Page 39 of The Wife Deception
I shook my head, feeling overly thanked for doing very little. "It was nothing, really. I only did what anyone would do."
Darcy cut in. "I couldn't. You were amazing."
"Am I in trouble," Lake croaked.
Ivy smiled. "No. But you have some serious learning you need to do, young man. Let's get you into something dry."
Nolan came to my side. "You too."
Darcy grabbed my arm. "I'll help. I came with a change of clothes. I have something that would fit you."
I didn't want to be alone with Darcy. Even though she was being kind, she knew there was something off about me.
Nolan nodded, and Darcy led me away. I thought we were going to the clubhouse, but we went aboard a yacht where she led me to an ensuite bathroom with a shower. "One of my friends owns it," she explained. "When you're done, you'll find clothes on the bed."She's just being kind, I thought. Don't overthink it.
The shower was warm and nice. After I was done, I saw a dress laid neatly on the bed and a pair of sandals on the bottom that looked a size bigger but were fairly comfortable. I put on the clothes and went to the salon where Darcy was lounging alone. She smiled at me.
"Thanks," I said. "The clothes fit perfectly."
"You're welcome Aelin, but you are not Aelin are you?"
22
Aire
My stomach lurched. I wanted to jump into the water and disappear. She caught me. She knew. What was she going to do? Tell Nolan? And then Nolan would ask for an annulment and cancel the deal. Grandfather would be angry at me and revoke his debt payments. And I will be broke again. The boat began moving. It seemed unsteady. Or was that in my head?
Darcy rushed over to me and caught me at the waist as I stumbled. She directed to the nearest chair, a loveseat. "Sit."I obliged, my knees giving way and buckling as I landed on the plush leather seat.
"Are you okay?"
She didn't sound confrontational. If anything, she looked concerned. I nodded. She drew back in the chair and looked me over, assessing with the same scrutiny she's shown before. "You look like her, though. Are you sisters or something?"
"Cousins." There was no use lying or trying to act in denial. She knew I was an imposter. Probably knew for quite some time.
"Still. Were your parents sets of twins? I could have sworn you were her twin."
I shook my head. "I had plastic surgery to look like her. Nothing much, just a rhinoplasty." As well as going on an excruciating diet.
Darcy frowned, peering closer. "I see it. But your cheekbones are different. Yours are better. When I first saw you, I thought that's what Aelin had changed. Funny that."
"A-Are you going to tell Nolan?"
Darcy's eyebrows shot up. "You're telling me he doesn't know?"
"No."
She sat back more animated than before. Crossing her arms and legs, she said. "Oh, that's interesting. So why are you," she waved around me, "pretending to be Aelin?"
Should I tell her? The cat was out of the bag, so was there any harm? "Aelin was supposed to marry him, but she ran away before my grandfather could make her do it. Currently, she'shiding in a rehab somewhere in Europe. Or at least that's what she said the last time I spoke to her."
Darcy leaned forward. "No way. And stepped into her place? Why not just marry him as…"
"Aire. Because she's the one who inherits the family fortune."
"Aire…" she tested the name on her tongue, then she frowned. "Are you sure you two are not twins?"
"We did look a lot alike. People used to mistake us when we were kids. But Aelin is a few months older than me."
