The Substitute Bride’s Revenge

Jasmine's Pov “You are nothing but a substitute, so how dare you act like this?!” “You're nothing to him! Let him go!” “She's his true love! They've been in love for years before you appeared. If you didn't swoop in to snatch him away from her, they would be the one getting engaged by now.” “Do you think he loves you? He doesn't, he only dated you because you looked like her and nothing else. Do you even know that there's a whole room dedicated to her in your house? I bet you didn't know that, right?” My boyfriend, Alexander, had left in the middle of our engagement party, where he was officially proposing to me. Why? A woman had appeared. When I first saw her in the venue, her face pale and looking confused, I was shocked. I thought I was seeing my twin sister in front of me. Except, I wasn't a twin. I didn't even have a sister? I was confused, until Alexander called out her name. Gianna. And then, all hell broke loose. She fainted and he left me in the middle of his friends and took her to the hospital. He even pushed me away. I was confused until his friends had mocked me with their words, then I knew about the ‘hidden room’. I ran all the way back to the house and immediately unlocked the door to the room where Alexander told me to never enter. And the moment I went into the room, I became lightheaded, bile filled my throat and it took everything in me not to throw up at what I was seeing in his room. Ever since we started dating, he told me that this was his dead mother's room. And I couldn't go in because it held special memories of her and out of respect, I never pried into this room. But now… I could never have imagined this. There was a portrait, a hand drawn one, in the middle of the room. No, it wasn't just a portrait, a picture was everywhere. Frames, picture books, in his closet, everywhere. It was that woman, Gianna. She filled every inch of this room. “Ha… Hahaha.” A wry chuckle escaped my lips as I crashed to the ground, my legs weak and feeling like jelly. I never imagined this. The man who claimed to love me is obsessed with a woman who looks like me? “How… How could I have missed this? How?!” I screamed into the air, my heart pounding against my chest. For years, he had pretended to love me. He pretended! Everyone knew he didn't love me and yet, I was the only one who was oblivious to it?! BANG! The door behind me was kicked open with such force it hit the stopper and bounced. I didn't look up. I couldn't. "What the hell are you doing in here?!" The voice was thunderous, vibrating with a mix of panic and fury. It was Alexander. I heard his heavy footsteps rush into the room, but he wasn't alone. A female scent, the same scent as the perfume he always gifted me accompanied him. Thinking about it, the way I dress, the way I smell, everything looked incredibly alike to this woman. Everything. “So… From the start, you've only treated me like a substitute?” I murmured the question under my breath. "Jasmine! I asked you a question! Get up! Why did you break into this room? I told you never to come here! Why didn't you listen to me?!” For what seemed to be hours but was merely seconds, I didn't move. However, after two more seconds, a voice broke the silence. “Why… Why do you have so many pictures of me? You… Why…?” The woman beside him gasped in shock. “Gianna…” He murmured, his voice not more than a whisper, “I'll explain it to you later. Just… I need to talk to Jasmine. Why don't you go and rest for now. I…” “No.” I interrupted, cutting him off and pushing myself off the ground slowly. Alexander stood there, his chest heaving, his face pale with a guilt he was trying to mask with anger. And beside him was her. Gianna. Painfully, I tore my eyes away from her and finally met Alexander's eyes. "Is it true?" I asked, the words cutting through the tension. “Was I merely a substitute... just like your friends said?” I asked, going straight to the point. “Jasmine…” “Tell me! Is it true?! All these years that you've spent loving me, it wasn't me you were looking at, it was her all along?! Tell me the truth Alexander!” I screamed, my voice bouncing off the walls. Even though I was asking this, deep down, I knew. They were right, from what I had seen in this room, I was the substitute. But still, I was willing to believe him. If he told me that it wasn't true. If they were lying, and this was all just a farce or a prank, I would gladly believe him. I would. But, with the way Alexander’s eyes hardened, the way his lips pursed, I knew it was the truth. “Say something. Why won't you say something?! Who is she, Alexander?!” My voice went higher. “If you want to hear the truth, then I'll tell you. Yes, she is the woman I've been looking for. She's the woman whom I vowed to spend the rest of my life with. She is the woman I love.” Alexander admitted, his eyes never leaving mine. “Then what about me? Who am I to you?” I asked again, softly this time, willing him to see the begging in my eyes. I was still in denial. “Don't you already have the answer?” Alexander murmured, his eyes still on mine. My heart pounded, blood rushed into my ears, and I shook my head in denial. Don't say it. Please don't say it. His lips pulled into a slight smirk. “A substitute for her. That's all you've ever been to me. That's all you will ever be.” For a second, I thought I had gone deaf. His words echoed in my ears like a mantra, again, again and again. Three years and my love for him was reduced to no more than being a substitute. Three years ago, I saved Alexander from a car accident. I pulled him out of a car with my bare hands, a car that was seconds away from exploding after it crashed into a divider during a heavy downpour. I carried him on my back toward the hospital two streets away because the ambulance was delayed due to traffic, even though my arms were trembling and my skin burned from the heat that chased us. The car exploded just as we got out of the car and even though I was pretty far from it, the force of it sent embers flying toward us. Some of those embers landed on my back and arms, leaving scars that never fully faded. When we got to the hospital, I only allowed the nurses to treat me after I saw him being wheeled into the emergency room and heard a doctor say that he would survive. I still remember the first time he opened his eyes. He had gotten temporarily blind from the accident. He was cranky, hateful towards everyone, even the nurses and to me. At first, he disliked me too, but afterwards, I became the only person who was allowed to get close to him. I became his care taker, and he paid me for my services. Over the course of 6 months, he regained his sight and the moment he opened his eyes to look at me, he offered me a deal I couldn't refuse because I had fallen in love with him. He offered me a contract. A contract to become his lover.