Chapter 5: The Real Woman Asked Me To Become Her Replacement
Chapter 5: The Real Woman Asked Me To Become Her Replacement
“Because the real woman asked me to.”
I stared at Daniel.
The words made no sense.
None of them.
“Asked you to do what?”
“To marry you.”
I laughed.
It came out strangely.
Almost like a sob.
“You’re telling me the woman whose identity I’ve been living asked you to marry someone who would replace her?”
“No.”
“Then explain it.”
Daniel looked at Sarah.
Sarah shook her head.
“Tell her everything.”
He closed his eyes.
Then he said:
“Your name isn’t the name you think it is.”
My entire body went cold.
I looked at the photograph on the table.
The woman had my face.
But there was something different in her eyes.
Something I couldn’t explain.
“Who was she?”
“Her name was Laura.”
I stared at him.
“Laura?”
Daniel nodded.
“Laura Bennett.”
“And me?”
He hesitated.
“Emma.”
The name sounded unfamiliar.
Yet somehow, it felt right.
I whispered it again.
“Emma.”
Sarah sat down.
“You were Laura’s closest friend.”
I looked at her.
“No.”
“You were.”
“I would remember that.”
“You don’t remember because they erased it.”
My stomach turned.
“Who?”
“The people who were trying to take your father’s trust.”
I looked at Daniel.
“My father.”
“Yes.”
“What was in the trust?”
“Millions of dollars.”
I stared at him.
“How many?”
“Enough to make people kill for it.”
The room became silent.
Sarah continued.
“Your father knew someone would come after you.”
“Why me?”
“Because you were his only surviving heir.”
“But Laura?”
“She was your friend.”
“And she looked exactly like me?”
“Not exactly.”
I frowned.
“She had your face because she was your half-sister.”
I stopped breathing.
“What?”
Sarah looked down.
“Your father had another daughter.”
“Laura.”
“Yes.”
Everything seemed to spin.
My father.
A half-sister.
A trust.
An identity.
None of it belonged in my life.
But somehow, all of it did.
“What happened to Laura?”
Sarah looked at Daniel.
He answered.
“She was killed the night before our wedding.”
I stared at him.
“And you knew?”
“Yes.”
“You knew she was dead and still married me?”
“She told me to.”
“Before she died?”
He nodded.
“She knew they were coming for you.”
“Why didn’t she run?”
“Because she couldn’t.”
“Why?”
“She was already being watched.”
Sarah reached into her bag.
She pulled out a small audio recorder.
“Laura left this.”
She pressed play.
Static filled the room.
Then a woman’s voice.
My voice.
Or at least, it sounded exactly like mine.
“Daniel, if you’re hearing this, then I didn’t make it.”
My knees nearly gave out.
The voice continued.
“Emma doesn’t know who she is yet.”
I covered my mouth.
“She can’t know. Not until it’s safe.”
The recording paused.
Then Laura continued.
“If they find Emma, they’ll kill her.”
Daniel looked at me.
I couldn’t look back.
The recording continued.
“Make her believe she’s Laura.”
My blood ran cold.
“Give her my life.”
The recording ended.
Silence.
I stared at Daniel.
“You did that?”
“Yes.”
“You made me believe I was someone else?”
“Yes.”
“For eight years?”
“Yes.”
“Did you love me?”
His eyes filled with tears.
“Every day.”
I slapped him.
The sound echoed through the room.
He didn’t defend himself.
“You stole my life.”
“I know.”
“You let me believe I was your wife.”
“You were.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“You married Laura’s identity.”
“I married you.”
“Because she told you to.”
“Because I fell in love with you.”
I couldn’t answer.
Then Sarah spoke.
“There is something else.”
I turned toward her.
“What?”
“The plan wasn’t supposed to last eight years.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Sarah.”
She ignored him.
“Laura expected the people behind the trust to find Emma within months.”
“Then why didn’t they?”
“Because Daniel kept moving you.”
“Where?”
“Every few years.”
I suddenly remembered all the houses we’d lived in.
Three states.
Five apartments.
Two houses.
I had always thought Daniel simply liked changing cities.
He had never explained it.
“Why Dallas?”
“Because he thought they’d stopped looking.”
Sarah shook her head.
“They didn’t.”
I looked at the photograph of Jason.
“Then what about him?”
Daniel’s face hardened.
“Jason found you.”
“Because of the trust?”
“Yes.”
“And you knew?”
“I suspected.”
“That’s why you let me sleep with him.”
“I needed him to believe you were still unaware.”
I felt sick.
“You used me as bait.”
“I was trying to keep you alive.”
“You could have told me.”
“You wouldn’t have believed me.”
“Maybe not.”
I looked at him.
“But I deserved the truth.”
“Yes.”
For several seconds, no one spoke.
Then Sarah’s phone rang.
She looked at the screen.
Her expression changed.
“It’s him.”
“Who?” I asked.
She answered.
A man’s voice came through the speaker.
“You should have left the hotel.”
Sarah stood.
“We’re done running.”
The man laughed.
“No. You’re done running.”
Then the call ended.
A second later, every light in the hotel corridor went out.
Daniel grabbed my hand.
“Stay behind me.”
A loud crash came from downstairs.
Then another.
Someone was moving through the hotel.
Fast.
Sarah opened her bag.
Inside was a small handgun.
I stared at it.
“Where did you get that?”
“From the same people who taught me how to survive.”
Daniel looked toward the door.
“They’re here.”
Footsteps approached.
One.
Two.
Three.
Then they stopped outside Room 614.
A man’s voice came through the door.
“Emma.”
I froze.
Nobody had called me that in eight years.
The voice continued.
“You’ve spent long enough pretending to be your sister.”
Daniel stepped toward the door.
“Leave her alone.”
The man laughed.
“Daniel, you still don’t understand.”
“What?”
“You weren’t protecting Emma.”
Silence.
“You were protecting the wrong woman.”
Daniel looked at me.
“What does that mean?”
The door suddenly exploded inward.
Sarah screamed.
Daniel pushed me to the floor.
A gunshot cracked through the room.
Then another.
I covered my head.
When I looked up, Daniel was lying beside the table.
Blood spread across his shirt.
“Daniel!”
I crawled toward him.
His eyes were open.
He grabbed my wrist.
“Don’t trust Sarah.”
I looked toward her.
Sarah was standing by the broken door.
Holding the gun.
And behind her stood Jason.
Alive.
Smiling.
Sarah slowly lowered her weapon.
Jason looked directly at me.
“Emma,” he said.
“Your husband just told you the one thing he should have kept secret.”
I stared at Daniel.
“What?”
Jason smiled.
“Because Daniel didn’t choose you to protect you.”
He stepped inside.
“He chose you because Laura knew you were the only person who could lead us to the money.”
My heart stopped.
Then Jason added:
“And now that you’ve finally remembered who you are, we don’t need your husband anymore.”
