I stayed by Evan’s side for five long years. Finally, I got the proposal I had been waiting for. But the very next day, he died in a horrific car crash. The people responsible were the Crofts, a family of untouchable elites. Their lawyer tossed a stack of glossy reports onto the table. "Evan was driving drunk. He also had a documented history of severe clinical depression. But thankfully, our young master walked away without a scratch. Because of that, the family has decided not to press charges against the deceased. Here is a check for a hundred grand. We consider the matter settled." Nothing made sense. Evan was deathly allergic to alcohol. And I was the one who pulled him out of the darkest trenches of his depression. I knew his mind better than anyone. Seeing my silence, the lawyer's polite tone turned sharp. "Take the money. It makes things easier for everyone. This was just a tragic accident, right?" I wiped a stray tear from the corner of my eye. My fingers closed over the crisp check. "Right. An accident." One year later, I became the private nurse for that very same Croft heir. 1 Ever since his organ transplant, Sebastian Croft had to come in for regular checkups. Today, he left the clinic in a rush. He forgot his anti-rejection medication. After my shift ended, I took the prescription bottle and drove straight to his sprawling estate. The butler opened the heavy oak doors. "Mr. Croft isn't home yet. You can leave the medication with me." Before I could hand it over, a sharp, furious voice rang out from behind me. "You again!" I turned around. Stella stepped out of a sleek black luxury car, her face twisted in a vicious sneer as she marched up to me. "You actually think carving your face to look like mine is going to make Sebastian look twice at you?" "Stop dreaming!" I lowered my eyes, playing the picture of innocent grievance. "I am strictly Mr. Croft's private nurse. I don't have any ulterior motives. You're misunderstanding the situation, Miss Stella." She raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. "Am I? Well, perfect timing. My new movie is short a stunt double. You can take the job." I knew exactly what game she was playing. For the past two years, Stella had used Sebastian's backing to skyrocket to A-list fame. The tabloids constantly linked them together. But they never made it official. The Croft family despised her. To them, she was just a cheap actress, completely unworthy of their blue-blood lineage. Now, a girl with a face strikingly similar to hers had appeared. Seeing how close I was getting to Sebastian made her skin crawl with insecurity. She wanted to drag me through the mud. If I agreed to be her stunt double, my status would plummet even lower than a basic extra. "I appreciate the offer, Miss Stella. But I am Mr. Croft's medical provider. He needs me on call." She lunged forward, her manicured fingers digging brutally into my jaw. Her eyes were venomous. "Do you have any idea who you're talking to? All I have to do is say the word, and Sebastian will hand you over on a silver platter. I could have you tied up and tossed onto a table for a bunch of studio executives. You think you'd walk away clean?" "Really?" I whispered back. "If you're so powerful, why are you standing out here in the driveway? Why don't you just let yourself in?" The truth was simple. The Crofts had explicitly banned Stella from entering the mansion. That single sentence hit an absolute nerve. She froze. A second later, her hand flew through the air, slapping me hard across the cheek. "You bitch!" Sebastian appeared behind her like a ghost. His voice was a low, terrifying growl. "Back away from her." Stella recoiled in sheer panic. She instantly switched modes, throwing herself at Sebastian's chest with a flawless display of crocodile tears. "I canceled all my meetings just to come wait for you! But she stood here insulting me, telling me I'm just a cheap actress who doesn't deserve you." "Sebastian, I willingly threw myself into the filthy entertainment industry just to build a name for myself. I wanted to be famous enough to stand by your side. I didn't know your parents would hate me for it. I was willing to be your secret, to stay in the shadows while everyone called me a whore. But how dare a complete stranger disrespect me like that!" I shook my head frantically, my eyes wide with terror. "I didn't... I swear I didn't." Sebastian raised a hand. He cut my sentence off entirely. "Don't come back here. This isn't a place you belong." Tears welled in my eyes as I offered a weak, obedient nod. But the moment I turned my back and walked away, a cold smile crept onto my lips. Because right as he said those harsh words, I saw the deep, agonizing reluctance burning in his eyes. That was all I needed. 2 A man like Sebastian was intensely territorial. Whether he truly loved Stella or not, he refused to let anyone disrespect her. She was his property. Questioning her meant questioning him. After that incident, I went back to my quiet routine at the clinic. Soon enough, it was time for his next checkup. But he never showed up. "What's wrong? Disappointed Sebastian didn't come running?" Stella strolled into the VIP waiting room, hiding behind oversized sunglasses and a designer mask. She swayed her hips and casually waved a hand. Two massive bodyguards in black suits stormed into the room. They grabbed my arms, pinning me in place. "I've been a little busy lately. Almost forgot about you." Before I could even scream, a brutal strike hit the back of my neck. The world instantly faded to black. When I finally regained consciousness, my wrists were bound tight. I was shoved into a suffocatingly dark, cramped box. Muffled voices drifted from the outside. "Ever since Miss Stella hooked the Croft heir, you've completely forgotten about my little establishment." "Don't be silly, Mr. Donovan. You know I value our relationship. I brought you a very special gift today. I guarantee you'll be satisfied." Light violently flooded my vision. As my eyes adjusted to the glaring bulbs, I saw Stella's triumphant smirk, standing next to a repulsive, middle-aged executive. "She really does look just like you." Donovan licked his lips. "But..." Stella leaned in, her voice dripping with seductive poison. "Don't tell me you aren't satisfied?" He erupted into a disgusting laugh. "Oh, this is a massive upgrade!" Ignoring Stella's suddenly furious, flushed face, he reached a thick hand out toward me. Stella looked at my trembling, terrified expression and smiled coldly. She turned on her heel and headed for the heavy steel door. "Enjoy yourself, Mr. Donovan. I'll wait outside. Everything is completely off the books." The second the door clicked shut, the sheer terror vanished from my face. Stella had absolutely no idea what kind of hell I had crawled out of. She thought I was some weak, spineless little nurse she could crush like a bug. When I was nineteen, I was abducted by a trafficking ring and dragged into a remote, forgotten rust-belt town. The locals chained me up in a filthy basement, intending to sell me off as a birthing tool. They looked at my pale skin and quiet demeanor and thought I was an easy target. When the first man walked out of that basement, his face was unrecognizable, pouring blood from where his ear used to be. When the second man dragged himself out, he was clutching his ruined groin, leaving a thick trail of crimson behind him. They were terrified of me. They locked me in pitch darkness. To escape the iron cuffs, I intentionally snapped my own wrist, ignoring the blinding agony as I squeezed my mangled hand through the metal ring. I ran through the dense woods for twenty miles without stopping. That was when I met Evan. He saved me. I was never a helpless victim. I was a feral, dangerous animal cornered in the dark. It was Evan's gentle patience that slowly tamed me. He pulled me out of the madness and taught me how to be human again. I packed away my violent edges and stayed by his side, peaceful and content. But everything bright and beautiful in my life had been slaughtered by the Crofts. 3 I hadn't planned on Sebastian hosting a corporate banquet in the very same building. I was fully prepared to handle Donovan myself. But suddenly, the heavy door was kicked off its hinges. By the time Sebastian stepped into the room, Donovan was already passed out on the floor, groaning in a pool of his own blood. My scrubs were splattered in crimson. My fist was tightly wrapped around a silver steak knife. As Sebastian marched toward me, I instantly buried my lethal composure. My eyes glazed over with hollow shock, and I stood frozen in place like a traumatized victim. He didn't say a single word. He shrugged off his tailored overcoat and draped it over my shivering shoulders. The moment the warm fabric touched me, I snapped out of my daze and began to sob hysterically. "I didn't mean to! It was Miss Stella. She tied me up..." He pulled me firmly into his chest, his voice a low, soothing hum. "I've got you. I'm taking you out of here." As we walked out into the corridor, Stella lunged forward, desperately clawing at Sebastian's sleeve. "Sebastian, you have to listen to me!" "Let go." His voice was colder than liquid nitrogen. "It was Donovan! He kept making aggressive moves on me, and I..." "So you served her up on a silver platter to take your place?" Sebastian's eyes were lethal. "She is a medical worker trying to live a quiet life. What the hell did she ever do to you? How did she cross you?" Stella froze. She had clearly never seen this terrifying, merciless side of him. But I had. After Evan died, I was forced to look at those fabricated police reports. Drunk driving. Clinical depression. Suicide. The lies made me so violently angry that I went to the private hospital to demand the truth from Sebastian himself. I had slipped past the guards and stood outside his recovery room. I saw him lying against the pillows. His voice was dead and devoid of any human empathy. "Get a hundred grand ready. Test her waters. See what she knows." The lawyer beside him nodded. "And if she takes the money, sir? What's our next move?" Sebastian's tone was made of ice. "Weeds grow back if you don't burn the roots. Do I need to explain everything to you?" A few hours later, I accepted the money. And I vanished completely. Exactly as I predicted, the very next day, my old apartment mysteriously caught fire and burned to the foundation. Every single medical file on Evan at the hospital was wiped clean. Even the small cemetery plot I had purchased for him was inexplicably vandalized and torched. It was as if Evan never existed. Sebastian's methods were ruthless and absolute. Right now, Stella's desperate, weeping act wasn't moving him an inch. "I will say this one last time. Let go." She clung tighter, her voice tearing at the seams. "Sebastian, I was wrong! I swear to God I'll never do anything like this again. Please, don't look at me like that!" A heavy, suffocating silence fell over the hallway. Tucked against Sebastian's chest, I let out a perfectly timed, delicate whimper. I furrowed my brows and let my body go entirely limp, pretending to pass out from the trauma. "Stella. Don't ever let me see your face again." She was finished. To this day, she probably still couldn't understand how a random nurse managed to steal Sebastian's heart in just a few short encounters. I looked just like her, didn't I? Why was the outcome so drastically different? What she didn't know was that Sebastian only elevated her because she shared a passing resemblance to his true obsession. Back then, I took the hundred grand the Crofts paid me and split it. I spent sixty thousand on a brutally efficient private investigator. Within two months, he cracked the Croft family vault open. Hidden in the archives was a story from years ago. It came with a photograph of a young girl who looked exactly like Stella. She wore a simple white sundress. She looked pure and untainted. Her name was Evelyn. She was Sebastian's first love. Unfortunately, she was poor. The Croft family absolutely refused the match. Back then, Sebastian was young and powerless. He could do nothing but watch Evelyn die in a tragic, unexpected car accident. An accident orchestrated by his own mother. Until he met Stella. She had the same face. Even though her personality was loud and abrasive, keeping her around was enough to soothe the agonizing grief in his chest. But I used the remaining forty thousand dollars on reconstructive surgery. When another face resembling Evelyn's appeared—but this one possessing the exact same gentle, quiet temperament as the dead girl... Stella was destined for the garbage bin. 4 I was brought back to Sebastian's private estate. Every inch of the mansion screamed obscene, suffocating wealth. Two maids were assigned exclusively to me. They drew my bath and brought me fresh silk clothes. "This bathroom looks like something out of a royal palace," I whispered, playing the awestruck commoner. "It must be incredibly expensive." One of the maids offered a polite smile. "Yes, miss. Mr. Croft enjoys a good soak. The master bath renovations alone cost half a million dollars." Half a million. Evan's entire life was bought for a fraction of that. The heavy door clicked open, and Sebastian walked in. I kept my eyes glued to the floor, nervously twisting the hem of my shirt, playing the part of a terrified deer caught in headlights. "Don't be afraid. You are perfectly safe here." I didn't hold back anymore. When I finally looked up at him, two lines of tears spilled silently down my cheeks. I opened my hand, revealing the plastic prescription bottle I had clutched the entire time. I reached it out toward him. "Mr. Croft... these are your pills." "I was just trying to deliver them to you. But the last time I was here, you told me I didn't belong. I just want to put these down and leave before I upset you again..." Sebastian reached out and gently tilted my chin up. His dark eyes were swirling with an intense, agonizing yearning. "Evelyn." "It was my fault. From now on, you're staying here. Understand?" I offered a frantic, confused nod. Deep down, my heart was racing with cold excitement. What was wrong with playing the stand-in? As long as I had the face and the personality, slipping a knife into his heart would be effortless. When you pour every ounce of your soul into loving someone, only to realize they never cared about you at all—and that they actually want you to suffer a fate worse than death—the despair is absolute. It was a far more delicious punishment than just putting a bullet in his head. That night, Sebastian put me in the bedroom directly adjacent to his. I stood by the massive windows, staring out into the dark estate. The memories I had kept buried began to violently resurface. Evan used to be a wealthy kid too. But his father's mining company collapsed in a catastrophic accident. His father died, the funds evaporated, and the family was plunged into total ruin. His mother couldn't handle the poverty and fled the country. She left Evan alone to raise his little brother, Richard. Back then, I used to dig through the bruised produce bins at the local market just to survive. Splurging on instant ramen felt like a luxury. But Evan was always so unfailingly gentle. When he smiled, the warmth in his eyes was enough to cure the bleak, miserable reality we lived in. Then, I started finding his hidden pills. Whenever he used the bathroom, a faint, metallic tang of blood always lingered in the air. I was working as an orderly at the clinic when I stumbled across his chart by accident. That was when I found out he was deeply, dangerously sick. Richard was just a kid back then, and he was the first to completely break under the pressure. That was the only time I ever screamed at Evan. "I was an orphan! I don't have parents! I don't know what it feels like to lose a family empire, but I am here with you! Richard needs you! If you carve yourself up and die, what happens to me? What happens to your brother?" "When they chained me up in that basement, my chances of surviving were zero. But I used my own two feet to drag myself out of hell, and I found you! You saved me, and I am going to save you! Evan, we can survive this! We will survive this!" He started cooperating with the therapy. He started fighting to live. I poured every ounce of my energy and time into pulling him out of the dark and into the sun. Happiness was finally within our grasp. And then? The Croft family realized that Evan's body was a flawless genetic match for Sebastian. He had the same incredibly rare blood type. He had the perfect, healthy organs. So they used their bottomless bank accounts to script a tragedy. They orchestrated the car crash. They assumed that a kid with a dead father, a runaway mother, and a helpless younger brother was just a bug on the windshield. Even if he died under suspicious circumstances, who was going to make a wave? They thought he was nobody. But he was my entire world.
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