After the Last Goodbye, I Never Look Back

“You’ve done a decent job as a stand-in for these three years.”

“But your sister will be back in a month. You can start preparing to leave the Moore family.”

“As we promised, one hundred million will be paid in two stages. You’ll get half today, and once you’re gone, we’ll transfer the other half.”

Mrs. Hayes sat on the sofa, voice frigid, expression serious—as if the girl opposite wasn’t her own daughter, but a stranger.

“Fine. When the time comes, I’m taking Grandma with me.”

“Up to you.”

The moment Ivy Hayes walked out of the Hayes house, fifty million hit her account. Her mood lifted at once.

Money in hand. Freedom in sight. And she could take Grandma away.

Peak of life, honestly.

With that thought, it didn’t feel like a loss at all to have spent three years marrying into the Moore family as a stand-in for her twin sister, Chloe Hayes.

Back at the Moore estate, Ivy slipped seamlessly into the role everyone knew—gentle, well-bred, a perfect daughter from a noble family—Chloe.

Ivy grew up in the countryside with her grandmother. She’d always been lively by nature. But on the day she filled in as a bride, Mrs. Hayes warned her that old-money families liked refined, modest ladies and told her to mind her image.

For money—and for freedom—she treated it like an extremely high-paid, 24/7, year‑round job.

With that mindset, none of it felt so hard. Chastity wasn’t sacred to her anyway.

Three years ago, the marriage alliance between the Moore and Hayes families was the talk of the country. But Chloe complained that getting married at twenty‑two was “too much of a loss.”

A month before the wedding, she left a note and ran.

Dad, Mom, the world is wonderful and I want to see it. Let my sister marry first. I’ll be back in three years. Gotta go—around‑the‑world trip starts now.

So, their parents fetched the younger daughter, Ivy, from the small town and sent her to marry Landon Moore in Chloe’s place, planning to “swap back” when the big sister returned.

Ivy and Chloe were monozygotic twins—so alike that anyone not close to them couldn’t tell them apart. Their personalities, though, couldn’t have been more different. Chloe was lively; Ivy was dull. Chloe had a sharp tongue; Ivy was always silent.

Their parents even had thought Chloe was kind and Ivy was vicious—because Ivy “bullied” her sister. They doted Chloe and alienated Ivy.

In fact, it was the on the contrary. Chloe bullied Ivy constantly and could make white sound black, but Ivy didn’t like to defend herself. Their parents’ bias went deeper: Ivy was “sly and mean.”

Eventually they shipped Ivy off to Grandma in the countryside and only brought her back until they needed a substitute bride. For so many years, they never fulfilled parents’ duty. Ivy’s life had been bleak—until Chloe ran away from the wedding and Ivy became Landon Moore’s stand‑in bride.

Because the Hayes family hid the truth, society only knew Chloe Hayes, not Ivy. That was how the substitution bride plan worked at all.

After so many years of deliberate neglect, Ivy expected nothing from “family.” The only person she cared about was grandmother who raised her. Grandma was the only one who loved her; Grandma was her anchor.

To convince Ivy to take the marriage, her parents promised to take good care of Grandma and pay for her treatment. Grandma’s cataracts were severe—she could barely see. They swore they would treat her well.

Before the wedding, Mrs. Hayes—terrified Ivy would botch the alliance—gave a long list of rules.

“Landon married your sister for the sake of our families. It’s said that the girl he really likes is his adopted little sister, Shannon Lynn.”

“You must keep your head down. Win the Moore family’s favor.”

“But control your belly. You cannot get pregnant. The only one allowed to bear a Moore heir is your sister.”

Ivy only nodded obediently. Her greatest wish was to care for Grandma. She never wanted a child—especially with a man she didn’t love.

Even if Landon Moore was Harbor City’s most eligible heir—the man every noble lady wanted—she didn’t feel much of anything.

Her mother also told her about Shannon Lynn. Shannon’s parents were Mr. Moore Sr.’s close friends. Before they passed away, they entrusted their daughter to him. Around twelve or thirteen, Shannon moved into the Moore household. She and Landon were, you could say, childhood sweethearts.

Landon always doted on this “sister,” and rumor had it his feelings for her weren’t sibling‑like at all. Mrs. Moore, afraid Landon might truly end up with Shannon, agreed to the Hayes–Moore alliance marriage.

After the wedding, Ivy took very good care of Landon. If she was going to do the job, she would be a five‑star employee.

Outside, the gossip mill said Ivy loved Landon madly—so much that she’d swallow any humiliation. In Landon’s heart, however, Shannon always came first.

When Shannon studied abroad, Landon video‑called her every day. He even flew out once a month to visit. His black card was hers to swipe. Luxury purchases piled into literal mountains.

Ivy treated Landon the way Landon treated Shannon.

He didn’t sleep well, so there was always a special calming incense burning in his bedroom—hand‑blended by Ivy. He worked through meals, so she cooked breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and sent his lunch to the office herself. She learned to make nutritionally balanced meals, how to use natural herbs to benefit his health, how to massage away fatigue.

If he called, she came—no matter the hour. If he drank until late, she drove to pick him up. Whatever time he came home, the bathwater waited at the perfect temperature.

Even a picky man like Landon couldn’t find fault with her.

Gradually, the men around Landon envied him for having Such a wife. Landon’s gaze toward Ivy shifted from frosty to neutral, then started caring. He began buying her gifts. Asking about her day. A few times he came to her room drunk. They crossed that line. After that, he climbed to her bed more and more often.

Sometimes, Ivy wondered if Landon had started to treat her as a real wife.

But it didn’t last. Shannon Lynn returned after graduation.

That was when Ivy’s hard days truly began.