"Ava," Richard's voice came from the dining hall as Ava walked into the house with Marc trailing behind her. "In here."

Ava paused, then sighed helplessly. She retraced her steps and headed into the dining hall.

There they all sat, Richard at the head of the table, Emily by his right, and Eva by his left. Ava thought they looked so perfect without her in the frame.

"Marc, you're excused."

Marc gave a slight bow, spun around, and disappeared through the doors.

"You really tried to escape," Richard pronounced, mocking sarcasm laced in his voice.

Ava folded her hands, eyes hardening, "You gave me no choice."

"What made you think that you would slip my grasp, Ava?" He enquired, "You must have forgotten that I control some of the high officials in the city."

Ava made a disgusted face. "You make me sicker than you already do when you brag."

Richard frowned. "I brought you into this world, Ava; whatever I say goes."

Ava has finally accepted her fate. There was no escape. She was going to get married to Devlin Frost, no matter what she did.

Hey, who knows? Maybe this is all she needed. If she gets married to Devlin, she will be out of here, away from this sick building of a home.

She has no one. Nowhere to go. No place to hide. Maybe this was all for the best. If she gets married to Devlin Frost, she will no longer have to feel terrible whenever Eva gets treated like she is the queen of England.

No more neglect. No more constant comparison. No more self-hatred and self-pity. Just Devlin Frost. Who knows? Devlin Frost might have changed over the years; he might no longer be the hateful, emotionless bastard he was as a kid.

"So, you will get married to Devlin in six days," Richard concluded.

"Fine." She declared.

There was a pause.

Did she just say... No, perhaps they heard her wrong?

"I said fine." She repeated, "I will get married to Devlin Frost since that's what you all want."

None of them ever expected that Ava would accept in just a speck of hours. They had expected her to keep throwing tantrums, but what is this? She will get married to Devlin Frost? Just like that?

Either way, this new development was fantastic. After all, it was what they all wanted.

"Um... okay." Richard beamed brightly. "Very good, Ava."

"That's all, right? May I go now?" She turned to leave.

"Actually, there is another thing," Richard said, halting her in her tracks.

"What?"

Richard glanced at Emily, at Eva, then back at Ava. "You won't be getting married to Devlin as Ava Summers; you will be getting married to him as Eva Summers."

Ava stayed quiet as she absorbed the news. She didn't even know how to feel. Just when she thought they were done with her, they found another way to screw her over.

"You mean... I have to pretend to be... Eva?" The disbelief in her voice was palpable.

"Yes."

Ava burst out laughing.

They all exchanged annoyed glances.

"What's so funny?" Richard demanded.

"You," Ava replied amidst laughter, "You are so funny... and ridiculous! And stupid!"

Richard's face darkened.

"Ava, don't speak to Dad like that." Eva cautioned.

Ava threw her a glare, "You, shut up." Then she returned her gaze to her father's annoyed face. "What in the world made you all think I could ever pretend to be Eva? Huh? I mean, look at her, she's the perfect daughter, the most beloved girl, always full of radiant smiles and energy that attracts everybody around her. The perfect girl who always knows what to say and do in every situation. Daddy's and Mommy's little girl! What in the world made you think I, the confused, imperfect daughter who doesn't even know what to do with her life, could pretend to be her?"

"I will teach you." Eva offered, "I will teach you how to be like me."

"Oh, I do not want to be anything like you!" Ava snapped at her, "You know that!"

"Ava, you've agreed." Richard pronounced, "We are not doing this again. You will pretend to be Eva, and no one... no living soul will ever know! Else, there will be consequences," His face darkened, "You know damn well what I can do. Am I understood?"

Ava felt defeated.

She has no idea why they were doing all this. If Eva grew cold feet and had a change of heart, why couldn't they just call off the wedding? I mean, the Frosts and the Summers have been friends for ages, so why are they forcing her to marry Devlin in Eva's place whilst pretending to be Eva at the same time?

There was a whole lot more to this.

"Fine!" She threw up her hands in resignation, "It' not like I have any say. Besides, I do want to know what it feels like to be the perfect, radiant Eva everyone loves! Can I go now?"

She spun on her heels and exited the dining hall. She locked herself up in her room, showered, then changed into something nice.

Twenty-four hours ago, if someone had told her that she would not only find out that Cole was cheating on her, but also that she would be the imposter bride to that emotionless robot, she would have laughed in their face and told them that they were ridiculous.

Everything was happening so fast that she couldn't keep up.

Now she was going to pretend to be Eva. That would be harder than getting married to Devlin.

She knows Eva all too well. Eva is phony. And two-faced. She gives people what they want, with that constant deceptive smile that has worked charms for her.

She loves being the center of attention. She is socially manipulative. And always dresses and walks like a supermodel on the Vogue runway. With her perfect hair and makeup.

Ugh, what a headache. Now, how in God's name was she going to pull all that off?

The light knock on her door broke into her thoughts. She sighed and rose to her feet, then made her way to the door.

Eva was standing elegantly at the door, a slender hand on her knees, her perfectly shaped lips pursed.

"What the hell do you want?" Ava demanded hostilely, eyes hardening as she folded her arms defensively.

"Oh, don't get your panties in a twist, Sis, I come in peace," Eva grinned at her. "I'm here to give you a makeover. On how to be me."

Ava stood by the door, arms still crossed, and watched Eva saunter around the room, eyes judgy, obviously unimpressed by the decoration of the room.

"I swear to God, if you say one stupid thing, I'm kicking you out!" Ava warned coldly.

Eva turned to her, then grinned, "Why do you always assume the worst of me?"

"I don't know." Ava raised her shoulders in an indifferent shrug. "Maybe because you're you."

Eva frowned. "What the hell does that even mean?"

"You know what I mean." Ava replied, "You're Eva. The phony girl. The socially manipulative girl who thinks she's better than everyone else."

Eva smirked, "Oh, but I am better than everyone else... You are not an exception. You do realize that you come off as jealous, right?"

"I'm not jealous."

"Oh, but you are," Eva said, then turned to scrutinize the wallpaper. "You can stop lying to yourself Ava; you are jealous of me and everything I have and have accomplished. You know you are."

Ava's jaw tightened, "Yeah. Maybe I am. Maybe I am jealous of you. You have absolutely no idea how it feels to always be compared to you every minute of my life, how it feels like to watch you get plenty of gifts on our birthdays and Christmases, how it feels like to watch Mom and Dad adore you and spoil you rotten! It's like I was born just to make you look and feel good, like that's my whole purpose of existing. So, yeah. Maybe I was jealous."

Eva swung around, "Was?"

"Yeah. I am no longer jealous of you." Ava responded, "I stopped being jealous of you long ago. I don't always need to feel pity for myself when you're around. I have learned to love and live with myself. I have realized that I am enough. Someone made me realize that. Why? Does it bruise your ego that I am no longer jealous of you?"

"What? No, no, not at all." Eva's grin widened. "If anything, I am happy for you, sis. I'm happy for your self-growth. Now, shall we start our lesson on how to be the fabulous Eva Summers?"

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you change your mind about Devlin?" Ava enquired, "You've been crazily obsessed with him for ages, to the point that you even sent your minions to stalk him. So why are you changing your mind now?"

"Like you said, it's just a crazy obsession." Eva responded, "Not love. I've gotten over him. Devlin's old news."

"Then why?!" Ava barked, taking aggressive steps towards Eva, riding her backwards, "Why can't you and your sick father just call the engagement off? Why do I have to play your rebound?"

"I don't know. Go ask Dad." Eva answered. "I told him I was no longer interested, and that was it. You getting married to Devlin in my place is all his and mom's plan."

"Filthy liar!" Ava spat.

Eva sidestepped her and walked away further from her before Ava grabbed her neck and hit her or something.

"I'm getting bored of this conversation." She pouted, almost sarcastically, "This is not what I came here for. I'm here to teach you how to be me, not listen to your pity story or be interrogated. I have better things to do, and if you are not cooperative, I'm walking out that door and telling Dad. Now sit down."

Ava stood still, glaring at her twin sister with deep-rooted hatred and repulse, her fist clenched so tight her knuckles turned white, lips pressed hard against the other they began to hurt.

"Well?"

Ava sighed helplessly, released her fist, and took a seat on the bed.

"Good. Now our first lesson on How to be Eva Summers is... wait, what is it again? Rosy!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Rosy, Eva's assistant, stormed into the room almost immediately, then handed Eva a tablet.

Eva studied the tablet, then glanced up at Ava, "Your first lesson is How to Walk like Eva. When I walk, I carry myself with grace, effortless elegance and charisma like I own the place, like I'm scared of nothing, like the entire world is at my feet."

Ava rolled her eyes in disgust. I'd expect nothing less.

"When I walk, I tell the entire world to look at me. "Look, I'm Eva Summers, and I'm fabulous!" So, watch and learn."

Eva elegantly sashayed to the end of the room, then sashayed back. She did it twice, effortlessly and gracefully.

"Now, I'd like to see you try."

Ava already felt sick in the stomach. She wondered how much of all this she could take.

Heaving a deep breath, she strutted to the end of the room, trying to be graceful and elegant as she possibly could.

Eva snorted, "Ava, what is this? You call that walking like you own the place? Puh-lease! Anyone with eyes can see you were forcing it, and you were doing it badly."

"Is how you walk, even necessary?"

"Definitely! Everyone knows how I walk! One look at you and they could tell that you're not me. Now, do it again."

Ava spent the next hour learning how to sashay like Eva. She already knew it was going to be hard pretending to be Eva, but she never thought it would be this hard. No matter how hard she tried to walk like Eva, Eva always told her she was doing it wrong. She even felt like Eva was doing the whole thing on purpose.

She was already tired.

"Good. Good, sis." Eva finally praised, "You're getting the hang of this. Nice."

Ava heaved a sigh of relief.

Finally!

"Rosy, get the heels," Eva ordered.

"Yes, ma'am." Rosy rushed out of the room.

"Heels?"

"Yes. Heels." Eva replied, "You know I wear nothing but heels. You've mastered how to strut like me, but now you are going to master how to strut like me in heels."

Ava hates heels. Whenever she wore them, she always felt like she was going to fall off them. She never understood why women wear them when it feels like wearing skyscrapers on one's feet.

"Wait, how many of these lessons are there?" She asked.

"Oh, there are plenty of them." Eva replied, glancing at the tablet in her hand, "After this, the next one is How to smile like me, then how to talk like me, how to dress like me, how to laugh like me, how to eat like me, how to..."

"That's enough!" Ava barked, startling Eva, who jumped out of her skin.

She wished for the ground to open and just swallow her whole.

It's safe to say that the last few days have been the worst days of Ava's week.

As impossible as it seemed, she had learned how to do things like Eva over the past few days, but the problem was, could she always keep up with the act?

Eva was a social butterfly, and she was far from it. Eva liked dressing in designer clothes that were way too tight or too revealing. And she? Nah.

Today was finally the wedding day, and as Ava sat at the dressing table and let the makeup artists do her face, she doubted that they would fool Devlin Frost even if they had managed to fool everyone else. She knew that Devlin Frost was no fool; even from a young age, he was astute and knew things a boy his age shouldn't.

It has been over six years since she has seen him, and Ava couldn't help but wonder what he looked like.

Is he still the same emotionless boy whose eyes were always full of hatred for everyone? Or has he changed over the years?

Ava prayed he had; if he had, this marriage would be a little less unbearable.

When the makeup artists were done with beautifying her, they packed up their stuff and left.

She heaved a deep breath as she regarded herself in the mirror. She sure looked and felt different with all that makeup on her face.

She looked... ravishing.

But as gorgeous as she looked, she didn't see herself in the reflection; all she saw was Eva. Eva looked like this every day.

The door burst open, and Eva strutted in.

"Wow, sis, you look fabulous!" She praised, a smile dangling on her lips.

"And you look..." Ava paused, studying Eva's appearance in surprise. "What are you wearing? Is that my dress?"

"Yes." Eva flicked her hair. "Since you're looking like me, I should look like you, don't you think? You do have a horrible taste in fashion. I can't believe I have to dress like this for five years."

Ava made a confused face. "Five years?"

"Yes, five years. You can't divorce Devlin for five years."

"And why is that?"

"Oh, never mind."

Just then, Rosy walked in, "Miss Eva, Miss Ava, we're ready to go."

Ava sighed, then rose to her feet, "Alright, let's get this over and done with."

Eva gasped.

"What?"

"Your birthmark."

Ava glanced down at the birthmark on her neck. "What about it?"

"I don't have a birthmark." She grabbed the full concealer foundation and blended it over Ava's skin, "The Frosts know which of us has a birthmark, so they'll be able to tell. There, that's better. Keep it concealed at all times."

"You guys know this is dangerous, right? Why can't you just call off the arrangement? Why forcing me to do this?"

"It's not that easy, Ava."

"If Devlin finds out... and we both know he will sooner rather than later, since he can tell us apart... we're toast and I don't wanna be around when it happens."

"Oh, don't worry." Eva said reassuringly with a smile, "He won't. Not anymore."

Ava frowned, "What is that supposed to mean?"

Eva smirked, "You'll find out at the altar. Come on, let's go."

Ava felt incredibly uncomfortable in the wedding dress. Of all the wedding dresses in the entire world, Eva had to pick this one. Her boobs were squished by the dress, and her waist was strangled.

Richard and Emily were downstairs waiting for her.

"You look so lovely, darling." Emily complimented.

Ava gave no response.

"Smile, Ava." Richard pointed out, "Sorry, you're Eva from now on... at least to them. Smile, it's your happy day."

As the wedding cars drove Ava to the church, she had a moment of silence to drown herself in her thoughts.

She has always imagined herself in a wedding dress, a comfortable one, being walked down the aisle by her father, ready to marry Cole.

Cole has always been the one. He wasn't the type to cheat, nor look at other women in that way. He has always had eyes for her since the first day he saw her.

He was always clean. And decent. Showered her with undying love. And mostly talks about their future together.

So, how could he cheat? Now, come to think of it, it all just doesn't make sense. She knew Cole like she knew the back of her hand, and they've been together for approximately three years now.

Cole would never cheat.

Seeing that lady at his apartment was all... it was all too... too convenient.

The car suddenly came to a halt, jolting her out of her thoughts. The chauffeur immediately stepped down and held the door for her.

Richard appeared and held out his arm, which Ava slid hers into.

"Now, remember, no matter what happens, just keep smiling." He said.

Ava pressed her lips in a thin line but said nothing.

The wedding march began to play, alerting the father and daughter to march in.

As Ava stepped into the church, she was overwhelmed with numerous pitiful faces she had never seen before in her entire life.

She couldn't help but wonder if this was her actual wedding, she would have this amount of guests here.

But... what's up with the faces? Why do they all have the same pitiful, sad look on their face? They think she was Eva, so shouldn't they all be smiling or something?

Her question was answered when she averted her gaze to the altar. She stopped short and gaped in utter horror.

Is that... Devlin?

That's Devlin Frost.

Why is he... in a... wheelchair? Why are his legs covered with a piece of clothing? And why in God's name does he have... glasses on?

Right there and then, it all clicked, and Eva's words rang in her ears.

"Oh, don't worry. He won't. Not anymore."

So, this is what she meant? This is why Eva suddenly changed her mind about marrying Devlin, the guy of her dreams.

Ava felt rage bubbling inside of her.

Devlin Frost has not only gone blind... but also fucking crippled?! Why didn't they even tell her this?! Why?!

These... assholes!