The Substitute Bride

The wedding dress pinched at Lydia Hart's ribs. She stood before the tall mirror and studied the woman in it. The bride looked every inch the part, and Lydia felt like no one at all. Her fingers trembled against the lace at her collarbone. The dress belonged to Vivian, and so did everything else today: the flowers, the invitations, the diamond earrings lying cold against her ears, even the man waiting downstairs. Lydia had stepped into her sister's life, and she wanted out of it. She turned to the bedroom door. "Dad?" Nothing. "Dad, please." The door opened, and Richard Hart stood there looking nothing like the proud father she had expected on his daughter's wedding day. His face had gone pale, his tie hung crooked, and his eyes were red. "Where is Vivian?" Lydia asked. He didn't answer. Her stomach tightened. "Dad, where is she?" Richard came in and eased the door shut behind him. "Lydia." Hearing her name in that tone made her heart drop. "No." She backed away. "Don't say it." "Vivian is gone." She stared at him for a few seconds. "Gone where?" "We don't know." What did he mean, they didn't know? "She left before dawn," he said. Lydia's mouth fell open. Maybe Vivian had gone somewhere to clear her head. Maybe she was at a friend's house. "We've called everyone." "Then call again." "Lydia." "Call her again!" Her voice cracked. Richard looked away. "She isn't answering." The room suddenly felt much too small, and Lydia gripped the edge of the dressing table to stay upright. "But the wedding." "I know." "The guests are already here." He nodded. "Lucian is downstairs." "I know." She watched her father, then asked the question neither of them wanted to hear. "What are you planning to do?" His silence answered her. Lydia shook her head. "No." "Lydia." "No." She took one step back. He couldn't mean what she thought he meant. He closed his eyes. "There's no time." "You can always call off a wedding." "Not this one." "Why?" "The Vales have already moved the money." Lydia froze. "What money?" Richard swallowed. "The funds that keep Hart Industries running." A chill crept through her. "How bad is it?" He said nothing. "How bad, Dad?" "We have three days." "Three days until what?" "Until the bank takes the company." Lydia knew the business was struggling and that debts had piled up. She had never imagined it was this bad. Richard went on quietly. The Vale agreement would clear the immediate debt and keep the company running, and it would protect the employees and the house along with it. Lydia stared at him. "What happens if Vivian doesn't marry Lucian?" "We lose everything." The words hung between them. Lydia looked down at the dress, and the beautiful fabric suddenly felt like a chain. "You're asking me to marry him." It wasn't a question, and her father didn't deny it. She laughed once, without any humor. "I don't know him, Dad." "You've met him." "At one charity dinner. That doesn't mean I can marry him!" "I know." "You know?" Tears filled her eyes. "You know, and you're still asking me?" Richard's face crumpled. "I would never ask if there were another way." "Then find one." "There isn't one." "Then let the company go." "Lydia." "Let it go!" Her voice filled the room. "I'm not Vivian. I can't just put on her dress and pretend to be her." "I know." "I don't love him." "I know." "What if he doesn't like me?" Richard looked at her. For a moment Lydia thought he might finally tell her she didn't have to do this. Instead he said quietly, "He probably won't." A tear slid down her cheek, and she wiped it away at once. "Then what are you telling me?" "You're the only one who can save us." Lydia looked at her father as if he had turned into a stranger. She wanted to hate him, but he looked so defeated that it almost made things worse. A knock sounded, and her mother came in. Evelyn Hart's eyes were swollen from crying. She went straight to Lydia and took both her hands. "I'm sorry." Lydia pulled free. "Don't." "Baby." "Don't call me that." Evelyn started crying again. Lydia turned back to the mirror. A stranger looked out at her, a sacrifice in white lace. Her mother whispered, "You don't have to forgive us." Lydia closed her eyes. "I don't want to do this." "I know." "I want to take this dress off." "I know." "I want Vivian to come back." "So do I." Lydia met her mother's eyes in the mirror. "What if she doesn't?" Neither parent answered. A second knock came, louder this time. "Mr. Hart?" A man's voice carried through the door. "The Vale family is ready." Lydia's heartbeat stumbled. Time had run out. Richard turned toward the door, and she caught his arm. "Dad." He stopped. "If I do this." She struggled to breathe. "Promise me something." "Anything." "Never tell me I haven't sacrificed enough for this family." Tears filled his eyes. "I promise." Lydia let go. She took one last look at her reflection and lowered the veil over her face. The walk to the altar seemed endless, every step louder than the one before. Through the veil she could make out hundreds of faces. Reporters crowded the back, business associates filled the pews, and family friends sat among them. They had come to watch Vivian Hart marry Lucian Vale. Nobody had come to watch Lydia. She reached the end of the aisle and finally looked at him. Lucian Vale was taller than she remembered. He wore a black suit, his dark hair was perfectly arranged, and his expression gave nothing away. He didn't look like a groom whose bride had vanished. He looked calm, far too calm. Lydia stopped walking. Their eyes met, and he didn't look surprised, not for a single second. His gaze traveled over the wedding dress and settled on her face. "So they sent you," he said quietly. Her breath caught, and she tightened her grip on the bouquet. He knew. He had known it wasn't Vivian, and somehow that frightened her more than anger would have. The officiant cleared his throat. "Mr. Vale?" Lucian kept his eyes on Lydia. "I'll marry her." She stared at him. "You're not angry?" A faint, flat smile touched his lips. "Should I be?" "You were supposed to marry my sister." "I know." "And she's gone." "I know." "You knew I wasn't her." "I did." Dizziness swept over her. "Why are you doing this?" He stepped closer and lowered his voice so that only she could hear. "Because, Lydia Hart." Her blood ran cold. "The marriage isn't as simple as you believe." He held out his hand. After a brief pause, Lydia laid hers in it, and his fingers closed around hers, firm and cold and possessive. The officiant began to speak, but Lydia barely heard him. Lucian's sentence stayed lodged in her mind. She had no idea what he meant, or why he had agreed to take her in Vivian's place. She couldn't see, standing beside the man she had just married, that Lucian Vale had already decided exactly how the Hart family would pay, and that she would be the focus of his revenge.