Two hours to be his bride

Elena’s POV “Where is Vivienne?” Victoria screamed as she stormed into the room. “She’s nowhere to be found, ma’am,” a maid answered, hurrying behind her. “You.” She pointed at me. “Put on the dress! Maids, assist her. You have two hours.” She sneered. Two hours until Vivienne’s wedding, and somehow, I was about to become the bride. … a couple of hours ago. A couple of hours earlier, everything seemed normal. It was my boss, Vivienne’s wedding day, the day we’ve all been planning for. The first sign that something was wrong was Vivienne’s phone. It was sitting untouched on the vanity, beside the perfume she’d worn every morning for the past three years. Vivienne never went anywhere without it. I stared at the screen, then at the empty dressing room. I had a weird feeling which I tried to shake off but it didn’t leave. “Where is she?” I asked the maidservants of the house and no one answered. The room was filled with people who suddenly seemed very interested in looking anywhere but at me. Her wedding dress hung untouched against the wall, her shoes were still beneath the chair and her veil lay neatly folded across the bed. Everything was ready except the bride. I saw her earlier this morning, she looked unsure of the arrangement but she couldn’t abscond. Could she? She said to me, “Elena, have my back and protect my image” with a smile which seemed normal for a nervous bride to say so I asked no questions, after all she was my boss. But now I wasn’t so sure about that statement. I glanced at the clock. Two hours more. Two hours until billionaire heiress Vivienne Laurent was supposed to marry Damian Sinclair, the billionaire heir to the Sinclair dynasty. Two hours until hundreds of guests, socialites, elites and media outlets would fill the ballroom downstairs. Two hours until two of the country’s most powerful families became one and Vivienne was nowhere to be found. Her maids were waiting to prepare her and so were the Sinclair maids. “She probably stepped out,” I said, mostly to myself. Her mother, Margaret Laurent, turned sharply toward me. “She would never leave on her wedding day.” She said and I swallowed. That was exactly what worried me. Vivienne could be impulsive, dramatic, and stubborn, but she wasn’t careless. Not about this and not when the entire Laurent family had spent months preparing for this wedding. Margaret snatched Vivienne’s phone from the vanity. “Call her.” She screamed, losing her cool. “I already did.” I answered her with my phone in my hand. “And?” “Voicemail.” My voice came out tinier than I had intended. The room went silent again. Then the door opened and a member of the security team stepped inside, his expression grim. “We checked the cameras.” Margaret’s face tightened. “And?” “There are no recordings of Miss Laurent leaving through the main entrance.” My stomach dropped. “What about the other exits?” “We’re checking them.” I looked at the untouched dress again. Something cold settled in my chest. Vivienne hadn’t simply disappeared. She had left without taking anything. Not her phone, purse or even her wedding shoes. Even her engagement ring was still on the vanity. It’s like she wanted to disappear. Then Margaret turned toward me. “Elena.” I looked up. “You have to help me” She said staring at me in a way I’d never seen before. Not as Vivienne’s assistant or an ordinary person but as a solution. “What?” Her eyes moved toward Vivienne’s dress. “No.” I countered. I didn’t even wait for her to say it. “No.” “Elena, listen” she started. “No.” “The wedding cannot be cancelled.” “I understand.” “You don’t understand.” Her voice cracked. “The Sinclair family is already here.” I looked toward the door. Somewhere downstairs, hundreds of people were waiting for a bride who didn’t exist. Margaret stepped closer. “We need someone to walk down that aisle.” My heart began pounding. “Mrs. Laurent…” “You know Vivienne. You know how she speaks, you know how she moves and what she likes. You even know her better than I do”. I stared at her blankly, understanding to some extent what she wanted from me. The Sinclairs were not a family that took no for an answer. “You want me to pretend to be your daughter?” “For two hours,” she whispered. I hadn’t answered Margaret yet when the door slammed open. “Where is Vivienne?” Victoria, Damian’s mother screamed as she stormed into the room. “She’s nowhere to be found, ma’am,” a maid answered, hurrying behind her. “You.” She pointed at me. “Put on the dress. Maids, assist her. You have two hours.” I could say no to Margaret but not Victoria! Moreover, she didn’t ask, she’d just given me a command. I looked at Vivienne’s dress. Then at the clock then at the closed door. Somewhere on the other side of it was the man I was supposed to marry in less than two hours. A man I’d never spoken to, a man whose name I’d only ever heard in conversations whispered around Vivienne, Damian Sinclair. “What happens if she doesn’t come back?” I turned around to Margaret and her expression changed. “We make sure nobody knows she left.” And just like that, my ordinary life ended. Because less than two hours later, I would be wearing Vivienne Laurent’s wedding dress and I would be walking toward Damian Sinclair as his bride. I had no choice now that Victoria was involved but to put on the dress and carry on