Chapter One: Just Her Like

“Are you almost done?” Lily Bashwood asked Rudney as she glanced at her watch for the fifth time in three minutes and tapped her foot against the magnolia floor of Top Taste Wine shop.

“Hey, um, could you spare me another fifteen minutes? I just need to wrap this up real quick and we will be good to go,” Rudney said.

But Lily checked the time again; if she waited on Rudney, she would not be able to catch her brother’s baseball practice, and it would really break his heart.

“Honestly, Rudney, it’s fine. We could always do this tomorrow. You don’t have to walk me to the bus station every freaking evening,” Lily tried to dissuade Rudney.

The look on his face indicated that he did not want Lily to be on her own. “I could be really fast,” Rudney pressed.

“Sorry!” Lily said stubbornly as she opened the door to the shop and walked into the street. She was not a baby that needed babysitting, and one day, she hoped that Rudney would understand that. 

Lily walked towards the bus station, whistling and humming to herself. If she got to the bus station in time, she might even see her brother before his game began.

On the other side of the road, a man with an eye patch on one eye trailed Lucy without her knowledge. He had a phone glued to his ear. 

“Yes boss, we just found her. She is just like her,” he said into the phone while still watching and following Lily.

“Get her to us right now, and do so discreetly,” the thick voice on the other end of the phone told the man. 

Lily checked her wristwatch again; three more minutes and she would be at the bus station, but as she turned towards the alley and walked alone, a sack came over her head in a swift second. Lily tried to struggle free, but it was futile as she slipped into unconsciousness almost immediately.

An hour later, Lily woke up in a spacious and luxurious living room. Agitated and confused, she turned around quickly, and realized that there were other people, strange faces in the room with her as well.

“Where am I? What am I doing here? How did I get here?” Lily said in fear. Before she could even get an answer, she leaped to her feet and faced the door, but the man who took her stood close to the door, and showed Lily a revolver.

Lily paused in her tracks. 

“What is going on here?” Lily asked with shaky breath. 

“Well, now that you are awake and back to your senses, that question can be answered,” the man who ordered that she should be taken, Don Grander spoke in a husky tone.

“You have been kidnapped,” Emily Torres, the only woman in the room informed Lily bluntly.

“Come on, Em, there is no need to be so blunt. We want her to get a hang of everything slowly, otherwise she would freak out and fuck things up,” Don Grander gently scolded Emily.

“But we do not have the time, Don! In less than a few hours, we should be presenting her, and here you are talking about grasping things slowly!” Emily stubbornly and impatiently countered.

“What is going on here?” Lily blinked in confusion. The conversation these strangers were having in front of her was scaring her to her bones. “Why was I kidnapped? What presentation are you talking about?” Lily asked frantically. 

Her heart thundered against her ribs as she felt danger looming, and her eyes kept taking quick glances at the revolver with the one-eyed man. Lily did not need to be told that he was the one who kidnapped her.

“As from this moment,” Don started, deciding to go straight to the point, “You are no longer Lily Bashwood, but my daughter, Ashley Grander, and in less than fifteen hours, you will be saying ‘I Do’ to Christopher Bridger as his bride,” Don revealed slowly.

“Hell no! I will not impersonate anyone!” Lily vehemently disagreed, but before she could even finish voicing out her disagreement, the one-eyed man raised the revolver, reminding her of where she was.

Lily swallowed hard, fear and dread engulfing her completely.

Instantly, the large TV in the living room came on. Emily who was holding the remote turned it on, and the face of a young girl was displayed on the screen. Lily stared at the image on the TV, stupefied. If she wasn’t sure about her birth, she would have sworn that she was staring at her twin sister, well, except for the hair color.

“She even has my eyes,” Lily said in a rasped breath. “But why am I impersonating her?” Lily turned to her abductors and asked.

“Because she is dead. She died a few hours ago, and she is supposed to walk down the aisle tomorrow morning,” Don explained.

Lily shook her head. “I cannot impersonate a dead person,” Lily said as tears welled up in her eyes.

“Yes, you will. I am your father from henceforth, and she, Emily, is your sweet and loving stepmother. You have only a few hours to get into Ashley’s character, okay?” Don said.

Lily began to weep. “You cannot do this to me. I have a family and a life already, please let me go!” Lily begged.

“Uh, working as a server at a wine shop is not a life, darling,” Emily said in irritation. “And we are certain that Joe will be just fine if you play by the rules.”

Lily looked at them in shock. It was obvious they knew everything about her. She was doomed!

“Listen, this is just a marriage contract of one year. Play along and by this time next year, you are a free woman. Plus, we are willing to be a little generous to you in addition to the contract. That way, you can easily pay for Joe’s baseball practices without the hassles,” Don said with a glint of dread in his eyes.

Lily dared to ask, “And if I refuse?”

“Your only family, Joe would be kidnapped just as easily as we were able to get you, he will be killed and his body will be sent to you as a souvenir,” Don threatened.

Lily knew it was not an empty threat. With both resolve and regret, Lily asked, “What do you need me to do?”