His Decoy Bride

I'm a fraud.

But I fell for helplessly Manhattan's golden heir, Ethan Grant.

To win him, I spun an entire universe of liesfaking an heiress background, crafting an elaborate, untouchable past.

I played the part of old money, of European finishing schools and trust funds.

Foolishly, I convinced myself that if I was careful enough, perfect enough, I could make Ethan Grant into loving me forever.

Until tonight, I overheard him talking to his buddies at the club,

"Man, I almost feel bad for your wife. Kneeling in the snow because she can't get pregnant? But Ethan you had a vasectomy years ago."

Ethan's eyes flickered, a shadow of something that wasn't quite remorse.

"I promised my late brother's widow. Her son will be the sole Grant heir. Olivia can't carry a child."

His friend let out a low whistle.

"Still hung up on Chloe Bennett, then?"

"Obviously. Remember how my mother eviscerated Chloe when she married my brother? Just a waitress from Queens. Marrying Oliviaanother beautiful fraudwas the perfect distraction. It diverted all my mother's rage."

"Damn. Your poor wife has no idea you exposed her little scam to your entire family from the very beginning."

Inside the lounge, Ethan swirled the bourbon in his glass.

He was silent for a long moment.

"Chloe's background was too vulnerable. I needed a decoy my mother would find utterly despicable. Someone so unworthy' she'd forget all about targeting Chloe."

His friend whistled again, impressed.

"Cold. But hey, Olivia did fake her way into your life. Though the way she looks at you? That girl's genuinely in love with you."

Ethan's jaw tightened almost imperceptibly.

"Everything I do is to protect Chloe and her son's future."

"As for Olivia? We both got what we wanted from this arrangement."

His friend leaned in, grinning. "If you're so hung up on Chloe, why not just divorce Olivia and marry her now? Your brother's gone. Who cares?"

"I'm not divorcing Olivia," Ethan shot back instantly.

Too fast.

He took a slow sip of his drink, masking the reaction.

"I'll send Chloe and the boy abroad. When he comes of age, he'll take over Grant Industries."

"Seriously? People will think he's your kid!"

Ethan's voice dropped to an icy calm. "I'll never have children."

"Chloe's boy... is the only heir I will ever acknowledge."

The men around him erupted in knowing cheers.

I stood frozen outside the curtain, the world tilting on its axis.

So that was the truth.

It explained everything.

Every frigid family dinner at the Grant estate where I was treated as invisible.

Ghosted by staff.

The only one who ever acknowledged me was Ethan's mother, with that same icy question at every occasion, "Pregnant yet?"

And when I said no, it meant the winter garden.

Me, kneeling on frozen flagstones until the cold seeped into my bones and my knees lost all feeling.

Ethan always came.

He'd rush back from meetings, his face a mask of frantic concern, rubbing warmth into my frozen hands.

I'd always smile into his coat collar.

"I'm okay. Really."

They all knew.

The entire family knew I was a fraud.

I looked down at the ultrasound photo in my clutch. A tiny bean. Our secret.

Gently, I traced the blurry shape.

Then, with a slow, deliberate finality, I crumpled the paper into a tight ball.

I let it drop from my fingers into a nearby crystal trash bin, nestled among the ice melt and lemon rinds.

I wanted out.

The OB-GYN's words hung in the sterile air, cold and final.

"Olivia, I need to be veryy clear. Given the extent of your uterine scarring, terminating this pregnancy It could mean never conceiving again."

My throat tightened, sealing off any response.

I knew what it was to be unwanted.

When my parents split, my mother took my charming, effortless sister.

My father kept his heir'my younger brother.

Only my grandmother had ever called me her treasure.

Then she died.

I became a weed in an empty field. Ignored. Unloved.

Until Ethan.

He was the first person who saw me in a crowded room.

Those early momentshis hand settling possessively on the small of my back, his voice a low murmur just for me, "Dance with me?"made me dare to dream of a baby.

A tiny life woven from the two of us.

I wanted to pour every drop of love my grandmother had given me, every fragile scrap of affection Ethan offered, into that child.

Now I knew the truth.

He didn't love me.

He had used me as a shield.

I gripped the cold edge of the exam table, my knuckles bleaching white.

My phone buzzed, shattering the silence.

Chloe Bennett.

Ethan's brother's widow.

The beautiful, haunting ghost had always stood between us.

"Olivia," her voice was cool, assured. "We need to talk."

Chloe stirred her latte in the opulent hotel lounge, her perfectly manicured nails tapping a rhythm against the fine porcelain.

"Was it your idea?" she began, not looking at me.

" Sending me and my son away?"

"No." The word was flat.

She slid a black American Express card across the gleaming marble tabletop.

"The divorce Ethan."

"Five million. It's more than enough for a fraud like you to disappear."

I pushed it back.

"Not interested."

Her eyebrow arched.

"What do you want, then? Ethan?"

She let out a light, cruel laugh.

"Do you know how he chased me in college? He once waited two hours in a blizzard for my favorite coffee. Carried it inside his coat the whole way back so it would stay hot. He planted an entire street with ginkgo trees because I mentioned offhandedly that I liked them once."

A bitter, nostalgic smile touched her lips.

"I chose his brother, of course.Harrison. Grant Industries' eldest son? A much better catch."

"The day I married Harrison? Ethan stood outside the church all night in the rain. Came down with pneumonia. Looked like death warmed over when I saw him next."

"Now Harrison's gone" She leaned in, her expensive perfume suddenly cloying. "It's time to set things right. Don't you think?"

My knuckles ached, clenched white around my coffee cup.

Chloe's smile sharpened, seeing my tension.

"Still clinging to some pathetic hope? Let's settle this, then."

She pulled out her phone, placing it on the table between us like a weapon. "Right now. We both call Ethan."

"I'll tell him our old dog. That he's listless and won't eat."

"You tell him you have a 104-degree fever. That you're dizzy, maybe passing out."

"If he comes to me," she stated, her eyes gleaming, "you sign divorce papers tonight."

"If he picks you?" Her eyes glittered with challenge. "I board a plane with my son tomorrow and never look back."

"You in?"

The pain in my chest constricted, hardening into something desperate and reckless.

"Deal."

Chloe gestured grandly. "You first. If I call and he rushes over immedeiately, he might miss your call altogether."

The phone rang in my ear. And rang.

Finally, a clipped, professional voice answered, "Mrs. Grant? Ethan's in a critical board meeting for the Asia-Pacific merger. Can I assist you?"

His assistant. Charles.

My voice felt thick, foreign. "I'm driving think I have a fever. I feel dizzy. Can Ethan"

A pause on the line, filled with the sound of keyboard clicks.

"My apologies, Mrs. Grant. The signing ceremony is underway. Mr. Grant is completely unavailable."

"I'll arrange for a car to take you to the hospital immediately."

Click.

The dial tone was a hollow buzz in my ear.

I stared at the blank screen of my phone, the world receding into a numb, silent hum.

Across the table, Chloe smirked.

She picked up her own phone, dialing slowly, theatrically.

Her voicetransformed, dripping with honey-sweet concern, laced with just the right amount of panicked worry.

"Ethan? It's Scout... he's acting so strange... he won't eat his dinner, he's just lying there..."

His reply was instant, his voice sharp and clear even through the speaker, "What's your address? I'm on my way. Charles, clear my entire afternoon."

Chloe glanced at me, a queen granting a audience, playing at being magnanimous. "If you're swamped, I'm sure Charles could just"

"Nothing's more important."

The pain in my chest was a physical blow, stealing my breath.

Chloe's smile was a victor's banner. "Need more proof? Let's make it utterly undeniable"

Before I could move, she snatched my phone from the table.

Her thumbs flew over the screen,

Ethan, just got T-boned. Hurt so bad.

She hit send.

The seconds stretched, thick and syrupy with dread.

I stared at the dark screen of my phone. Praying for it to light up.

Five minutes.

Ten.

Nothing. The silence from my device was more deafening than any crash.

Chloe slid the black card back across the table. "You lost."

A laugh bubbled up, harsh and sudden, chased by hot, shameful tears.

I thought I was a master con artist, playing the long game.

Turns out, I was just the punchline in a joke everyone else knew the setup to.

"You're right." I whispered, the fight draining out of me entirely. "I lost."

"Keep the money."

"The divorce papers will be at your lawyer's office by morning."