The Wrong Twin He Buried

The chapel smelled like lilies and panic. Celeste was hyperventilating in her Vera Wang, one hand clawing at her throat, the other shoving her phone in my face. The screen showed a man in a bartender's apron, grinning. _Marco_. The wedding planner. "I can't do it, Elise. I can't marry him," she gasped. "I love Marco. We're leaving for Lisbon tonight." Our father was having a stroke in the hallway. I could hear him through the door: "Sixty million dollars, Celeste! If Kaine pulls out of the merger, we lose the company. We lose the _house_." I looked at my sister. Same face. Same dark hair. Same scar on our left eyebrow from when we fell off the swing at nine. The only difference was that Celeste had been born five minutes first, and that was enough for Dad to decide she was the heir. I was the spare. The forger. The one who signed her name on bad report cards so she wouldn't get cut off. "You want me to do it," I said. It wasn't a question. Celeste grabbed my wrists. Her engagement ring dug into my skin. Eight carats. Cold. "He won't know. Damian's met me twice. Both times I was drunk. You're better at being me than I am." The wedding coordinator knocked. "Two minutes, Miss Kaine." Dad burst in, his face purple. "Celeste Marie, if you walk out that door-" "She's having a anxiety attack," I said, stepping between them. My voice came out low, bored, exactly like Celeste's. I'd been practicing for years. "I'll go calm her down. Stall." He didn't even look at me. He never did. "Fine. Fix her." The second he left, Celeste started ripping off the veil. "Take it. Take the dress. Just walk down the aisle and say 'I do.' By the time he realizes, the papers will be signed. The merger goes through. Then we'll figure it out. Please, El. You've always cleaned up my messes." This wasn't a mess. This was a life. Damian Kaine wasn't some stranger. He was _The Wall Street Wolf_ on every business cover. Thirty-two. Ruthless. The kind of man who bought companies for fun and fired CEOs before the ink dried. But Dad's face when he lost the company would be worse. I'd seen it once, when Mom died. Empty. Like he'd already buried us too. "Fine," I said. Celeste froze. "Really?" I was already unzipping my bridesmaid dress. "But you owe me. For everything." She helped me into the gown like we were kids playing dress-up again. The veil smelled like her perfume - jasmine and bad decisions. She pressed the bouquet into my hands. White roses. Celeste's favorite. I hated roses. They gave me hives. "Remember," she whispered as the music started, "you hate coffee. You're allergic to shellfish. And you call him 'Dame' in private. He likes that." The doors opened. Two hundred people. Cameras. A billion-dollar merger riding on my "I do." And at the end of the aisle, Damian Kaine. He wasn't looking at me. He was looking at his watch. Irritated. Like I was a late board meeting. His suit was black, his eyes colder. He had a scar through his left eyebrow.