Chapter 1 One

Amaya’s POV

The smile on my face faded the minute I saw Dorothy.

My step sister was leaning against the kitchen doorway, smiling mischievously at me. 

Dorothy never smiled at me. At least not when something good was happening in my life.

Lowering my gaze back to the sink I had been cleaning before she walked in, I tried to think if there was any bad news I was supposed to receive. But everything was fine.

The doctors had just cleared Bernard's surgery as a total success. He had been more than thankful, holding my hand and promising to make me the happiest woman alive once he fully recovered.

I had literally given him a piece of myself. So what could possibly be the problem?

Miriam, my stepmom, joined her daughter by the kitchen door. She cleared her throat and I looked up just in time to see her exchanging a knowing, cruel look with Dorothy.

“The universe must really hate some certain girl,” Dorothy began, her voice dripping with mock pity. “If not, why would she give her kidney to her dear boyfriend, hoping he would marry her. Only to be pushed to marry the dirty brother?”

They burst into a round of laughter. My hands froze on the plate I was drying. My head started spinning, but the last thing I wanted to do was give them the satisfaction of showing my panic.

"What are you talking about?" I asked coldly.

“Oh, you haven’t heard, Amaya darling?” My stepmom purred, “About your marriage to no other than Benjamin Bavarish?”

I turned around and rolled my eyes. I know my stepmom hates me, but what would it take for her to get my fiancé's name right?

"His name is Bernard, not Benjamin," I replied, picking up another plate to dry. "Get it right."

They burst into an even louder round of laughter. Sensing that something was terribly wrong, I dropped the towel and faced them fully.

"Shut up, Amaya," Dorothy snapped, her eyes gleaming. "Don't imply that my mom doesn't know what she’s talking about. She knows the twin you’ve been dating since high school is Bernard. She also knows that the one you’re actually going to marry is Benjamin."

The ceramic plate slipped from my numb fingers and shattered on the floor into some tiny pieces. 

My stepmother might be a terrible woman, but she wasn’t a liar. She would never pull my leg about something this serious. I stared at their faces, desperately searching for any sign of a joke. But the twisted amusement in their matching gray eyes told me they were dead serious.

I ignored the broken plate and stormed out of the kitchen. While they continued laughing at me. 

“Don’t forget to come clean this mess once you’re are done crying!” My stepmom shouted after me, her laughter ringing down the hallway.

With each step I took toward my dad’s room, my blood boiled hotter. I burst through his door and found him sitting in his armchair, mindlessly reading an issue of Farmer’s Digest.

"Dad, tell me this is some sort of a sick joke," I said, tears finally spilling over my lashes. I didn't even care enough to wipe them away.

My dad sighed, looking everywhere but at my face. "I see your mother broke the news to you. Didn’t I tell her to wait?"

“So it’s true?” My voice cracked a bit more.

“What difference does it make? Aren’t they twins?” 

"How can you say that?! I’m in love with Bernard, not Benjamin!" I screamed at him, my heart fracturing in my chest. 

"That’s the exact thing I told Don Bavarish," he stammered, shuffling his papers nervously. "However, the Don said Bernard is no longer fit for the CEO position."

"Because he had a kidney transplant?!" I asked, completely dazed by how fast my life was turning upside down. And my father was just letting it happen.

"According to the doctor’s advice, doing anything strenuous will affect his health all over again. He can't run the company."

"Then what does marrying Benjamin have to do with it? I can still go ahead and marry Bernard regardless of his title!"

"Don Bavarish wants a responsible wife to tame his irresponsible son," my dad said miserably. "Benjamin is taking over the empire, but he needs to be grounded."

I gasped. My dad sounded so unbelievable right now. He was offering me up to a monster just to please his billionaire boss.

"You could have just said no, dad. Please, you have to say no!" Desperation clawed at my throat. I couldn't wrap my head around spending the rest of my life with a reckless playboy like Benjamin. "Please, fight for me!"

"He gave me no choice, Amaya!" my dad suddenly snapped, his weak voice shaking with fear. "It’s either you marry Benjamin, or I lose my job. And we would get kicked out of the farm by the end of the week. We would be completely homeless."

I stepped back, the air entirely knocked out of my lungs.

Before I could even process the suffocating weight of his words, my stepmother appeared in the doorway.

She leaned against the doorframe, a vicious smile plastered on her face. "Don't waste your breath crying, Amaya. You should be glad a Bavarish even wants you. Now, dry your tears and start packing. The wedding is in three days."

Three days?

The words echoed in my ears, deafening and violent. Three days to lose my freedom. Three days until I belonged to the community dickhead.

The room suddenly tilted. I tried to breathe, but my lungs refused to expand. Then my vision blurred and I collapsed into blackness.