THE SUBSTITUTE WIFE

THE TRAP

Kellan had a million alarms going off in his head.

He hadn't found the girl; he was sure she had ended up inside of him without protection. He feared for the future, and it was eating away at the little sanity he had left.

Since that girl was a virgin, he was sure she wasn't on any birth control.

Right now, he was getting married to please his grandfather's requests... But he imagined the disaster it would be if he got married and then an illegitimate child appeared.

He himself was the result of an extramarital relationship and didn't want that dishonorable life for his own child... But the cards were already dealt, and he could only wait to see what he got on his turn.

As the bride entered the chapel, Kellan knew it was another girl.

He wasn't an i***t; that wasn't Pietro Miller's eldest daughter.

He had investigated Eloise Miller, perhaps too much if he was honest; which is why he knew she was a tall, slender girl with an outgoing personality... Definitely, the curvy, short girl walking towards him was not the woman he had seen on social media.

Kellan was furious; he couldn't believe Pietro Miller's audacity.

He was trying to deceive him right in front of his face, and his grandfather seemed to ignore everything, as he was very calm a few steps below at the altar.

He watched as Miller and his daughter (because he assumed it was the younger daughter) advanced towards him at a slow pace.

Kellan took a deep breath and gave his grandfather a meaningful look.

The elder Vills gave him a significant look, and Kellan understood perfectly what his grandfather meant. He was aware of the change of bride.

Certainly, his grandfather knew that the girl walking towards his grandson was not Eloise Miller.

She was not the promised bride.

Kellan felt a knot in his stomach, and then he couldn't help but feel bad for the cause of it.

But he had to be honest with himself; he was terrified that this substitute wife they had found for him would be unattractive.

Eloise seemed a bit airheaded, but at least she was quite pretty... Just the thought of the substitute being ugly or fatter than what was seen in that vulgarly tight dress made him feel like crawling out of his skin.

Suddenly, he began to feel sorry for the girl. He would never love her; it was all a contract, and she was being delivered like a lamb to the s*******r.

He thought about how hard it must be for her.

Who did something like this? Who sacrificed their entire life next to someone who didn't love them for their family, for social status?

What kind of man treated his daughters as if they were cattle that could be traded as needed?

He didn't know why Eloise wasn't there, but it bothered him a little.

She was perfect for the role because every socialite tended to be insensitive and frivolous. That's what he needed.

Someone to arm-in-arm with, but who didn't expect anything more than a good position and fortune in return. A woman who would represent him in social gatherings and relevant events on his schedule, someone who would help forge bonds with other well-positioned families. A woman who knew how to run a home, keep it perfect for visits, and who fully agreed to stay home with the children.

He felt no interest or affection for Eloise, but he had already accepted that she was the bride they had agreed upon.

Kellan was used to getting exactly what he wanted, and by his ships and company, he swore that this time wouldn't be an exception.

His anger surged back at the thought that he wasn't getting what he expected from the deal.

Even he, who was fierce in business, knew very well the difference between a lie and betrayal.

And that, more than a lie; it was betrayal.

Was that the plan from the beginning?

The more he thought about it, the more resentment he felt.

Perhaps Pietro didn't want to marry his brightest daughter to him; to a bastard, an illegitimate child from an affair, but he did need desperately to fulfill anything his grandfather demanded. His debt was not small or easy to cover, Kellan was sure his grandfather didn't even need to pressure him.

"Of course he was going to deliver his daughter on a silver platter when his debt exceeded five million dollars!" Kellan thought with irony.

Oh, but he was sure his grandfather knew about the slight change in the deal. That old devil didn't miss a thing; the fact that he himself was now part of the Vills family was proof of that.

His grandfather always had his way, and Kellan had learned it was best to ignore him and let him do as he pleased.

Refusing was worse, but that didn't stop him from feeling angry and betrayed by his grandfather.

Thanks to Bemus Vills, his future father-in-law probably thought he was a pushover now, someone easily manipulated who he would now have at his mercy.

The bride approached him, and his future father-in-law handed him her hand.

It was a small hand, and Kellan couldn't help but notice the shape of her fingers, so feminine. It contrasted sharply with his own, making him hyper-aware of the difference in size and texture between them.

Where he had calluses from hard work, she had soft, smooth skin.

Kellan almost shook his head right there in front of everyone, trying to dispel these foolish thoughts.

He should refuse to marry. The ceremony was discreet enough, he thought. But as he was about to release the hand of the substitute bride, she lifted her head veiled as if looking directly at him and whispered:

"I won't disappoint you, please give me a chance," he heard her whisper, and his mind became a mess with those words.

What did she mean she wouldn't disappoint him?

A chance! Please!

That would cost him a lifetime bound to a woman who would always be expecting more from him... Something he obviously wouldn't give her.

Moments ago, Kellan was unwilling to continue with this charade, but those simple words made him feel a little sorry for the girl.

It reminded him of his mother and how she had begged his father not to leave her when he was just a child.

If his father had given his mother a chance, everything would have been different.

Kellan knew it would cost him dearly not to back out at that moment.

He understood what he was getting into, but despite being a monster, he couldn't bring himself to deny the girl that chance she asked for.

What if, after leaving her at the altar, his father abandoned her to her fate, as his family did to his mother?

Could he live with the guilt of treating another woman as they had treated his mother?

Not as long as he had a say in it!

No one deserved that! Kellan thought, but even though he knew he was doing the right thing, he couldn't shake the feeling of being betrayed and feeling so upset.

He was also upset with the substitute wife, no matter how much her small hands trembled in his, showing her nervousness. To him, she had also betrayed him.

Kellan didn't even realize when he repeated the vows; he was on autopilot, completely immersed in his thoughts.

After the ceremony, they headed to the chapel's foyer to sign the register.

Kellan gritted his teeth in anger at the thought that he was not only being deceived but also didn't even know the name of the one deceiving him.

A woman who, by the way, was seconds away from becoming his wife.

Would it look very strange if he suddenly lifted her veil here in the middle of the foyer and in front of everyone?

He felt the need to see her face, to see the face of that lying woman.

He opened his mouth intending to ask her for her real name, but he couldn't because loud music started playing, the rhythm making the speakers reverberate, disrupting the wedding's soft ambiance.

People, including him, turned toward the source of the sound. All eyes were on a video being projected on a wall.

Before everyone's eyes was a scene that Kellan remembered all too well... Because he hadn't just lived it, he had enthusiastically starred in it.

He had been set up!

There he was, passionately kissing the hot brunette from the pub. Kellan was burning with fury.

"I object to this union!" a man's voice shouted above the noise of the repeating video.

The man was slim and perhaps a couple of years younger than Kellan.

"Who the hell are you?" the groom growled, feeling like the suit was suffocating him.