The substitute wife

Dangerous Shadows

I never thought I would stay this long inside Adrian's house. I thought every day that my father would call me back, would tell me to stop my unnecessary stay here, but Sophia made it very clear. She wanted me around. At least she said that much.

"I want you, Elena. You're the best , the best ever who has always delivered for me. I can't do this alone in the new life I've started, few days or months max."

Genuine sound for sisterly affection, but I knew better. Deep inside me, I could tell that it was only because she wanted me where she could see me, where I wouldn't go behind her back and find the truth about her a*******n.

Because I still didn't believe her story. Not a bit.

That evening, Sophia was in front of the mirror brushing her hair and humming like one who had no care in the world. I sat beside the window staring outside to the garden where guards crept around the lawn. She turned over her shoulders to me.

"I have to step out tonight," she said casually, "Business dinner. Adrian knows."

I immediately stood. "Fine. I will get ready.”

That frowned, as if my response annoyed her. "Not tonight. I will take extra guards. You don't need to come."

I froze. "But you said I was-"

"Elena," she cut me off harshly, placing the brush down. "Am I so incompetent that I can't say when I want my sister around? Stay here. Rest."

Her tone left no room for argument. I sank back in the chair, heat rising in my chest. So what was I to her really? A shadow when she wanted, a ghost when she didn't? If the guards were enough tonight and last night, why hadn't they been enough the first day?

She opened her purse just as she was doing so, and turned her eyes back to me with slight softening. "Please, sleep in the master bedroom tonight. Adrian won't be coming home, and I still get scared when I sleep alone. It will give me peace of mind knowing you are there when I come back home, all exhausted."

My mouth dried. Something about the way she said it made me uneasy, like she was pushing me into place on a chessboard I couldn't see. But I nodded. "Alright."

Minutes after that, I heard the echo of her heels on the stairs and then the heavy slam of the front door. The house became quiet.

I stepped into her room, deciding I might as well follow instructions. Matches this place-it was a complete wreck, dresses drapor chairs, shoes all over the floor, bed unmade. Typical Sophia. With a sigh, I began picking up. It was a habit that I have never been able to shake, cleaning up after her.

Something crinkled when I picked up a pair of trousers lying in a corner, the same trousers she wore last night. I frowned, slipping my hand inside.

A small, empty pack of pills slid into my palm.

Not just any pills. My heart stopped when I read the label. Emergency contraceptives.

I blinked, trying to steady my breathing. Adrian had been away for more than a week. I knew it-everybody in this house knew it and, hence, who....?

A cold wave swept through me. Cheating, she was! Cheating!

And that's why she wanted me to stay at home tonight.

My chest tightened. I had always known she was selfish, but this? This was betrayal on another level.

Before I could even brace myself behind, the door opened. I jumped and shoved the packet back inside the trousers.

Adrian.

He was leaning against the door frame with his loose tie in sight and eyes half open. For a moment, I thought he might fall.

"Adrian?" My voice shook. "I thought you weren't coming home."

He chuckled feebly, stepped inside. The aroma of alcohol clung to him. "Plans changed. The dinner... went too far out of hand. Someone spiked the drinks probably. Or maybe I just drank too much." He rubbed his forehead and looked at me- really looked at me- and for the first time since I'd known him, his expression wasn't cold or guarded. It was vulnerable.

"you're here," he mumbled under his breath, and with that, he encircled his arms about my waist from behind , "I'm glad. I missed you."

I stiffened where I stood, and his words pierced deeper than they should have, maybe because this is the first time someone missed me, but it is not even me...but for Sophia.

He pulled my body close to his, with his length pressing against my ass. "How was your day?" His voice slurred, low, as he bit my earlobes. "You have no idea how good it feels to be back home, Sophia. To see you here."

I swallowed hard, panic and something else tangling in my chest. "Adrian, you should rest. You're drunk."

"I know," he murmured, his fingers grazing the curve of my breast. "And I'm sorry."

Every nerve in my body screamed at me to pull back, to stop this before it crossed the line. But his touch burned, igniting something I hadn't felt in my life…I felt wanted.

"I shouldn't--" I whispered, but the words died as his hands went under my shirt and thumb finger found my n****e and the other hand unzipped the trouser I wore.

I tried to tell myself to push him away because this was wrong. Sophia's husband, my sister's life. All that, but when he turned me around to face him and captured my lips with his, all my defenses crumbled.

I gave in.

The night blurred into warmth and desperate touches, into mistakes I could not take back.

When it was over, silence pressed down on the room. Adrian slept heavily beside me, his breath steady, oblivious. I lay on my back, staring at the ceiling, my heart racing and my stomach twisting with guilt.

What had I done?