“We will have no choice,” Father said. “If you refuse, we will stop your grandmother’s treatments today. Do you understand me? Today.”
My heart cracked. “You would let her die just to force me into this marriage?”
Mother’s voice was soft, desperate. “We are fighting for all of us. This is bigger than you.”
Tears stung my eyes.
Esther was the daughter they protected. I was the daughter they sacrificed.
I looked toward the door where Esther had run. She should be wearing her gown now. She should be taking photos. She should be getting ready to marry the man she promised to marry.
But she was gone.
And they wanted me to take her place.
To lie.
To stand at the altar.
To marry her fiancé.
To deceive a billionaire heir who already frightened half the city.
Because they were scared of losing money.
I hated them in that moment.
I hated how calm Father suddenly looked because he knew he had cornered me. I hated how Mother squeezed my hand like I was choosing this willingly. I hated how they both saw me as a tool. A backup plan. A replacement.
Most of all, I hated that I loved Grandma enough to do anything for her.
Anything.
Even this.
My voice barely escaped my throat. “Fine.”
Mother gasped in relief. “Thank you, Harper. Thank you.”
Father nodded as if I had merely agreed to run an errand.
Mother rushed to the wardrobe and pulled out Esther’s wedding gown. “Come. We have very little time. You must be dressed before Damon arrives at the church.”
A cold shiver crawled up my spine.
Damon.
A man I had never met.
A man hidden behind rumors and shadows.
A man Esther feared like death.
And I was supposed to stand beside him as his bride.
Mother and Father pulled me into the dressing chair. The makeup artists rushed back in. The hairstylist pinned my curls. The bridesmaids whispered nervously. The room began spinning around me like a whirlwind of white silk and panic.
They laced the dress too tight. They painted my face to match Esther’s usual bridal look. They tugged, pulled, adjusted, rushed. All while I sat frozen, numb, silent.
It was as if I had left my body behind.
Mother placed Esther’s veil over my head and clasped it under my chin.
“There,” she said with shaking hands. “Perfect. You look just like her.”
That sentence hurt more than anything else.
A knock sounded at the door. “The car is ready.”
Mother lifted me from the chair. Father stood behind us. The bridesmaids gathered. Everyone moved quickly, not giving me a moment to breathe or think or scream.
I followed them through the hallway like a ghost.
Every step felt heavier.
Every breath felt thinner.
Every thought felt more painful.
Outside, snow was falling gently, covering the driveway in soft white. The wedding car waited with its ribbons and golden bells. Cameras were already surrounding the estate gates.
The second I stepped outside, icy wind hit my skin and tears burned my eyes.
Not from cold.
But from everything else.
Father opened the car door. “Harper, inside. Now.”
I climbed into the back seat.
The door shut behind me.
The drivers started the engine.
The car rolled forward.
And I finally broke.
Tears poured down my face as I gripped the skirt of Esther’s wedding dress with shaking hands.
I was going to the church.
To marry her fiancé.
And there was no turning back.
The last thing I saw before the car turned the corner was Mother’s relieved face.
The last thing I felt was my heart cracking open.
And the last thing I heard was my own whisper
“What have I done?”
Snow kept falling.
And I cried the entire drive to the church.
- Writer
