I waited until he was gone before releasing the breath I had been holding. My body tensed as Duke’s eyes landed on me again.

His gaze searched mine, scanning my face as if he were trying to decipher a puzzle.

I forced a soft smile. "It really was just a misunderstanding."

A long beat of silence.

And then, finally, Duke sighed. "Be more careful next time."

I nodded, my heart still hammering as he turned and walked away.

It wasn’t the first time I had to lie my way out of a situation like this.

And it sure as hell wouldn’t be the last.

Because I wasn’t Britney Arkinson.

I was Mia. Her twin sister.

And I was living her life.

Britney Arkinson should have been standing here. She should have been the one preparing to marry Duke, smiling at socialites, playing the perfect stepmother.

But Britney was in a coma.

She had been for months, hidden away in a private hospital under our father’s care. And me? I was the replacement.

At first, I fought against it.

I wasn’t like her. Britney was delicate, graceful, obedient. I was wild, reckless, untamed. A woman like me had no place in Duke Trayson’s world.

But my father had made it clear.

"You have to keep pretending, Mia."

After a few days, I had stormed into Britney’s hospital room the moment I got the text.

Come to the hospital. There’s good news… and bad news.

When I saw her awake, her frail body propped against crisp white pillows, my heart soared.

Finally. Finally, I could stop this nightmare.

But then, my father had pulled me aside, his expression unreadable.

“She doesn’t remember anything,” he said, his voice cold and firm.

My blood ran cold. "What?!"

“She has amnesia.”

I took a staggering step back. "No. No way."

"The wedding is in two weeks," he continued, his gaze pinning me in place. "Duke Trayson is the only thing keeping us from bankruptcy. If this marriage doesn’t happen, we lose everything."

I wanted to scream.

To run.

To burn everything to the ground.

But the look in his eyes told me I had no choice.

And now, here I was.

Standing in a grand cathedral, drowning in lace and pearls, walking down an aisle toward a man who thought I was someone else.

The scent of fresh roses filled the air, thick and suffocating. Hundreds of eyes were on me, watching, waiting.

Duke stood at the altar, his broad shoulders rigid, his icy blue gaze locked onto mine.

He looked… perfect. Too perfect.

And I hated that my heart reacted to him.