Chapter 1: The Interview

I sold my name, my face, and two years of my life for half a million dollars—all to take care of my brother’s blind fiancée, pretending to be him.

The day she got her sight back, I disappeared. No note, no goodbye.

Now, years later, our paths crash together in the glass-and-steel heart of Manhattan. Outside, yellow cabs honked and steam curled from subway grates. Inside, the air conditioning fought a losing battle against the August heat as I waited for the interview to start.

She was no longer the fragile girl I’d left behind. Lillian Morgan had reclaimed her place as the Morgan family’s eldest daughter and now ran the company empire. I was just a rookie reporter, notebook trembling in my hand.

During the interview, a reporter piped up, "I heard that during your illness, thanks to your fiancé Mr. Carter’s unwavering care, you two have some good news to share?"

Lillian’s lips curved into a subtle, enigmatic smile. She raised her hand, letting the room catch the gleam of her ring. "Yes, he and I are about to get engaged."

But her gaze, whether by accident or design, found me in the back corner. The air in the conference room felt thick with unspoken history. Every rustle of a notepad or creak of a chair seemed impossibly loud as the past slammed into the present. My heart hammered—steady, relentless, impossible to ignore.