Faking My Death to Marry His Enemy

At our engagement party, my fianc was suddenly replaced by five strange men.

Maureen Summers, aren't you face-blind? If you can pick me out from among them, the wedding goes ahead as planned.

But if you get it wrong, we call off the engagement. I don't want a future wife who can only recognize me by my scent.

I listened to the recording playing in my earpiece, tears welling up and refusing to fall.

Because not one of those five men was Zachery Stephens.

I was about to make some excuse and slip away when the earpiece kept playing.

"Zach, if your bride finds out you ditched her on purpose just to go register your marriage with Lucretia Fox, won't she"

Zachery cut him off, impatient.

"Lucretia's cancer is already terminal. Marrying me is the one thing she's wanted most in her whole life. How could I not give her that?"

"As for Maureen, she's spent ten years fawning over me. She's not going to break it off over something this small."

The bouquet slipped from my hands and hit the floor.

So from the very start, Zachery had never intended to marry me.

Fine. Then I'd let them have exactly what they wanted.

I raised my hand and pointed at one of the men.

"Excuse me. Will you marry me?"

...

The guests erupted.

The man froze, then let out a low laugh, and the other four scattered at once.

"Miss Summers, I'm not Zachery."

I dropped my eyes, nails digging deep into my palm.

"I know..."

"But could you keep playing along with me? I'll pay you for it."

"And afterward, if you want a divorce, I'll agree to it..."

The man pulled out a ring and, with great deliberation, slid it onto my ring finger.

"Of course."

He paused.

"But the paymentI'll be the one who decides that."

Something familiar drifted off him, and yet I couldn't for the life of me place it.

"The wedding, then. Seven days from now. I'll come for you."

I started, but nodded anyway.

The sooner this act was over, the better.

By the time I'd finished dealing with the guests, night had fallen.

I got home to nothing but dead silence.

Zachery still wasn't back.

I sighed, rubbed my aching legs, and sank limp into the couch.

I decided I should at least tell Zachery.

Seven days from now, I was getting married too.

I opened my phone. Zachery hadn't answered a single message.

I hesitated a moment, then tapped into his feed.

A slash of glaring red jumped into my sight.

Not many days left now. At least in the end I get to stand beside him as his wife. I suppose that means no regrets.

In the photo of the marriage certificate, Zachery was smiling so gently, but the corners of his eyes were red, as if he'd just been crying.

The screen in my hand went dark, then lit, then dark again.

As much as I didn't want to believe it, the person who'd posted this was Lucretiathe one whose family had gone bankrupt three years ago and fled abroad.

And also my best friend.

A quick, urgent knock came at the door.

I yanked out a tissue, wiped my tears dry, and forced my sore, weak body up to answer it.

Zachery stood there, water dripping from his hair, someone held tight and shielded in his arms.

"Maureen, there's some luggage in the car. Go help me bring it in!"

Before I could get a word out, he'd already carried the person upstairs.

By the time I hauled the last big case inside, I was soaked through and shivering with cold.

"Maurie, thank you for carrying everything up. That was really so much trouble for you."

My head snapped up, and a wave of sweet, cloying women's perfume hit me full in the face.

Lucretia's face was ghostly pale, yet she was dressed exquisitely, not a single strand of her hair wet.

She held out a cup of steaming ginger tea to me.

"Drink up. Careful you don't catch a cold."

Zachery frowned and quickly helped Lucretia settle onto the couch.

"Don't waste your energy on her. A little rain won't kill her. Sit down, I'll make you some porridge in a bit."

My hand around the ginger tea jerked, and a few scalding drops spilled onto the back of my hand, leaving a small patch of skin red.

Did it take being on the verge of death to earn his concern? Or was I simply not worth it?

"Maureen, there's something I have to tell you."

Zachery held her so carefully, as if Lucretia might shatter in his arms the very next second.

"Lucretia... her cancer is already terminal."

"For the time she has left, let's take good care of her."

I stood there holding that cup of ginger tea, frozen, like someone had hit pause on me.

"When... when did you get sick?"

Only after the words left me did I realize my voice had already gone hoarse beyond recognition.

Lucretia coughed lightly a few times.

"Just this month. Only found out a little while ago."

"I hadn't planned on telling you. I didn't want to spoil your engagement party."

"But I was in so much pain, and I don't have a single friend I can lean on, so I called Zachery. I never expected him to rush right over. Maurie, you're not upset, are you?"

I looked at Lucretia leaning weakly into Zachery's arms, and all at once it felt so unreal.

The year I was sixteen, once Lucretia found out I liked Zachery, she'd kept encouraging me to go after himhelped me lose weight, taught me to do my makeup, schemed up ways for me to "accidentally" run into him.

And now, in less than a single day, she'd gone and registered her marriage with Zachery, leaving me alone at my own engagement party for everyone to laugh at.

Zachery let out a cold snort.

"Upset? What right does she have to be upset?"

"A woman who can't even recognize her own fiancshe gets to be upset?"

The engagement party from that afternoon flashed through my mind, and my fingertips went white where they clenched.

"So you two just went and registered your marriage?"

Lucretia choked on her own breath.

"Zachery, I... I was just so happy, I forgot to mute Maurie for a second."

"It's fine. She'd have found out sooner or later anyway."

Zachery patted her shoulder and soothed her in a low voice.

"Maureen, since you already know, I won't keep it from you."

He took Lucretia's left hand and held it up, making no effort to hide the pair of wedding rings.

"Lucy and I are legally married. For whatever time she has left, I'll stand by her as her husband."

"Fine."

My voice didn't move at all.

Zachery paused, something startled crossing his eyes.

"Then I have something to tell you too."

I met his eyes and said it word by word.

"I'm getting married as well."

The air went quiet for two seconds.

"You? Married? Can you even tell which man you're marrying?"

The corner of Zachery's mouth curved, and he looked at me like he had all the time in the world.

"It's fine. He recognizes me, and he won't hand me a multiple-choice test to see if I pass."

When I finished, Zachery couldn't hold back a laugh.

"Stop it. You chased me for ten years. Has there ever been a second man in your life?"

"You can't even recognize other people. How would you get married? Have him spray on cologne so you can tag him?"

Lucretia cut in from the side, her voice small.

"Maurie, I know this hurts you, but you can't just lie..."

Zachery waved a hand, scooped Lucretia up, and carried her toward the bedroom.

"Maureen, I'm Lucretia's husband now. So tonight you sleep in the guest room."

"No, no, I'm dying anyway. I don't want to wreck what you two have. Let me take the couch."

Lucretia struggled to sit up, and Zachery only held her tighter.

"Lucy, you're my real wife now, legally. This home is yours. Since when does the lady of the house sleep on the couch?"

With that, Zachery turned and walked into the bedroom, not sparing me a single glance.

The AC was set to seventy-eight, and still my teeth chattered from the cold, my body swinging between chills and fever.

My legs gave out and I dropped onto the couch.

Slowly I looked around. Every single thing in this room I had bought and set in place myself, one piece at a time.

And in the end, in this bridal home, there was no place for me.

I got up unsteadily and dug through the cabinet for fever medicine.

From the master bedroom came Zachery's low, gentle murmuring.

The bitter taste of the pill burst across my tongue.

He had never once spoken to me in a voice that tender.

After I showered, I lay down and wrapped myself up tight in the blanket.

Just sleep. In a few more days, I'll never come back here again.

...

The sky was only just turning gray when I opened my eyes.

My head was still heavy and dull, but I couldn't fall back asleep.

I got up and walked to the living room, only to find the bathroom door left ajar, a woman's figure faintly visible through the gap.

"Rex Lambert, I've got a follow-up appointment in a few days. Remember to make the medical records look even more real, and swap the meds for vitamins. Zachery can't read any of it anyway. Whatever he's told, he believes."

Lucretia kept her voice very low, but I still heard every word.

"Once Zachery pays off my family's debts, there'll be plenty in it for you."

Her voice went into my ears like needles. My hand shook, out of my control, and I shoved the bathroom door open.

When Lucretia saw me come in, the panic in her eyes vanished in an instant.

She hung up and calmly patted foundation onto her face, a shade paler than her real skin.

"Why... why would you lie to us?"

I fought to keep my voice from shaking.

"Because... I'm broke."

Lucretia set down the powder puff and studied the bloodless face in the mirror, satisfied.

"But even I didn't expect it. You chased Zachery for ten years, and one casual phone call from me, and he'll clear my debts, and he'll drop you to marry me. Guess he never loved you all that much."

A heavy taste of rust spread through my mouth.

"You, stop lying to him. I'll pay off your debts, all right?"

Lucretia froze, as if she'd heard the biggest joke in the world.

"You? Maureen, have you forgotten? Back before my family went under, we were worth dozens of times what your family is."

She stood, looking down at me from above.

"Even if I'm living worse than a dog, I don't need your pity!"

Zachery's voice came from outside the door.

"Lucy, are you in there? How are you feeling? Still hurting?"

Lucretia's pupils shrank in an instant.

She swept every bit of makeup off the counter onto the floor and collapsed there, screaming.

"I'm sorry, Maurie, but I really only have a few days left. Once I've had my one wish, a wedding with Zachery, I'll go find some far-off place to die and never bother you two again!"

The bathroom door slammed open with a bang.

Zachery shoved me aside and pulled the sobbing Lucretia into his arms.

"Maureen, isn't Lucretia your best friend? How could you be this cruel"

His voice cut off.

Bright red blood struck the floor, winding out into thin scarlet rivers.

There was a split at my temple, the dark swimming up in waves, Zachery's shape flickering in front of me again and again.

His lips moved, guilt churning in his eyes.

And still the arm he had free went around Lucretia.

I don't know how long it took before I slowly pushed myself up off the floor and inched, step by step, to the couch in the living room.

When Zachery came out of the bedroom, I was dabbing iodine on the cut.

He crossed the room quickly and reached for the cotton swab in my hand.

I tilted my head, just slightly, and slipped away from his hand without letting it show.

His hand hung there in the air, and he looked at me with something complicated in his eyes.

"I didn't mean to."

He lowered his hand slowly and sighed.

"I know you. With a temper like yours, you'd never shove Lucy."

"But she doesn't have much time left. Just play along with her. Apologize to her."

My hand stopped mid-motion, and I looked at him as if I were meeting him for the first time.

"Zachery."

I drew in a deep breath.

"And if I told you Lucretia doesn't have cancer?"

He froze for a moment, then let his gaze slide off to the side.

"Do you have to make a scene like this?"

I turned my face away and said nothing more.

He was quiet for a while, then got up and went to the kitchen.

Not long after, a bowl of steaming red bean porridge was set down in front of me.

"Eat something first. We'll take Lucy for her wedding photos in a bit."

"After all, this is probably the last time the three of us will ever be together in this life."

I looked at that bowl of red bean porridge, and something went hazy in me.

The year I first started college, I fell gravely ill, and doctor after doctor was at a loss.

My parents were abroad and couldn't get back, so it was Lucretia who pulled her family's connections and brought in all those specialists to treat me.

Zachery took me into his home to care for me and had the cook make me something different every single day.

But in that stretch, everything I ate came right back up, and I wasted down to skin and bone.

That was the first time Zachery ever set foot in a kitchen. He shut himself in there for an entire day just to produce one bowl of red bean porridge that hadn't scorched, and a few little plates of plain, light dishes.

Back then, over that one bowl of porridge, I was so moved I wept, and swore I would stay by his side for the rest of my life.

But all my giving in, again and again, had bought me nothing but a double betrayal.

"I'm not going."

I said it flatly.

His expression stiffened for an instant.

"Maureen"

"You two are the legally married couple, after all. What would I even be there for? To give everyone something to laugh at?"

My tone was so calm it surprised even me.

Maybe once a person has been hollowed out, there's nothing left to stir up any emotion at all.

"Zach, I'm changed. When are we leaving?"

Lucretia stood there in a white dress, her eyes full of longing.

Zachery gave me a long, deep look, and left with Lucretia anyway.

The apartment went quiet.

I lifted a hand and touched my forehead. It was frighteningly hot.

But I couldn't stay here any longer.

I swallowed a couple of fever pills without much thought, braced myself on the armrest of the couch to stand, dug out my suitcase, and started packing.

The cut at my temple throbbed, and even my breath came out scalding, but I didn't dare stop.

I had to be gone before they got back.

"Maurie, are you leaving?"

Lucretia's voice came out of nowhere behind me.

I stuffed the coat in my hand into the suitcase without turning my head.

"Maurie, can you grab my perfume for me? I forgot to bring it."

Lucretia widened those soft, mild eyes and looked at me, all innocence.

"Don't you have hands of your own?"

Lucretia paused, and something vicious flickered at the bottom of her eyes.

I went into the bedroom, picked up the last shirt, and had barely turned around when a thick cloud of scent hit me in the face.

Lucretia was standing in the bedroom doorway, spraying it at my face a few more times.

My airway clamped shut all at once, every breath turning into a sharp whistle.

"Maurie, what's wrong? You look awful."

Lucretia tossed the perfume bottle into the trash, and every trace of the smile wiped clean off her face in an instant.

I dropped straight to my knees, both hands clawing at my collar, my throat as if wrenched tight by a wire, able to push out nothing but a thin hiss of air.

Zachery's terrified voice cracked through the air.

"You is your asthma acting up?"

Zachery finally panicked.

He rushed to the cabinet where the medicine was usually kept, and it took him a long time of digging before he found a single bottle of asthma medication.

"Maureen! Quick, use this"

"Zachery... my stomach hurts... I think... I'm not going to make it."

Lucretia suddenly clutched her belly and let out a weak moan.

Zachery turned to look at her, his eyes moving between the two of us for a few seconds.

Finally, he gritted his teeth and tossed that bottle down beside me.

"Maurie, just hold on. I'll have someone take you to the hospital right away."

He scooped Lucretia up and rushed out the door, without looking back once.

Half-sprawled on the floor, I twisted the cap off with all the strength I had left and pressed the inhaler to my throat.

Empty.

Trembling, I pressed it again. Still nothing came out.

The bottle slipped from my hand and rolled off into a corner.

Cold sweat soaked through my shirt, my lips turning blue-purple bit by bit, my mouth open wide, straining, unable to pull in a single breath of air.

As my vision blurred, the ring on my hand kept flashing with light.

I laughed bitterly to myself.

I probably wasn't going to make it to the seventh day.

...

Zachery gripped his phone, pacing back and forth down the hospital hallway.

On the way there with Lucretia, he had already sent a professional medical team rushing to the house.

"I left the medicine, and I sent doctors. Maureen will be fine."

He kept murmuring it to himself, but the image of Maureen gasping for air kept surging up in his mind.

Half an hour later, the medical team finally called.

"Mr. Stephens, we've searched your whole house, but Miss Summers isn't here."

The color drained from Zachery's face in an instant.

"What do you mean, she isn't there?"

His voice shot up sharply.

"She was having an asthma attack. Where could she possibly go?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Stephens, but when we arrived all we found on the floor was an empty asthma inhaler."

Zachery's mind went blank with a ringing hum, and he staggered back two steps before he could stop himself.

How could it be empty? The asthma medicine at home was never even opened.

"Widen the search. And check today's emergency admissions across the city."

He opened his message thread with Maureen and only then saw that she'd sent so many messages the day before, and he hadn't answered a single one.

"The number you have dialed cannot be reached at this time."

The hand holding the phone kept shaking.

But no matter how many times he called, the result was always the same.

Zachery slumped into a chair in the hospital, waiting from daylight until dark before that team finally called.

"Mr. Stephens, around noon today the hospital in the city center admitted a female patient having an asthma attack. She had a high fever when she was brought in."

Zachery went rigid all over.

The day before, he'd been so busy taking care of Lucretia that he'd left Maureen to haul all that luggage alone, out in the pouring rain.

"So how is she now?"

Zachery asked anxiously.

The other end went quiet for a moment.

"...We couldn't save her. She's... she's gone now."