BOUND BY HER NAME

Serena’s POV: “She is missing!” Mrs Elena screamed with pure horror. Those 3 words turned the Blackwood estate upside down. .What should’ve been the happiest morning in the family’s history had become a nightmare. The grand halls of the mansion buzzed with panic. Security guards, house keepers, cleaners, chefs, even the drivers abandoned their duties to search every corner of the estate. “Check the west wing again!” Mr Blackwood commanded. “We already did!” The staff echoed. “The stables!” “Call her phone, check the garden. Just find my daughter.” Mr Blackwood ordered. The mansion was filled with panic as everyone searched the whole estate but she was nowhere to be found. She did leave a note saying no one should look for her and she would be long gone by the time they realized. Mr Blackwood contacted every airline, train station and even several hotels in the city but none reported seeing her or checking her in. How could she have gone missing without a trace? The mansion had never been this quiet and it wasn’t the peaceful type. The atmosphere grew heavier with each passing second, the wedding was in just 12 hours and the bride had gone missing. “Go and give the masters this cup of coffee to calm them down” my mom said. I tightened my grip on the tray as I walked to the dining area. In my 24 years of living in this house I had never seen Mr Blackwood look anxious or afraid. He looked completely powerless. Immediately I approached the table to serve the coffee he turned away and left. Mrs Elena sat silently and I couldn’t help but feel pity for her. She clutched to the note Ms Armelia left and muttered some words as if praying that her daughter will miraculously appear. Her eyes were so swollen from crying. “This can’t be happening” She whispered. I placed the mugs on the table and I turned around to leave then I heard a loud crash. Mrs Elena had pushed one of the mugs down while reaching for it. “Oh my God!” She exclaimed “I’m really clumsy I didn’t mean to” Mrs Elena added. I picked the broken glasses and ran to the kitchen quickly to get some cleaning supplies before anyone gets hurt. As I kept cleaning I felt Mrs Elena’s eyes settled on me. It felt like she was studying me, I tried to shake it off but it still felt weird. “Serena right?” She asked “Yes Mrs Blackwood” I replied immediately. She didn’t ask any further questions instead she walked away. I headed back to the staff quarters and the mansion was still in a state of unrest. There were whispers, staff still searching and some laying their conclusions. Hours had gone by and no one had figured where she was or how she disappeared. No one dared to remind Mr and Mrs Blackwood that the wedding was barely in 6 hours. No one had gotten some sleep and just when I decided to lay my head for a while. “Serena we’ve been called my Mr and Mrs Blackwood, come quickly!” my mom said. I thought to myself what have I done. I quickly adjusted my uniform and made my way to their office. I laid a soft knock on the door and my mother opened to usher me in. “Hello dear” Mrs Blackwood called. Me? Dear? What on Earth was going on. I had to look behind me to see if she was referring to someone else. She was truly talking to me. She walked towards me with hesitant steps. “Those eyes” she said in barely a whisper. She turned to Mr Blackwood and shifted as if to make him look at me. Her eyes lingered on mine. Then my nose, then my hair it felt strange. Mr Blackwood cleared his throat. “Well you might be wondering why we called you and your mother” he said. “Yes sir” I said as I shook my head “As you know my daughter is missing” Mr Blackwood said. “We are extremely sorry about that.…” My mom spoke. There was an awkward silence in the room. My mom broke the silence by saying “If there’s anything we can do to help we…” “Actually there is” Mrs Elena interrupted. “There is?” I said in a confused tone. “Well the wedding is in less than 4 hours, and the Ashton’s cannot find out about my daughters disappearance so we need you Serena” Mrs Elena continued. My mom and I exchanged confused looks. “You need me?” “Yes we need you to become Armelia. If the wedding doesn’t happen everything I’ve built will be useless.” Mr Blackwood explained. “I’m so sorry I don’t understand” “How is that even possible” My mother added. “Well asides the fact they have similar features, they’re around the same age, probably wear the same size and with enough makeup and hairstyling no one would be able to tell the difference.” Mrs Elena explained. I still couldn’t process what was going on. Another awkward silence filled the room. “Look we’ll give you anything you want if you could just do us this favour, we’ll compensate you dearly.” She added. “So you want me to impersonate Ms Amelia and marry Mr Chris?” “Well only for a while at least until we find Armelia” Mr Blackwood said. “This is madness I couldn’t do that, if I get caught I’d be in a lot of trouble. This whole thing could go very wrong.” I said to them hoping they would understand how big of a deal this was. My mother gave me a supporting look and added that the decision was solely up to me. The Blackwoods had this desperate look in their eyes. They weren’t thinking clearly and honestly I couldn’t blame them. If my daughter had gone missing hours to her wedding I’d become manic but I wouldn’t think of replacing her. “We know how it sounds Serena, but please you have to do this for us” Mrs Elena said. “Look we wouldn’t ask if we expected to hear a no” Mr Blackwood said. That sounded kind of threatening, I looked at my mother and she had an unreadable expression. “It would just be for a short period of time, if this wedding doesn’t happen thousands of people would lose their jobs and your mother could even be one of them.” He added as if trying to emotionally blackmail me. ”Everything depends on this wedding and we don’t have much time” Mrs Elena said softly. I thought about it deeply and I decided to give in. In a matter of hours I was surrounded by stylists. I sat stiffly in front of a huge mirror, everything felt strange, the whole idea didn’t seem right to me but I didn’t have a choice. I never imagined a day that a commoner like me would be in this position. Getting married to someone like Chris Ashton or impersonating someone as elegant and wealthy as Ms Armelia. I once served her but now I would be taking her place well temporarily at least. It felt unreal to be honest. I just hope I don’t mess things up because half of the city is going to be there. I had less that 2 hours to learn her walk, her smile, how she carries herself even her signature. I had to be her. Fear creeped in, what if he recognizes me? What if I mess up? What if this all goes wrong? How would Chris react if he found out that he said I do to a total stranger? Mrs Elena approached me and told me to calm down. I think she noticed that I was starting to overthink. She explained some things to me and gave me her daughter’s engagement ring. It was absolutely gorgeous and it was my first time putting on something that expensive. After the styling, I looked completely unrecognizable. I felt even more nervous and my hands started to shake. Mrs Elena signaled for everyone to leave the room and she held my hand. “I really need you to breathe” she said I swallowed hard and tried to control my breathing “The ceremony is going to be brief I promise, you’ll do just fine” she reassured. “What if he talks to me or asks me something only Armelia would know?” I asked. “You answer politely if he talks to you and he wouldn’t ask you any absurd question on your wedding day” She answered. “You look extremely beautiful, just like Armelia” She said. I slowly lifted my gaze to the mirror and she was right I did look beautiful, I was dressed in an elegant white gown I would’ve never imagined to wear. My hair was gathered into a sleek low bun with a few wisps intentionally left out, my makeup was absolutely flawless. Mrs Blackwood placed a simple diamond pendant on my neck, and added pearl earrings to complete the look. I looked like I came out straight from a fairy tale and the long veil added to it. A soft knock landed on the door, it was my mom. “Look at you my darling” She said. Her eyes were filled with tears. “I’m scared” I blurted out “That’s okay my love, sometimes fear is what drives us to do our best. All I need from you right now is to appreciate how beautiful you look.” She said “No matter what they ask of you, do not forget who you are okay” she added while squeezing my hands. I tried to summon courage and remind myself who I am and all the struggles have faced. I decided to just take my moms advise and do my best. My mom and Mrs Elena left the room and told me to calm down and practice how I would walk in because I had less than 30 minutes to walk down the aisle with Mr Blackwood. After countless attempts I decided to take a break and my gaze shifted to the mirror. The girl staring back at me wasn’t Serena, the housekeeper’s daughter. I had become Armelia Blackwood, heiress to the Blackwood fortune. A knock echoed from the other side of the door, it is time. My heart stopped. There was no turning back now, I couldn’t slip up. I couldn’t help but think if I was truly ready for this. What if I can’t pretend to be her even for a day? What if he looks at me and sees through everything? The door began to open. Can I really do this? Or will I be exposed in front of thousands of people and the media?