POV: Ethan “Enough questions for now. She needs to rest.” Justin told me sternly. His stern warning cut through my anger, making me realize just how insensitive and selfish I was acting. I took one look at her and I felt my heart hurting on her behalf. I guess Just is right to call me a mean bastard. I’m being selfish and senseless, I should not treat her this way. I just need a few minutes alone to calm down and then I’ll talk to her. The intensity of the moment burnt in the air between us. I could still feel the heat of anger boiling inside me, but nothing could replace the overwhelming fear I had for everyone’s safety. I wanted to shake Emma, to make her see how reckless her decisions were, how they had tied us into a chaos that felt inescapable. But then I thought about it and realized that it’s not really her fault to begin with. If we are apportioning blame, there is definitely enough to go around. “I’m so sorry, Emma. I didn’t mean to break your heart all those years ago, an
POV: Ethan I woke up the next morning with my heart in my stomach and my head aching so bad. I reached out for Harper, but as usual, her side of the bed was cold and empty and I felt my heart hurting even more. How can she leave without a word, how can she move on without me so quickly?It seems like she never loved me, like she has been looking for an excuse to leave me and I just gave her one by not listening to her and sending Serena to jail. Each time I think about her, I recall the last time I’d seen her shopping for my baby’s things with her friend, Liam. I have murderous thought each time I think of the way he made her laugh, making her happy while I stood far away and just watched in silence. I was hiding from my wife while he had fun with her and makes her happy.It hurts to think about it, it hurts to realize that I still can’t go after her yet because I haven’t gotten rid of the problem. As long as I haven’t gotten rid of Serena, I can’t go after Harper. I can’t bring her
POV: Ethan I picked Emma up from the hospital, her smile brightening my bleak thoughts. She looks so much better today, there was no traces of fatigue and paleness on her face. You would never know that she was so close to dying just yesterday, you would never know that she tried to take her own life just to kill her sister.“Hey,” I said, trying to sound normal, hiding the storm swirling in my chest. She looked fragile yet strong, and I wanted to wrap her in a protective bubble. I want to tell her that it’s okay to make mistakes and I totally understand. As a matter of fact, I have forgiven her for the part she played in ruining my life and my happiness.“Ready for breakfast?” she asked, trying to make small talk, smiling so beautifully, making her look even more like my wife Harper.“Absolutely,” I replied, forcing a smile. We hopped in my car, the engine humming as we drove towards the café. She looks nervous, she kept looking out the window, smiling as we passed so many buildings
POV: Ethan “Seize that fool, take off her damn plastic mask and lock her up in my basement.” I told my guards firmly, glaring at the lady that was staring at me as if I were an idiot, laughing at no one in particular. The mask was taken off and I saw that she looked just like Serena, Eve without the cosmetics mask she was wearing. The lookalike was seized and locked in my basement, waiting to be questioned. A similar mask was found in the car that Justin and the other guard were chasing. I guess she knew we were going to try to find her, or maybe she just wanted to rest our ability and see what we are capable of. She wants to know how desperate we are to find her. So she did this to make us look like fools.She is smart, I have to give it to her. She must have sat down on her high and mighty chair, watching us run around like headless chickens in a bid to frustrate me. She knew we are after her and she put this plan together just to mess with us. She is just messing with our head, t
POV: Ethan “Where is she, Tanya, what is she planning now?” I asked her furiously when we exhausted all our resources and still couldn’t find her. She keeps toying with me and I’m tired of running around the city, looking for her. “I need her location and I need it now!” I told her firmly, leaving no room for arguments. She looks at me, scoffing at my words as if she thought i was bloody joking. “For the one hundredth time, I said I don’t know where she is, I have no idea where she lives or where she is hiding. A friend introduced me to her and I got paid for this job and this is it.” She told me, sounding tired. “If you doubt me, ask Catty about it. She would tell you exactly what I just said. I don’t know Serena, we are not friends, I’ve never seen her before Catty introduced us yesterday.” She confessed. I don’t know if she is saying the truth but I know Serena will not send someone this cute to come after me without keeping tabs on her. “You will take me to Serena, Tanya. I w
POV: Ethan As I walked deeper into the house, I could see that she is trying to remove anything that would remind her of her sister and her family. I kept walking towards the only room that seemed to look okay in this building, and that is her room. I could hear the soft music coming out of her room and I knew she was in there. I don’t want to announce my presence yet, I don’t want her to know that I have discovered her hideout and I know what she did to her family’s house.She has been hiding this house to keep me from finding out what she did to this building. She must know that seeing this house would give me a clue on how she is on the inside. Seeing this house will expose the darkness in her heart and I would see the hate and evil in her heart. Seeing this just proves what I have always known in my heart that Serena is beyond redemption.I tiptoed past her room, I don’t want her to notice that an intruder is here. I need to get a good look of the house and see if anyone else is
POV: Ethan “Why do you always let her get into your head, Ethan?The plan was simple, shoot the bitch on sight and get it over it. Why is she still alive?” Justin asks me, glaring dangerously at Serena.“Well, since you asked so nicely, let me explain.” Serena responded, placing her hand on my chest and pushing me back slowly, her eyes fixed on me as she smiled seductively at me. “You see, Ethan cannot shot me on sight because he is so damn smart. He is sure smarter than you, that’s for sure.” She smirked, caressing my chest. Justin turned off the safety pin on his gun and aimed it at her, ready to shoot. “Shoot me, Justin and we all die. Including Harper and Emma.” She let out excitedly, smiling at us. I squinted my eyes in thought, wondering what she was talking about. I’m pretty sure that she doesn’t know where Harper is, so why is she lying?“Stop bluffing, Serena and just come with us before you get shot in the fucking head. No one knows where Harper is right now, so shut the
POV: EthanShe had every opportunity to zoom off into the distance, but she didn’t. She drove slowly, looking at us through the rear view mirror and smiling mischievously. I don’t need a soothsayer to tell me that she is up to something. It seems she is waiting for a signal or waiting for someone. I don’t know what she is doing, but I’m not comfortable with her movement.“Watch her!She is up to something, don’t take your eyes off her!” I told my boys as she parked her car at the gate and came stepped down to chitchat with us as if she was our bestie, smiling like a fucking lunatic.“I have one more surprise for you guys,” she told us, smiling excitedly, almost jumping in excitement as if we are truly playing a fun game.“There are twelve bombs in this building and have been waiting for the right time to tell you about it. I have set the timer, my love, and you have ten minutes to turn them off remotely before they go off and destroy your precious Emma’s house and all the good memorie
POV: Harper The next few days were so fun and beautiful. I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to be here, hidden away from all the chaos and danger, just me and Liam. After I bared my soul, telling him how lost I felt when he left me alone, he made an effort to make up for those dark days when I felt abandoned. It was like a new beginning, and I was grateful for every moment.We played our favourite games, the underground hideout filled with echoes of laughter and playful banter. Liam had this vast collection, games I never even imagined existed. Visual games that transformed the room into a world of colour and excitement. I was completely immersed, taking my mind off everything that was outside those thick walls. It was more than just an escape, it was a new adventure. I didn't realise that this underground hideout could be so much fun until he showed me all the beautiful games he had here.Today, we had chosen to race cars. A little competition never hurt anyone, right? And of cour
POV: Harper We had breakfast together and for the first time in four days I felt like a real person with feelings. He wasn’t back to his usual cheerful self, but he still laughed at my jokes and responded to my questions, trying his best to be nice without crossing the boundaries. We talked about our duplicates, he told me that the first couple that left my office were the unlucky ones. Serena followed them to the airport and they shot the guy on the spot and kidnapped the lady thinking they were us. So if Liam hadn’t come up with this plan, if we had stepped mistakenly stepped out of his office and headed to the airport, Liam would be read by now and I’ll be at Serena’s mercy. I’ll be held hostage by her and my child will be cut out of my belly. “Do you think she knows about the others?” I asked him, scared for their sakes. I know Liam must be paying them so well for them to play this role. But I don’t think there is any amount that would be enough for them to risk their lives for
POV: Harper “Wait, what if ..”“No buts, Harper, no questions!If you want me here, it means you trust me enough to let me take care of you. And if you trust me enough to protect you, they you should believe that I would never do anything to hurt you. I will do everything I can to protect you. Do you believe that?” He asks me, looking at me. This is hard, I can’t lie to him, he’ll definitely know. “No, Liam. I don’t trust you to protect me, I don’t trust you completely, but...” “I said no buts!” He yelled angrily, walking away. He was going back to the elevator and my heart skipped a beat as I imagined myself living three more days without him or anyone else. I would freaking go crazy. “Don’t go, Liam, please,” II told him, my voice getting weaker as I struggled not to cry. I need you, Liam, and I’m willing to try. I may be scared of your feelings for me, but I’m willing to put it all aside and let you take care of me. If you want to be mad at me, please do, but just stay with me.
POV: Harper He left, just like I asked and he didn’t come back for a couple days. I felt so guilty, I can’t even go up because the elevator is locked and only opened with a special code that Liam forgot to drop for me before leaving. I’ve tried picking up the phone to call him, but it wasn’t going through. I was cut off from the outside world and It was driving me insane. Even my phone was useless to me because I didn’t have the code to access the Internet. I felt so miserable, I only had the television and some indoor games to keep me busy. I never thought I would miss the outside world so much. I have always been an indoor person, I have always been an introvert and staying indoors shouldn’t be a problem. But this right here is a huge problem to me, I could feel myself going insane and it’s not even up to one week. It’s just two days and I’m already going insane.I have no idea how long I’m expected to stay in here, but I just couldn’t do it again, not when I’m all alone in this h
POV: Liam“What the hell is wrong with you, Harper, why are you being so senseless and stubborn, is this the right time to make these demands?What the hell is wrong with you?” I asked her angrily. I can’t believe that she would chose a time like this to be stubborn and inquisitive. “You said Ethan was here, you told me you had to do terrible things just to have me. I want to know all the things you did to make you think you don’t deserve my forgiveness. I know it’s difficult to come clean, but I promise I won’t hate you more than I already do. I mean, I can’t look at you without thinking of all the things you said to me about living me from high school. The memory is forever inscribed in my head, so I suggest you get it over with and just tell me the truth already. I want to know everything before I decide if I’m going to stay here or not. So I suggest you start talking or get me the fuck out of here. I can’t trust you around me when I don’t know you are capable of. I can’t be loc
POV: LiamHarper lost her when I declared before everyone that I had gotten over her made her feel stupid. I noticed she felt bad as she found an empty seat and sat down like the rest of the ladies. The to ladies looked at us in confusion because they were meant to believe that we are a happy couple trying to leave this city to save our lives. Seeing us arguing and calling each other friends seems a bit off to them. But the didn’t dare speak about it. They kept mute and just stared at us like morons, waiting to get their next instructions. I asked Carl to go over the plans with them a few more times. And when I was sure that they understand their tasks, we let them go out of the office one after the other. The did not leave at once to avoid suspicion or draw unnecessary attention to my affairs.They stepped out of the office one after the other, getting into my car, different cars. I got different drivers to take them to the airport, using my cars to distract her. My drivers drop the
POV: LiamOur duplicates got dressed before Harper arrived. She looked at everyone in my office, looking at them as if they were aliens or something. They all dressed like her, and with some little makeup and costumes, they looked exactly like her. They even had little baby bumps, just like her. I could see the shock in her eyes, and I almost laughed at her facing expression.“Liam...What is going on here, am I hallucinating?” She asked me, her eyes fixed on the ladies as if she was in a trance. “What have you done this time, Liam, what are you up to?Did you find these women to replace me in your life, is that what this is all about?You got me dressed and brought me down here for a freaking interview?What has come over you, why are you acting so dumb and crazy?You think they can replace me in your life just because they look like me?You are being delusional, Liam. You have to accept the fact that I can never be your, and getting a girl that looks like me won’t change anything.
POV: LiamI used an alias to get back into the city and I did not inform Ethan or Kate of my presence. I fixed my meeting the day I arrived and I made sure that I finalized everything I went for on that very day, giving me enough time to focus on the real reason why I’m here. I focused on Ethan , same way he had focused on me when he visited my city. I followed him around town, taking pictures that I could use to frame him up. It was while I was following Ethan that my path crossed with Serena too. She had been tailing him since he picked up her sister from the hospital. I was informed of his decision to get Emma discharged without Serena’s approval. I noticed that Serena was following Ethan, same way I was following him. It seems we were all trying to outsmart each other, and I was winning so far because nobody else knows that I am back here in this city.I noticed that she stopped tailing Ethan and took a different route. I knew Emma was in that car and I wanted to know where Ethan
POV: LiamYeah, I know, I’m a fucking jerk and I fucking screwed things up with my best friend. It that doesn’t mean that I will get in bed with a fucking psychopath, does it?I left the house to scan the yard and see if I will find anything out of place. If she is telling the truth about that perfume and footprints outside her window, then we are in more danger than she could ever imagine. I pretended to be cool until I left the house. I didn’t panic, if I did she would panic too and this situation would escalate into something I cannot handle. I used a different car, the one parked in my garage that looks like it is out of use. It was parked there for a time like this. I needed a car that I hardly use, a car no one would think of planting a listening device or a tracking device. The moment I drove out of the house, I drove straight to my suite that is built six feet underneath my office building. It’s a secret place where I go to if I don’t want to be found. It’s actually the last