Falling for a Stand-In

I sat in Reuben's car as he took me to his place. Mom had insisted that I wasn't to set foot in her home at all.

Reuben rubbed my head and said comfortingly, "Don't let this get to you. Mom doesn't mean it like that."

"It's only right for her to blame me," I said calmly. My thoughts drifted to five years ago.

It was a snowy night, and Dad had been on his way home after a work meeting. I'd clamored about wanting him to buy me ravioli from a restaurant on the opposite bank. As he'd crossed the bridge to get there, he'd missed a patch of ice and slipped and fallen into the water.

His body was only recovered the following day, and he'd frozen over completely. He was as stiff as a board.

Mom had always favored Reuben over me, so this incident made her hate me to the core. From then on, she'd severed ties with me and disowned me.

I turned to look out the window at the scenery zipping past. I sighed, and my breath fogged up a small patch on the glass.

…

I hid in Reuben's place in the suburbs for a peaceful month. Then, one day, my peace was interrupted by a phone call from Marcus. He'd searched Jaldon for me but had failed to find me, and he sounded anxious.

I thought he was calling to beg for my forgiveness after realizing his mistakes, so I sent him my location. To my surprise, he merely said coldly, "I'm just calling to tell you that I've transferred the company shares under your name to Janae. I'll send you the agreement, so sign it."

Just then, the doorbell rang. Sure enough, I received the agreement that had been couriered to me.

"I've already announced this during a board meeting, so don't make things hard for me." Marcus hung up after that, seemingly sure that I wouldn't say no to him.

Pain shot through me, starting from my stomach, and I bolted to the bathroom to cough up mouthfuls of blood.

I endured the discomfort and pain as I threw on a coat and hurried to the company. Marcus and I had put our heart and soul into it—it was a symbol of our love.

I couldn't sit by and watch as the company I'd built from scratch turned into a tool for my stand-in to prove Marcus' love for her.

I headed to my office as the employees stared at me like I was a stranger. A wave of bitterness washed over me when I saw that. Once upon a time, this place had been my turf.

I pushed open the door to see Janae sitting inside with a wide smile. She seemed to have been waiting for me.

"You look like a stray dog now, Renee. So what if I'm a stand-in? I'm the one Marcus loves now, and you are nothing. You're not even worthy of being my stand-in now!" she said.

I stood there dazedly and looked around the familiar room, feeling like my heart was bleeding. Then, I heard Marcus' voice in the distance—he was shouting and warning me not to do anything to hurt Janae.

As I watched, Janae pushed everything on the desk onto the floor and summoned her tears out of nowhere.

Marcus shoved me aside and helped Janae up before turning to look at me with disdain. "You're truly something, Renee. How dare you come here to cause a scene! No wonder your mother hates you, and no wonder you cursed your father to death! No wonder you have nowhere to go!

"You're so ruthless and evil that anyone who gets close to you will meet a horrible end!"

I didn't even realize I was doing it, but I started laughing as I took in the situation. At the same time, tears flowed down my face.

Once upon a time, the source of my sorrow had also brought Marcus to tears. Yet now, he'd turned my pain into a blade that he stabbed me in the heart with.

In that instant, I swore to make him hurt. I would haunt him even after my death! I would make him regret everything he'd done to me!