Chapter 1 She Woke Up in Her Sister's Wedding Dress

When Elena Vale opened her eyes, the first thing she noticed was the wedding dress.

Ivory satin clung tightly around her waist, clearly made for someone else. She tried to push herself upright, but her arms barely held her weight. A dull pressure throbbed behind her temples.

A few hours earlier, Richard had called and said he'd found some of Claire's belongings while going through storage at the Vale estate. Did Elena want to come take a look?

It was the first time since her mother's death that he had willingly brought up Claire.

Elena had known better than to trust him completely. She'd only drunk half a glass of water.

Apparently, even that had been too much.

The bedroom door opened.

Maya walked in on high heels, looking as relaxed as if she'd finally gotten rid of an inconvenience.

Elena glanced down at the dress and recognized it immediately.

Maya's.

The dress Maya had commissioned months ago for her Blackwood wedding.

"Give me my phone."

Maya smiled. "You woke up earlier than the doctor expected."

"My phone."

"Confiscated. Your ID too."

Elena shoved the skirt aside and tried to stand. The second her feet hit the floor, her knees nearly buckled. She caught the bedpost before she went down.

Two security guards outside the door immediately stepped forward.

That was enough to tell her this wasn't some family argument she could end by shouting louder.

"Where's Richard?"

"Downstairs. The lawyers are here too." Maya leaned against the doorframe. "The Blackwoods are expecting a bride this afternoon. We're running out of time."

Elena looked up.

"The bride is you."

"Originally."

Vale Holdings was running short on cash. The Blackwoods had agreed to continue funding the company once the marriage went through.

The name on the agreement was Maya Vale.

Apparently, Maya had changed her mind at the last possible second.

"So you drugged me, put me in your wedding dress, and decided to send me in your place?"

"The Blackwoods need a Vale bride. The name issue is for the lawyers to handle."

So that was why Richard had mentioned Claire.

Not because he'd suddenly grown a conscience.

Because he knew her mother was the one thing that could still lure Elena back into this house.

Richard appeared a few minutes later. The moment he saw Elena awake, something uncomfortable flickered across his face.

He still didn't tell anyone to take off the dress.

"We're past the point of canceling this wedding."

"Then send Maya."

Richard looked away.

"Everyone says Adrian Blackwood was badly disfigured in that accident. They also say he hasn't had any real power in the family since the accident." His jaw tightened. "Maya isn't suited for that marriage."

Elena stared at him.

"So I am?"

No one answered.

They didn't need to.

She reached for the landline on the nightstand.

One of the guards pulled the cord from the wall before her fingers reached it.

Elena turned back to Richard, her voice going cold.

"Give me my phone and my ID. Otherwise, the first thing I do when I get out of here is call the police. Drugging me. False imprisonment. Identity fraud." She held his gaze. "You might want to ask those lawyers downstairs which one will look best in tomorrow's headlines beside the name Vale Holdings."

Richard's expression finally changed.

Someone called for him from downstairs, saying the Blackwood attorneys were on the phone again.

He stood there for a few seconds before looking at the guards.

"Get her into the car. The doctor said the drugs should last through the ceremony. Don't let anything else go wrong."

Elena's head snapped up.

"So you admit you drugged me?"

Richard said nothing.

He turned and walked downstairs.

The door shut behind him.

Only then did Maya stroll closer and smooth Elena's veil over one shoulder.

"Don't look at me like that. Dad was only worried you'd cause trouble, so the doctor gave you a sedative."

Elena stared at her.

Maya leaned down, lowering her voice.

"But honestly? Just sending you off to marry a Blackwood felt too easy."

A sudden wave of heat spread through Elena's chest.

Her breath caught.

That wasn't a sedative.

"What did you give me?"

"I added something of my own." Maya's smile deepened. "And I arranged a little stop for you first. Dad doesn't know about that part."

Elena's gaze sharpened.

"What kind of stop?"

"A house up in the mountains. A few men will take you there first." Maya spoke softly, almost pleasantly. "They'll take some pictures. Nothing that should delay the wedding for too long."

Elena grabbed her wrist.

"Are you insane?"

The guards rushed in and pulled them apart.

Elena fought them, but the drugs were draining her strength too fast. She managed to wrench one arm free before her knees nearly gave out again.

Maya backed toward the doorway, calm as ever.

"Relax, sis. Haven't you spent all this time saying you don't want to get married?"

She smiled.

"Then have a little fun before you meet your husband."

The guards half-dragged Elena downstairs.

As they passed the living room, she saw Richard still reviewing wedding documents with the lawyers.

So he knew about the forced substitution.

But whatever Maya had arranged?

He clearly had no idea.

A black wedding car waited outside the estate.

Before the guards shoved her into the back seat, Elena twisted around and looked at her father standing on the steps.

"If anything happens to me today, Richard, I swear the Vale family goes down with me."

Richard said nothing.

Maya leaned toward the open door with a smile.

"I hope you enjoy my wedding gift."

The door slammed shut.

The lock clicked.

Once the car pulled away from the estate, Elena didn't waste her strength pounding on the windows.

Driver. One man in the front passenger seat.

No phone. No bag. Windows that wouldn't roll down far enough.

She couldn't overpower both of them in her condition.

So she forced herself to breathe and started memorizing the route.

Ten minutes later, she knew something was wrong.

They had left the main road to the Blackwood estate and turned north into the mountains.

The trees thickened around the car.

The destination on the navigation screen was nowhere near the Blackwood property.

Elena straightened.

"This isn't the way to the Blackwoods. Where are you taking me?"

No one answered.

She grabbed the door handle.

Locked.

The driver glanced at her in the rearview mirror and pressed the central lock again.

The second click sounded unnaturally loud inside the car.

The heat inside her body was getting worse.

Her vision had started to blur.

Then the driver smiled.

"Because before you meet your husband, we've got one more stop."

At the same time, at the Blackwood estate—

Adrian Blackwood stood in his second-floor study, a black half-mask covering most of the left side of his face.

Ever since the accident three years ago, rumors had followed him everywhere.

That he'd been horribly disfigured.

That he'd lost his place in the Blackwood succession.

The family had never bothered correcting anyone.

Neither had Adrian.

Being underestimated was often far more useful than being feared.

Miles stepped forward and handed him a tablet.

"The Vale wedding car left the estate, but it's going the wrong way."

Adrian looked at the screen.

The vehicle wasn't heading toward the Blackwood estate.

It was moving north, deeper into the mountains.

He watched the blinking location marker for a few seconds before reaching up and removing his mask.

Beneath it were only a few faded scars.

Nothing like the rumors.

Miles glanced at him.

"You're going yourself?"

Adrian picked up his coat, his eyes still on the moving dot.

“If the Vales can't even keep track of where they're sending their own bride—"

He turned toward the door.

"I'd like to see for myself what the hell they're up to."