Fake wedding 23

Chapter 2 

Ethan Carter never came home during the days I arranged Abby’s funeral. I didn’t call him either. As I carried Abby’s ashes back home, it felt like a giant hole had been carved out of 

my chest. 

Her voice, sweet and childish, echoed in my ears: “Mommy, can we go to Hawaii? Let’s ask addy to come too!” “Mommy, can we go to the amusement park this weekend?” “Mommy, can we go to Philly? Daddy promised!” 

But her voice was just a cruel phantom, a constant reminder of what I’d lost. 

I was jostled by someone on the sidewalk. “Watch it, lady!” 

But it wasn’t Abby. Abby was here, in my arms, reduced to ashes. 

Tears blurred my vision. The twelve–mile walk back to my apartment felt like a lifetime. 

I placed Abby’s urn on the table, collapsing onto the bed, letting the tears flow freely. 

Seeing Serena Nolan alive had brought a flicker of hope. Ethan’s curse, I thought, wouldn’t 

come to pass. But fate, it seemed, had other plans. My daughter was gone. 

Closing my eyes, I was transported back to the day Ethan had cursed me. It was before our 

wedding. 

I had manipulated Serena into leaving. I gave her a million dollars, bought her a plane 

ticket, and personally escorted her to the airport. 

That flight crashed. There were no survivors. 

I wanted to die, to take her place. But I couldn’t. 

Ethan had found me that day, his hands gripping my throat, his voice a strangled whisper. “Grace, why aren’t you the one dead? Why?” 

As I choked, tears blurring my vision, I whispered, “Then kill me, Ethan.” 

My voice was flat, emotionless. I meant it. I would gladly give my life for hers. 

t 

IN 

Audit. He hast tightened his grip, his voice cold and menacing. “You’re a cruel‘ weway Grace You’ll get what you deserve.” 

HOW 

But I had no choice. If I hadn’t done what I did, my stepfather and his new wife would have taken eveything my mother had worked for. 

I needed the Carters. I needed their power, their influence. I used every trick in the book to wth over Ethan’s grandfather, and eventually, Ethan agreed to marry me. 

ank, de mistook me for Serena and… well, one thing led to another. 

1 got pregnant 

And our daughter, Abby, was born with a congenital heart defect.. 

I was a neurotic mother. I didn’t let her run wild, didn’t let her do anything remotely dangerous. I barely let her cry. 

But one day, after kindergarten, she clutched at her chest, her face pale. “Mommy, it hurts… 

I can’t breathe. 

The sight of her struggling for air terrified me. We rushed to the hospital, and thankfully, she pulled through. 

But it was a temporary reprieve. One day, she just… didn’t wake up. 

It should have been me. Not my daughter. 

My phone buzzed. Pictures flashed across the screen. 

Serena, sitting on Ethan’s lap. Ethan, his eyes filled with laughter, as if transported back ten 

years 

I had tried to be a good wife these past ten years. Tried to melt his icy heart. But he remained distant, his love for Serena a constant shadow over our marriage. 

And now, everything was back to where it started. 

But Ethan didn’t know the truth. He didn’t know that it was I who had saved him all those years ago, not Serena.