The Stand-In Bride's Secret Chapter 2

I handed a small notebook to Lily.

Inside was a detailed record of everything between Harrison and me over the past two years.

It included all our anniversaries, his living habits, his preferences...

The one I gave her was a copy.

I planned to keep the original for myself.

Weren't those two years acting as Lily the exact years I got everything I ever wanted?

It was only when I handed the notebook back to her that it truly hit me: I was just a stand-in.

The past two years were nothing but a beautiful dream.

Lily flipped through it casually. Her expression suddenly turned fascinating, as if she'd read something incredibly entertaining.

"You and Harrison actually had sex?" She looked amused.

My face flushed. I had written it vaguely, but I didn't expect her to be so blunt.

"Alright, alright, my good sister, I'll stop teasing you." She looked a bit excited.

"That's great, actually. I've never tried a man like Harrison before."

"Oh, right. Just to be safe, once things are stable with him, I'm going to get a little more work done on my face. That way, you won't have to live your life hiding in the shadows."

She was surprisingly considerate of me in that regard.

But mostly, I guessed she just wanted to get her lips done.

After all, our lips still looked exactly like our dad's.

I forced a smile, feeling a pang of sorrow for my father.

I remember when we were little, Dad used to carry us both on his shoulders, telling us we were his little princesses...

And now, his other daughter wanted to completely erase the facial features she shared with him.

I nodded. "Whatever you want."

Lily looked at me for a moment, then tossed me a set of keys.

"This is my apartment. You can stay there for now."

"Remember, until I have my footing with him, you must wear a mask every time you go outside."

I nodded obediently, then left their house.

I held the keys, but my mind dragged me back to two years ago.

When my mother found me, her demands went beyond just being Lily's stand-in for the marriage. While Lily was recovering from surgery, I also had to fulfill her lifelong dream.

To be an actress.

Lily had dreamed of being a movie star since she was a kid, but she could never get into the film academies.

She was about to give up, but when my mother saw me, she thought it was worth a shot.

If I succeeded, when Lily returned, all the glory and fame would belong to her.

If I failed, Lily wouldn't be the one taking the heat from the public.

She had absolutely nothing to lose.

I let out a self-deprecating laugh. Mia, is it really that hard to accept that your mother just doesn't love you? Maybe it wasn't that she didn't love me; she just didn't love my father.

And by extension, she hated the daughter who looked like him and chose to stay with him.

I had seen it countless times. Whenever I stood in front of her without makeup, the sheer disgust on her face was impossible to hide.

It was true. I was her ultimate shame.

When she left the house, I refused to go with her.

To her, that meant I was forever her enemy.

And Lily, who left with her, was her only true daughter.