Four miscarriages for the last years. But this morning, I stared at the pregnancy test and saw two pink lines. I cried until my throat ached. I pressed the test to my chest and whispered, “Please stay. Please stay with me.”

I wiped my tears, stood up, and started planning how I’d surprise my husband tonight, especially that it was also our anniversary and he prepared a dinner for us. We have been waiting for this baby!

But then a notification popped up on my phone. A charge from our shared credit card. It was 2 million dollars from Tiffany Co.

A smile tugged at my lips. Maybe he bought me a necklace for our anniversary. Maybe he’s finally planning something romantic again and forgot that we shared the credit card.

I grabbed my bag, fixed my hair, and rushed out. I can’t wait to see his face once he finds out about our baby.

But fate decided to surprise me first.

Halfway down the street, right behind the jewelry boutique, I saw him. Lewis. Standing outside, holding a tiny black velvet box—a necklace.

And standing in front of him…

Victoria. My adopted sister… whom I haven’t seen since four years ago because she was busy traveling the world due to her work.

At first, my brain tried to give them innocent explanations.

Maybe he’s helping her choose something for me. Maybe they wanted to surprise me with that necklace.

But then Lewis opened the box. Victoria gasped softly, touching her chest. Then Lewis leaned closer. Too close. I want to give them the benefit of the doubt, maybe just a brotherly kiss since they always have been close, but then Victoria kissed him on the lips, and they both laughed at each other.

The world blurred. My ears rang. My knees weakened, and for a moment, I thought I was actually fainting.

Lewis… my husband…

Victoria… my sister…

I stumbled back as quietly as I could, swallowing the scream rising in my throat. My vision tunneled as I forced myself into a cab and went straight home. I didn’t cry. I couldn’t. I felt hollow, like someone scooped out my insides and left only air where my heart should be.

That night, my phone buzzed.

Lewis:

Love, I’m so sorry. I’m swamped. We’ll celebrate tomorrow instead. I promise.

Tomorrow?

After kissing my sister today?

I turned my phone face-down and crawled under the blanket. I didn’t reply.

The next morning—the day our anniversary dinner was supposedly moved to—I didn’t prepare. I didn’t shower, didn’t dress up, didn’t even brush my hair. I just curled up on the couch in my pajamas, knees to my chest, staring at absolutely nothing.

Every time I blinked, I saw it again. Lewis and Victoria kissing like a happy couple.

My chest tightened until it hurt. A quiet sob escaped, then another, until I was crying so hard I couldn’t breathe. I pressed both hands over my mouth, trying to muffle the sound, but it didn’t stop. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know what to believe. I just knew my world had cracked open, and I was falling through it alone.

My phone buzzed.

Then again.

And again.

I didn’t move.

Lewis:

Nadine? Where are you?

Another message.

Lewis:

Love, please answer me.

Then another.

Lewis:

I’m getting worried. You’re not at the restaurant. What’s going on?

And then:

Lewis:

I prepared a surprise for you. Please don’t disappear on me like this.

A fresh sob tore out of me.

Surprise. Yes. I got my surprise yesterday.

I squeezed my eyes shut, letting the tears fall until my throat felt raw. I didn’t have the strength to respond. I didn’t want to hear another lie. I didn’t want him to twist the truth or play innocent.

So I stayed where I was—broken, silent, and pretending I didn’t see his calls.

Until later, when the door finally opened.

And Lewis walked in, face stormy with concern.

“Nadine! What happened?” he rushed over. “Why weren’t you at the restaurant? I said we’re supposed to have a date. Are you… are you mad because it got canceled on our anniversary yesterday? I’m making it up to you now—”

My hand moved before I thought.

SLAP.

His head snapped to the side.

“You’re a liar,” I whispered, my voice cracking. “A disgusting liar.”

Lewis’s eyes widened. “What? Me? A liar? What are you talking about?”

“Where were you yesterday?” I asked, tears finally burning behind my eyes.

“In the office!” he insisted. “Where else would I be? Why—?”

“Stop lying,” I choked out. “Where is the necklace you bought?”

He froze. Just for a second. But it was enough.

My heart clenched. “Lewis. I saw you. I saw you with Victoria.”

Confusion filled his face—too perfect. Too practiced.

Then his expression shifted.

A quiet exhale.

A dramatic sigh.

“Okay,” he murmured. “I’m sorry for lying.”

My chest tightened.

“But… Nadine… that wasn’t me.”

I blinked. “What?”

“It wasn’t me you saw,” he explained softly. “It was Maxon.”

“…Maxon?” I frowned. “Your twin brother? Lewis… he drowned. Years ago.”

“I thought so, too. We all did,” he said quickly. “But he survived. Lost his memories. He came back weeks ago. I didn’t know how to tell you because I wanted it to be special. He met Victoria by accident and… they’re dating now. We planned to surprise you yesterday but I got busy with work, and was supposed to be today but you didn’t come to the restaurant.”

I stared at him.

“So… it wasn’t you?” I whispered.

“Of course not,” he laughed shakily, pulling me into his arms. “I would never hurt you. I love you so much.”

My arms remained stiff at my sides, but he didn’t seem to notice.

A moment later, the front door opened.

“Hey,” a voice said.

I turned. And there he was. Maxon—Lewis’s identical twin you won’t even know the difference—standing beside Victoria.

They waved awkwardly.

Something in my chest twisted painfully.

Lewis kissed the top of my head. “See? Everything’s fine now.”

But something wasn’t.

That night, Lewis thought I was asleep.

I wasn’t. I heard him in the hallway, voice low, smug.

“Come on, twin brother,” he said on the phone, chuckling. “She’s stupid enough not to know we switch places, and even foolish not to know I was the one killing our child so she had miscarriages for the last years.”

“Come on, twin brother,” he said on the phone, chuckling. “She’s stupid enough not to know we switch places, and even foolish not to know I was the one killing our child so she had miscarriages for the last years.”

My entire body went cold.

Killing… Our child? That four miscarriages weren’t an accident?

I almost collapsed right there even though I was lying in bed.

On the other end of the call, a familiar voice—the real Lewis—laughed. A sharp, dismissive sound that sliced through whatever remained of my heart.

“Well, Nadine’s always been clueless since we were young,” he said. “Let her be.”

Maxon continued casually, as if discussing the weather: “Are you sure you won’t regret leaving her to me? You used to love her.”

The real Lewis snorted. “Honestly? No. I only wanted her back then because you wanted her. I just wanted to beat you. But now that she chose me—damn.” He clicked his tongue.

“I don’t even like her. It’s always been Victoria. And it’s no fun when I beat you, you know. I’ve always loved Victoria, and so I even faked my death just to chase her because surely grandma wouldn’t agree if I left her. But it’s a win-win now because you have her… and you owe me.”

My stomach twisted so violently I had to grip the sheets to stay grounded.

“Well, then, if she gets pregnant this time, I will not allow you to kill the baby! We’ve been killing it for the last four years, and I want a child with her now!”

Lewis replied, “Sure. Nadine’s pregnant already with our child. The only reason I was killing her child ‘cause Victoria doesn’t want me to have a child with Nadine before her. She didn’t even know the child has always been yours. So, yeah, it’s all on you, too. From now, do whatever you want with the child.”

A broken sound escaped me before I could stop it.

Four miscarriages. All because of them.

Maxon—pretending to be Lewis—laughed softly. “Then leave her to me. She won’t ever know her most hated twin brother is the one warming her bed. This is her punishment for rejecting me back then over you. Now, she would never be able to leave my side.”

I slapped a hand over my mouth again, tears already blurring my sight.

I always fought with Maxon. We clashed about everything. He was the playboy. The troublemaker. The boy who pushed my buttons until I screamed.

But never—not once—did I imagine he would do this to me.

Maxon continued on the phone: “By the way, Grandma wants us home for her birthday. She warmed up fast when she heard you—well, Maxon, came back from the dead. Can’t believe it. She always hated me and said would not even give me my inheritance!”

Lewis snorted. “Of course she did. After all, she’d been missing Maxon when she thought you died. But for Lewis, she’s going to hand me the company. For that party, I’ll be Lewis. We keep switching. Family matters—we play our parts. But when it comes to the sisters, we switch depending on the situation but I should always be with Victoria. Victoria hates it when I’m with Nadine.”

They both laughed. My vision swam. I just didn’t know what else to do. How could they do this to me?

A tear slipped down my cheek. Then another and another.

Just then, I felt arms wrap around me from behind as the bed moved.

Warm. Familiar. The scent of Lewis’s cologne. Except it wasn’t Lewis.

It was Maxon pressing his chest against my back.

“Love?” he murmured. ”I love you.”

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying not to sob. Trying not to scream. Trying not to break right there.

I used to think our story began the day Lewis told me he loved me. But the truth was… it began long before that.

We were childhood friends—me and the twin boys, Lewis and Maxon—because our parents were inseparable. Business partners. Vacation buddies. The type of adults who talked about raising their kids side-by-side the way other people talked about backyard gardens.

I practically grew up at their beach house.

I remembered those summers so clearly it hurt. Lewis smiling shyly at me, always the gentler twin, offering me seashells as if they were precious diamonds. Maxon chasing us with water balloons, loud, stubborn, and cocky even at ten.

The adults used to tease us constantly.

“She will marry one of those twin boys someday,” they’d laugh.

Then Victoria arrived in our lives for real. She wasn’t just a playmate anymore; she became part of the family when her parents died in an accident. She was six. Lost. Quiet. I remember feeling so much pity for her, so much instinctive protectiveness, that when my parents said she’d be spending most holidays with us and the twins, I didn’t complain.

We all grew up together like that—an unbreakable circle.

Or so I thought.

Maxon was the first to break it.

He confessed to me when we were fifteen. Brazen and stupid, that boy. His cheeks were red, but he still smirked like he wasn’t scared.

But I was.

“You’re a playboy,” I had said sharply. “You don’t know what love is.”

He had laughed, pretending it didn’t matter, but I saw it—just for a flash—in his eyes: the hurt. Or maybe his pride shattering. I’ll never know.

Still, I tried. At first. I tried to see where it might go.

But then Lewis happened. Quiet, careful Lewis. The one who didn’t make grand gestures but made me feel… safe. Seen. Wanted in a way that wasn’t loud or exhausting.

Little by little, all my attention shifted toward him. I didn’t even notice Maxon drifting away until the day he snapped—until he became angry, almost violent in his frustration.

That was the last time we spoke.

By twenty, Maxon had left, the entire family treated him like the black sheep. Even their grandmother couldn’t stand to hear his name.

And by twenty-three, I married Lewis.

Except now—

Lewis wasn’t Lewis. He was Maxon. The real Lewis was gone, stolen from me long before I even had a chance to understand it.

I felt myself breaking in half, then in quarters, then into dust. Everything… everything I thought I knew was a lie.

I wiped my tears with the back of my hand and stood up abruptly.

Maxon was finally asleep on the couch, breathing peacefully. Peacefully, when he had destroyed my entire world.

I grabbed my phone and walked out the door before I could think.

My hands were shaking as I dialed.

It rang once.

“Hello?” my mother answered, her voice thick with sleep.

I swallowed the lump in my throat.

“Mom,” I whispered, my voice cracking. “Please take me home. I’m going to divorce my husband.”

Morning came slowly, like my body was trying to delay the moment I had to wake up and face reality. I opened my eyes, but I didn’t move. And that was when I heard it — muffled voices coming from the guest room down the hall. I recognized them instantly.

Lewis and Victoria.

My blood froze.

“…I know,” Victoria hissed, voice sharp with frustration. “I get it. You needed to use your brother’s identity to be with me. Fine. I accepted that. But shouldn’t we end this? I’m tired of sneaking around. I want to date you as Lewis, not as Maxon.”

My stomach coiled, sick and tight.

Lewis replied with a low, annoyed sigh. “Victoria, relax. I told you—we’ll fix everything at Grandma’s birthday party.”

“Fix? How?”

Lewis chuckled, the same laugh that used to make me feel safe. Now that sound curdled my insides. “We’ll frame Nadine. Make it look like she cheated on me. Grandma adores her since our families have always been close—she’d never allow a divorce unless Nadine messed up. But if she thinks Nadine betrayed me? She’ll kick her out herself.”

I covered my mouth, tears burning hot behind my eyes.

Victoria scoffed. “And Maxon? He won’t agree to any of this. He’s unpredictable. What if he ruins it?”

Lewis laughed again. “He’ll agree because he’s too stupid not to. And if he doesn’t? Then we arrange it in a way that makes him look unaware. Maybe even betrayed. That’ll break him enough to cooperate on disposing Nadine.”

My entire body trembled. I thought they had reunited as brothers. I thought they had healed.

But no.

Lewis continued, colder now. “I never made peace with Maxon. I just like using him. And Nadine.” Then, with disgustingly casual confidence: “Both of them are tools.”

Something crashed inside me — the last fragile piece of hope.

Then Victoria whispered something I couldn’t hear, and Lewis groaned. Their voices grew softer, breathier, then dissolving into hungry moans that made bile rise in my throat.

I couldn’t listen anymore.

When I finally left the bedroom, eyes red but dry, I found Maxon in the kitchen. Pretending to be Lewis.

He was humming while setting plates on the table. When he saw me, his smile brightened. “Good morning, love. Did you sleep well?”

A lie wrapped in honey.

I stared at him, numb. “Fine.”

His brows pulled together, concerned. “You look pale. Are you feeling sick? Do you want me to take you to the doctor?”

I shook my head quickly. “No. I’m okay.”

Before he could ask anything more, the front door opened and in walked the monsters themselves — Lewis and Victoria. Laughing. Touching. Radiating happiness as if they hadn’t been plotting to destroy my life an hour ago.

“You two are early,” Maxon said lightly.

“We’ll be staying here for a bit,” Lewis answered, dropping a bag by the couch. “Family bonding and all.”

Victoria hooked her arm with Lewis’s and grinned. “Let’s make the place lively!”

I nodded quietly, swallowing down the scream clawing up my throat. There was no point exposing what I knew — not now. Not with the three of them circling me like wolves.

Later that day, Victoria found me alone in the living room. She sat beside me, too close, the smugness radiating from her like perfume.

“You look tired,” she said sweetly. “Is married life already dragging you down?”

I bit my tongue. She leaned in, voice dripping venom. “Or maybe Lewis is getting bored of you. He always said you were the… dull one.”

My palms trembled.

“And honestly?” she whispered. “You never deserved him. Or anything you have.”

Something inside me snapped.

“Shut up,” I said through clenched teeth.

Victoria smiled slowly, like she’d been waiting for this. “Make me.”

She shoved my shoulder — a weak, childish push meant to provoke — but I shoved her back. Harder. She staggered, let out a dramatic shriek, and intentionally crashed into a side table. The porcelain vase toppled and shattered into glittering shards.

Right on cue, Lewis stormed in.

“What happened?” he demanded, eyes darting between us.

Victoria ran straight into his arms, trembling like an abused kitten. “She pushed me!” she cried.

I stepped forward, heat flooding my face. “She started it—”

Lewis lifted his hand sharply — the gesture alone enough to cut my voice off. His eyes were glacial. “Nadine, what is wrong with you?”

Wrong… with me?

Victoria sniffed loudly and buried her face into his chest. “I think she hates me,” she whimpered. “Ever since my parents died and hers adopted me… she’s never liked me. She always bullied me. I tried so hard to be her sister, but she—she never wanted me.”

My jaw dropped.

That was a lie. I opened my mouth to defend myself, but Victoria pressed on, voice breaking at all the right places.

“I didn’t do anything wrong. I just wanted to be part of the family. Maybe she thinks I stole her parents’ love… but I never tried to. I just… I just want to belong.”

Lewis tightened his hold on her, protectiveness flaring in his eyes. Not for me. Never for me.

“Victoria,” he murmured, brushing her hair. “It’s okay. I’ll protect you.”

I stared at them, speechless. My pulse pounded like it was trying to rip out of my skin.

“That’s not what happened,” I managed to whisper. “I never—”

Lewis turned to me with a look that could slice flesh.

“She’s pregnant,” he snapped before I could finish. “You should calm down. What if something happened to the baby? If anything happens to the baby, that’s on you.”

Victoria hid behind him, peeking over his shoulder with a look of victory so thinly veiled it made nausea crawl up my throat.

Lewis continued, voice filled with manufactured disappointment. “You should apologize. Victoria didn’t deserve that.”

Victoria clutched his arm. “It’s okay, Lewis… don’t blame her. She’s probably stressed. I know she doesn’t like me. I understand. Let’s just go.” They left.

I walked to the bedroom on shaking legs and started shoving my clothes into a suitcase. I didn’t care if they heard. I didn’t care if they stopped me.

They destroyed me.

But I’d be damned if I stayed here long enough for them to finish the job.

I left the house without a word.

At the first red light, I froze. A massive billboard towered above me — the face of Isaac Halt staring down, sharp jaw, cold blue eyes, confidence radiating from every angle.

Lewis’s enemy. Maxon’s rival. The man the twins hated more than anyone.

And suddenly, a smile curled on my lips.

Maybe I didn’t have to run. Maybe I could fight.

Fifteen minutes later, I strode into Halt Corporation’s marble lobby, hair messy, eyes swollen, emotions burning like wildfire.

The receptionist blinked. “Ma’am, do you have an appointment—”

“No,” I said, lifting my chin. “But tell Isaac Halt that Nadine Colton wants to see him. Now.”

They must’ve recognized my last name, after all Colton’s a rival family, because panic flashed across the receptionist’s face before she scrambled to the phone.

Minutes later, Isaac appeared — tall, severe, intimidating. His gaze swept over me, taking in everything.

He frowned. “And what’s my rival’s wife doing in my company? Did he send—”

“I need a husband,” I said.

His jaw tightened. “Excuse me?”

I met his eyes dead-on.

“Can you marry me?”