"People with weaknesses get killed by the people who lack them. Notice I'm not dead."
Sherrilyn Kenyon"Quynn Hudson, I am Anna Wilson, I am Eli Wilson's fiancée and in five weeks I will be his wife," she says the Wilson name with much emphasis on the Wilson as if it was supposed to mean something to me.
Wilson; does that name sound familiar? I wonder to myself before coming up short. No, it doesn't. Well, is it supposed to? Also no.
At least the stranger finally put a name to herself, I've been calling her Lucifer's younger sister since I saw her more than half an hour ago.
She then takes the next hour briefly introducing herself, Family, background, work and things I didn't find interesting to know.
She's not my lost twin because according to everything she just said, she knows her birth parents and they are still alive the last time she spoke to them. The reason we look so much alike and sound a bit alike as well is purely coincidental.
"I'm very sure you didn't go through all the stress this past month just to introduce yourself, family and work to me." I groan out, completely bored from her aimless lecture.
Something in my gut tells me she's not here to get justice for Ade's death or help Sharon. She's here on a different agenda and she's going use me to get it.
She coldly stares at me but just like before, she ignores and continues to speak, "I have come here with a proposal for you. I will need you to take my place and the role of Ms Wilson, Eli Wilson's fiancée."
My ears ring in bewilderment, and after proper digestion of what she just proposed, I realized it is completely impossible and therefore a death sentence.
I raise my hands in confusion, "You want me to be you." I ask, my voice beyond astonished.
"Yes," she answers putting out the smoke in her cigar and this is the second time she's smoked in the last hour.
My eyes flutter close as I take another moment to process this messed up situation. "I can't do that. We may look alike, but we are not the same and your fiancé of all people will know that."
They may have been engaged for only two months, but I am sure they have gotten to know each other well over the many months they've dated and no way I can replace that feeling. Eli might probably know her better than she knows herself and he if he doesn't, why was he marrying her?!
"He will, they all will if you don't play your part well in the days you will be my replacement."
My brow rises and my heart begins to beat faster, "Days? How many days are we talking about?"
"For the next twenty-one days."
"Twenty-one days?" I echo and my eyes widen, "that's three weeks!" I get up from my seat and move to the kitchen to grab a bottle of whiskey and a cup from the counter. I don't drink in the morning, but it's too early for all this. "You want me to be your replacement for three weeks and your fiancé of all people is not supposed to find this out. He's not an idiot is he?"
From her introduction about herself, she seems to be surrounded by a lot of people, and that makes her proposal a suicide mission. I can't fool everyone and if I'm caught, it would be said that I stole her identity and I could go to jail. There are always "what-ifs" in these kinds of arrangement.
She glares at me, I suppose because I called her fiance an idiot and she speaks, "I know that's not going to happen because we are already alike in so many ways and also because one of your very special skill is impersonating people."
At this moment I just want to bury myself and never come out. She may have done her homework about me, but she has no idea that there is a difference between doing an impression of someone's gesture and behaviour pattern and becoming that person.
Luke had tried to convince me several times about putting my ability to impersonate other people's actions, gesture and voice at the same pace into use. I used to do that when I was younger, but Ade (rest his in hell) wasn't a huge fan of the skill and told me it sounded stupid and just like my dream of being an astronaut, it went down the toilet. Since then, I didn't try mimicking anyone until the first week after I started working when we were at the vending machine and Luke's money got stuck and groaning he threw a punch to the machine only to wince out in pain and cuss out an "Oh that fucking hurts!" I cracked up laughing and I repeated his words after him, mimicking his words with the same tone, depth and frustration he had said it.
Luke who was impressed beyond reasonable doubt told Jake, Kanayo and Obi a few of our colleagues at work who were ready to experiment with my so-called talent.
After I began charging them for each impression I did, they stop bugging me to be their clown.
"It doesn't work the way you're thinking, lady," I say through gritted teeth, trying not to snap at her for her crazy assumption as I pour the whiskey into a cup.
"So Kanayo lied then?" she demands with a raised brow and though my mouth opens, no word comes out.
I blink, "No, but doing an impression of someone for five seconds is completely different from becoming someone for three weeks, I could go to jail." I growl in frustration and empty it into my mouth.
Pointing out the things that might go wrong doesn't help because she already had her mind set.
"Listen, I know this might be a little uncomfortable for you, but you have no choice in this matter, so I'd advise you to figure your way around it and come to the acceptance that it is happening."
My lips quiver and tears well up in my eyes and I blink them back. No, I can't cry, not here, not now. I walk up to the dining and take a seat.
"You probably think I'm a monster, maybe I am, but at this point, I don't care I'm just interested in meeting my goal." she pushes the file beside her towards me and I glance down at it before raising my brow and staring back at her.
"What is this?"
"That is the document that contains, the calendar of the 21 days you will be my replacement, a brief break down of my work, family, background and the sample contract of our agreement which states that if you can complete your task of replacing me for the three weeks without being caught, I will pay you fifty thousand dollars with the money you can be able to start something for yourself when this is over."
I chuckle at the audacity of this woman, "You're trying to buy my head with your crazy plan so I will be obliged to do your bidding." I blurt out accusation in my voice.
"No, you will do my bidding," she states with so much certainty. "the money is just my way of trying to compensate you for the trouble you will face."
Motherfucker! I seethe inwardly.
"Helping me? I do not need financial help from you, I just want you out of my life." I groan, saying the last past more to myself than to her.
"You do, according to Luke you have been hoping to establish your bakery business and this is one way to ensure that that happens."
I only told Luke that because he was my friend and I never told anyone else. This woman has everything planned out and will fit me into the plan one way or another.
"You believe that money can buy everything, don't you." I snort before closing my eyes and taking the whiskey bottle to my mouth this time.
She pulls off her glove to display the diamond rock on her finger and it is almost blinding, and I know for a fact that whoever she's marrying is very rich, but that's not my concern. "Yes I do and if your money can't solve your problem, then you don't have enough money," she says, a smug look coming to stay on her face.
I shake my head and push the document back to her, "I don't want your money, taking your money would be making us even and I want to keep hating you for as long as I can."
She finally gets up to her feet, holding firmly to her black purse with her right hand, not reaching for the sample contract like she's supposed to.
"Keep the contract and thoroughly go through it. It would be better for you. The terms are negotiable, I will be back tomorrow to finalise this and begin your one-week training and if you even dare try to cross me. I have eyes on you on every corner." The threat in her voice is a believable one too and I swallow hard.
She gets to the door and as she takes the doorknob to open the door I speak up, "I have never met you before and I'm so sure that I've never offended you before so why are you doing this to me?"
"Because I can." She says curtly.
The door closes behind her and I scream loud, kicking at the chair at the dining angrily and pushing the flower vase on the table away, it falls and breaks into tiny pieces.
After leaving Ade six months ago, I told myself no one would control my life or decisions from then on, but here I am at the fingertips tips of Anna and my actions being controlled by her. How did I get into this mess?
By stealing my ex money while leaving him and that led to his untimely demise.
I didn't want to take a look at the documents that Lucifer's younger sister left behind and insisted I take a look at it, but I didn't have much of a choice in the matter. Whether I like it or not I am going to do her bidding, it is only better I take a look at the terms stated in the document. Anna stated before leaving, that the term and offers could still be adjusted, so reading over the sample contract will help me know what I need to know and negotiate the parts I am not comfortable with.
I stopped drinking because I needed a clear head to read and understand the papers before me.
For the rest of the day, I was trapped reading all the documents she brought; firstly at the documents consisting of #31 rules of Ms Wilson's replacement which has a lot of dos and don'ts.
Then the file consisting of pictures with names, backgrounds, ages and the roles everyone played of which I was supposed to know, including Anna's fiancé, Eli Wilson, whom according to these document is partially blind. It states here that though engaged since two months now, Anna and Eli have been staying in their separate homes and Anna has only been visiting during weekends which were Fridays through Sundays.
Reading this makes me feel a little better because this reduced the risk of me being caught. After all, we are not always going to be together.
According to the document Anna was born; Anna Jocelyn Wilson to Maria Wilson and Agada Wilson, she left home when she was sixteen and hasn't gone back. She got engaged six months ago and fortunately for her, she's marrying a man that shares her last name and wouldn't be needing any changes. There was not much said about Anna's parents just that she didn't communicate with them often and that thought doesn't sit well with me, I know that might be for my own good. Then I moved to the file about her work which has a breakdown and brief introduction of those she works with at the A&W clothing as well as their various duties.
Lastly is the sample contract that had a lot of terms and conditions as well as the role I had to play as Ms Wilson. It also had a calendar that had the activities of every day for the 21 days I will be her replacement scheduled, as well as the pictures of what I'll be wearing during those days.
It's been three hours since I started reading this contract and I am now on page sixteen of twenty-five and that is a huge achievement, I have also taken out my jotter and pen to cross out the important parts and also parts that I was uncomfortable with and providing suggestions that I believed were suitable.
The doorbell goes off and I scramble up only to wince as my head begins to hammer massively as a result of the sudden movement coupled with having my eyes glued to the document for the past eight hours. I walk- more like drag myself to the door and open it and there stand Luke with two can of Monster and a box of pizza and most importantly, a broad smile on his face.
"I know I didn't call, I had to come and check up on you and I brought these because I know how much you hate me coming over without bringing food." He holds up the pizza and the two cans to further prove his words.
I grin at him and pull him inside before closing the door.
After spending over three hours with me he takes his leave, I spend the next thirty minutes going over the remaining four pages of the sample contract and once I finish with that one, I make my way over to bed feeling accomplished.
¶
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"Note to the wise: whenever someone insists that he wants to buy something from you, but tells you there’s no real value in it yet, two things are happening: he’s lying, and you’re being taken."~Michael A. StackpoleThe doorbell rings and I groan and get up from the couch where I'd fallen asleep in last night after Luke left. My head is pounding just like it did last night when Luke came to visit. After falling asleep last night, I woke up to remind myself that Ade was dead and I was responsible for it. I wanted Ade to die, for what he did to me, but that was just because of the anger I felt in that moment and really didn't want that. But as much as I tried to push it off, I couldn't, I was guilty and yet unable to do anything, but wallow in my pain and grief of my reality and that kept me up for another four hours before I finally slept.I need painkillers more than ever.
"There is a price to pay for speaking the truth. There is a bigger price for living a lie."~Cornel WestTen hours laterI open the door of my bedroom and throw myself onto the head burying my face as far into the pillow as I possibly can. Anna took me to one of her beautiful resident the penthouse which she acquired not very long ago which had lots of room and space where she and I were the only ones present. I thought my legs were going to give up on me after the intense seven hours training I took on how to walk on heels, a characteristic that Anna told me she is most famous for. I also got taught the gestures and the manner of approaches which Anna uses from her greetings to her casual commentary and flirts with Eli, all the while walking around in a four-inch heel. There were small breaks in-between the training and we ate the food Anna had brought along. She sa
"When I turn the lights out, when I close my eyes, reality overcomes me, I'm living a lie."~Avril LavigneFour days later"By now I hope you've known the faces of all those in the file I brought because you will be associated with them these three weeks you will be replacing me. Since there are the weeks before my wedding, there are a few people you need to know because they are important, others you can just excuse yourself by blaming it on the stress of running around and making preparation for the wedding." when she finishes, she's already down the stairs and walking towards me.Anna hasn't always been present during my training in the last few days, some days I had to follow videos tapes which she made talking about fashion, work and her life and also handwritten instructions, but I persisted in learning, not for her, but myself because that's all I'
"What's the whole point of being pretty on the outside when you’re so ugly on the inside?"Jess C. ScottI stand staring off into space for a long while that I don't hear the car honking beside me."Ms Wilson! Ms Wilson!!" a deep voice calls out from beside me and I begin to wonder how my life is going to be in the next three weeks as Ms Wilson. Oh, Ms Wilson..., that's me.I snap out of my thought and quickly turn to see the driver standing beside the car and looking at me. He gets down from the car and comes over to the back seat and opens it, waiting for me to come and enter into the car.This is Gabriel, this is the driver that takes Eli everywhere and occasionally drives Anna. I saw his picture amongst the pictures Anna brought over a week ago and after memorising his face for more than a hundred times, I can identify that dark-skinned, mi
THERE WAS A MIX UP IN CHAPTER 10 AND 8, I HAVE FIXED IT, BUT THE ONLY WAY TO SEE IT IS TO REMOVE THIS BOOK AND ADD BACK INTO YOUR LIBRARY."Always sleep with one eye open. Never take anything for granted. Your best friends might just be your enemies."~Sara ShepardTwo days later...Since the first night of my return, I haven't seen any trace of Eli and I should be happy right? But I'm not instead I am terrified!Anna told me how Eli work was 24/7 and sometimes slept at the office which I understood before everything started, but a part of me wonders if he's away because he sensed something was different with me- the Anna he met that night. I can't shake off the thought and it has been giving me a hard time and barely making me think straight and my panic is almost every hour. I remember him pausing after
"People wears a mask of lie so they look attractive, so be careful"~Muhammad SaqibGetting ready for work wasn't very difficult, if anything I was eager to get out of the house so I don't end up seeing Eli, I open the drawer and pulled out the calendar on it which had the schedule and duties of each day's carefully written in it. Unlike the weekends that its dos and don'ts are blank, the weekdays had a lot of activities lined up in them. Monday had; Work, and Spa with Loo on the calendar and the closing hours and hours to spend at the spa. I close the file and slide it into the document folder before dropping it inside the bag I am to take to work. I was instructed to never allow anyone sees these document and since I am going to be at Anna's place till Friday and already knew the term of the contract, it was only best to take them to her place and only use them there. I would be taking the calendar
"Love cures people—both the one's who give it and the ones who receive it."~Karl MenningerI don't know which is more shocking, that Eli is standing in my room, or that he heard me get frisky and moaning while in the bathroom early, or that I am currently standing naked before him.I haven't seen him since the night and because the light wasn't the brightest in the room when he came, I was barely able to make out his face and now standing before me, the last thing I want to do now is to look away from him. Firstly because that would mean that I am conscious of being seen naked by him, (which happens to be true,) but Anna wouldn't be because he is her fiancé so no need to be ashamed. And secondly, because Anna was wrong, he isn't a bit different from the picture I have, he's very different from the nerdy-looking man, I've stared at during my week of training. This one ha
"Never love something so much that you can't let go of it."~Ginni RomettyKeeping to the promise which I made Eli yesterday, I step out of the house at exactly 6:40 pm, wearing the long silk gown that holds on to me as though their life depended on it and my curves are out and because of the much detail it reveals, I decide to throw on one of Anna's white veil on my shoulder.The gown was one of the few exceptional outfits on the calendar and Anna chose them for just-in-case events and this dinner date is one of those events.I advance Eli gracefully—more like gently because the last thing I want is to fall on my face while Eli waits beside the car for me, and carefully watches my every move.He's wearing a black long sleeve with a pair of black, well-ironed trousers and a pair
"There are many who don't wish to sleep for fear of nightmares. Sadly, there are many who don't wish to wake for the same fear."Richelle Goodrich~ Third POV Quynn's eyes open and in the first few seconds, everything around her is a white picture, but as the seconds pass, the blurriness clears and she realised that she's in a white painted room. There is a window to the side, which somehow the sun manages to penetrate through even with the curtain acting as a barrier. The sunlight as well as the brightness makes her eyes sting and she wince and shuts them for a while and she mentally tries to adjust to this alternate reality. She cannot remember the last thing that happens and she tries to carefully rethink and understand her situation better. After coming up fuzzy and blank, she sighs in defeat and her eyes open again but unlike t
"The truth hurts. And much more than love, kindness, or any of these warm feelings you’re so fond of, truth is beauty, and the thing that will set you free."A.D. Aliwat I follow behind her like a sheep being led to the slaughter without a word to say and she lead me to one of the three cars parked at the entrance of the hotel which was a Toyota. This is the end, this is my end, the end I have dreaded since the beginning of this mess. My whole body trembles and cold grips me to the core and I am panicking and dreadful of what lies ahead. My eyes grow blurry but I blink them back because tears are the last things that I need right now. My breath grows laboured and hard and my quivering hands become sweaty as she hands me the keys to the car and I confusedly collect it. "You're going to drive this car to the Chapel where Eli still is and you're going to go to him and
"There is an ocean of silence between us… and I am drowning in it." ~Ranata SuzukiShe's wearing a red blouse, a black pencil skirt and a red bag, her curly hair neatly tied into a bun and her face holding little to no makeup on it.My heart drops and panic rises within me as my eyes meet hers and she sees it too because she scoffs and enters further into the room even without being invited, carrying the same arrogance and loathe she always had around me.Why is she here? Is she following me? How's the wedding? Shit, she was uninvited to the wedding.What does she want? Because this isn't keeping a low key like Anna instructed or wanted. Someone has discovered my hiding place and I fear for the worst."What are you doing here?" I demand and slowly I turn to look at her, my voice fighting to stay firm. "How did you find me?"
"When it's gone, you'll know what a gift love was. You'll suffer like this. So go back and fight to keep it."Ian McEwan~Quynn POV A few days ago I would have been happier with the news of the finding of my bag because that meant I could get my phone and most likely get in touch with Anna, but I have called the number given to me by the stranger earlier and it there was no answer.If all was okay with Anna why didn't she come for the switch? Why isn't she here planning her own wedding? Is she even looking forward to her wedding? If yes, why is she MIA on this very important week?Questions that can't be answered run through my head and I shake them out to retain composure and I make downstairs to meet Eli after I heard the sound of his car in the driveway. The front door opens and he steps into the parlour he's wearing a grey long sleeve
"The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off."~Joe KlaasEli's POV Amade said he would be in my office as soon as he finishes with his assignments as well and when I told him that Anna gave us permission for the bachelor party, he was thrilled and promised that it would be a blast then I told him Anna was going to have his head on a stake if he didn't bring me back home in one piece. That wasn't what Anna said but I'd like my use of words for better emphasis.I am almost done with the last document when the door opens and Keffi walks into the office.She's wearing a green blouse and a plain black trousers, her hair is in a pony tail and her face having her usual natural make-up with a red lipstick sealing the deal. She looks like she's going out on a date and whoever the man is, good for him.Keffi has alw
"If you come from a family where there is no struggle to outshine one another, give thanks to God."~Michael Bassey JohnsonQuynn's POVI feel like everything is falling apart before my very eyes and I cannot help pacing around and thinking about what I just did and said back there. I have no idea what in God's name came over me. Jumai has never been a fan of Anna and it wasn't news, but I should have held it together at least for Eli's sake. Now, I succeeded in proving what Jumai have always said about me is true pacing beside the car and when she sees me. I see Eli approaching me and I stops and walks up to him with apologetic eyes."I'm sorry I said all that to your mom, I just lost it and I don't make the wisest choices in my moments of anger. Just lately things are not going the way I expected and I'm losing it and I didn't mean for you to see that s
"Perhaps one did not want to be loved so much as to be understood."~George OrwellColdness breaks out onto my skin and my throat runs dry as I stare at Anna's parents in awe. "You are not our Anna.""How did you know?" my brow narrowing is the only expression my face gives even though I am tumbling on the inside.Maria steps forward and gently takes my hand, "We were Anna's parent for fifteen years and we could tell you weren't her the minute you spoke. And indeed it has been long, but we raised Anna and we know what's unlike her. We believe that you are Cara Wilson our long lost daughter." Her eyes are glassy and filled with much hope and happiness.I turn to look at Eli who is far away and unable to hear what we're saying, "Then why didn't you say anything?""Because it doesn't look like you have a choice in wha
"The truth is rarely pure and never simple."~Oscar Wilde"What?""Your mother was pregnant we went to the hospital for delivery but unlike the ultrasound predicted, we ended up with two babies. When the doctors came to me with the news I was happy and joyful we have been trying to have kids for years," he laces his finger in Maria's as he speaks. "Your mother went into coma after delivery and so we couldn't leave after the both of you were born, so you were kept on the hospital's new born baby's ward. I went to visit you guys everyday that your mother was in that coma and that was the most painful and joyous moment of my life. I was happy that you two were in our lives, but the doctor's couldn't ascertain that your mother was going to come out of the coma and I couldn't raise you two alone."The fourth day of my visit, I saw a man in the baby's ward, holding onto your
"The fear of missing out was a powerful deterrent." ~John CarreyrouQuynn's POVI didn't think I was going to find them, Anna biological parents without having to search the whole town. Eli suggestion to meet Anna's parents was the worse idea ever and yes it would have been a reasonable suggestion if he was giving it to Anna but he wasn't and I was trapped with saying no and making him more suspicious of me and saying yes and throwing myself under the bus.Since the night he brought me home he has been very careful and suspicious and I can't blame him, it's was all Anna's fault and every day I can't help cursing her for ruining my life. This week is a week I didn't plan for and I feel like I'm leaving on borrowed time and I can't even pray that this end with me being free, that was last week prayer and God answered that