Professional Stand In, Vanished After Her Return

After my sister moved abroad, the three men who were obsessed with her turned to me to be her stand-in.

The billionaire CEO bought me penthouses and luxury cars. The rebellious playboy held me close while singing love songs. The cold-blooded genius guided me through my thesis and prestigious competitions.

I knew their kindness was never meant for me. It was all for my sister.

I didn't let myself catch feelings. I simply worked hard at being a professional substitute until the day my sister returned to the States.

The moment she landed, I vanished without a trace.

Suddenly, they were the ones who couldn't let go.

I was my sister's shadow.

After Juno left for London, the first person to hunt me down was Fulton Price.

He took a drag from his cigarette and tossed a contract at me like it was a piece of trash.

"Sign it," he said, his voice cold. "I don't want to be the reason you're forced to drop out of college."

I signed it without a second thought.

The next was Jace Wylde.

He pulled up to the diner where I worked in a flashy orange Lamborghini and dragged me out.

He gripped my chin, staring at my face for a long time before muttering, "You really do look just like her."

"Do you want me to be her replacement?" I asked plainly.

He chuckled, a dark glint in his eyes. "That works."

The third was Silas Sterling.

He never explicitly used the word "stand-in."

But after Juno left, he mentored me through my research and competitions, often dazing off while staring at my face.

When people asked how I managed to land the most unreachable guy on campus, I had a simple answer.

"My face."

It was all thanks to my sister's face.

Aside from our looks, Juno and I were nothing alike.

She was bold, radiant, and a force of nature.

I was her polar oppositeDa soft, manipulative little thing with a voice like honey.

To be a better substitute, I tried to mimic her every move.

The men weren't satisfied.

Fulton sneered, calling my acting clumsy and boring.

Jace laughed until he cried, thanking me for being the "discount version" that provided him with so much entertainment.

Silas would just stare at me in silence for a few seconds before calling me disgusting.

I decided to rethink my strategy.

The stand-in market was getting competitive, and if I didn't upgrade my skills, my face alone wouldn't be enough.

I noticed other girls were already getting plastic surgery to look like my sister.

After a night of deep thought, I had an epiphany.

They loved Juno and wanted her to love them back, but Juno was a career-driven queen who didn't care for romance.

Me? I'd been a heartbreaker since I was twelve, and I knew exactly how to make men spin in circles.

If they were missing love, I would give them a masterpiece of it.

Now, it's my second year as their shadow.

Fulton called me over while I was at Jace's place, helping him level up in a video game.

"Where are you?" Fulton asked.

Jace was too immersed in the game to look my way, so I answered honestly. "Playing games at a friend's house."

Fulton hung up and sent me an address.

It was a newly opened art gallery.

I rolled my eyes.

Who goes to see art in the middle of the night?

What a totalD

My phone buzzed with a notification.

"Venmo: You received 0-05,000 from Fulton Price."

What a total masterpiece of an art connoisseur! Only a true genius would appreciate art at this hour.

Just as I was celebrating, Jace pulled me into his lap.

"Who was that?" he asked carelessly.

"My dad won the lottery," I lied. "He wants me to come home and celebrate."

Jace clearly didn't believe me, but he didn't press the issue. He kept his arm around me until the round ended.

He wasn't easy to fool, though. As I headed for the door to put on my shoes, he spoke up.

"Is it Silas?"

I had the most overlap with Silas at school, so it made sense for Jace to suspect him.

I nodded smoothly. "There's an issue with the lab data. I didn't want you to overthink it, so I lied."

He gave me a half-smile. "Why bother lying? Do you think I actually care?"

I bit my lip, putting on my best heartbroken expression. "Sorry. It won't happen again."

I turned and left before he could say another word.

When I first asked him if he wanted a stand-in, it was for one reason.

He was hot.

He was as wild as his name, and every inch of him hit my aesthetic perfectly.

But honestly, after two years, even a face like that gets old.

Plus, I was getting exhausted.

At first, they were respectful and didn't call me much. Our meetings never lasted more than thirty minutes.

Maybe I was too good at my job, because lately, they were becoming increasingly clingy.

With graduation approaching, managing my schedule was becoming a nightmare.

I decided I'd stop playing with Jace after this season ended.

My Uber dropped me off, and I saw the CEO standing tall under a dim streetlight.

I immediately plastered a sweet smile on my face.

I threw myself into his arms and used my softest, most high-pitched voice.

"I missed you so much! Did you miss me too, baby?"

He looked down at me, his fingers tracing my features in the air. For a moment, the cold corporate machine showed a flicker of human emotion.

"Very much," he said seriously.

"You mean you miss my sister," I added silently in my head.

Fulton seemed like the hardest to handle, but he was actually the easiest.

I clung to him, rubbing my face against his chest. He didn't pull away, but when I tried to grab his hand, he flinched.

Every billionaire has a quirk, and Fulton's was famous.

He hated being touched, especially skin-to-skin contact. He was always covered up and had a collection of gloves at home.

It took me two years just to get him to let me hug him through his clothes.

Yet, I had seen him holding Juno's hand, carefully tending to a small scratch she had gotten.

I stepped back obediently and hooked my arm over his sleeve. "So, why the sudden late-night gallery visit?"

He remained as tight-lipped as usual and led me inside. That's where I found my answer.

Juno had released a new series of paintings.

The CEO stared at the canvas, lost in thought.

I was so bored.

I stifled a yawn and looked around the room.

It wasn't just this one piece; almost the entire gallery was filled with my sister's work.

Juno had boundless energy. Painting wasn't even a hobby for her; she just did it when she had a spare moment.

The pieces were unfinished and, frankly, a bit of a mess. She probably never expected them to sell.

The buyer was obviously Fulton.

I looked at him and asked, "If I learned to paint, would you buy my work and hang it here?"

His expression remained cold. "Don't compare yourself to her."

Translation: You aren't worthy.

I pushed further, acting stubborn. "I'm not comparing. I just want someone to be that good to me. Is that impossible?"

A flash of annoyance crossed his eyes. He finally looked at me, his voice freezing. "If you don't want to be here, go home."

I forced tears to well up in my eyes. "I'm not being difficult! I justD"

"Get out."

As expected, Fulton cut off my scripted nonsense and kicked me out.

I scrambled away instantly.

I was exhausted and had class the next morning. Who has time to watch you pine over my sister?

What a freak.

"Venmo: You received 0-05,000 from Fulton Price."

What a brilliant, handsome, and generous man.

I loved him so much.

After that night, Fulton and Jace left me alone for a while. I was able to focus on studying with Silas, and my grades improved significantly.

Once finals were over, I treated Silas to dinner at a high-end restaurant.

I never expected to run into Jace there.

He wasn't alone; he was with a woman, and they were being extremely intimate.

I took the opportunity to snap several photos.

The season was over, and I had my grades. I had been looking for an excuse to dump him, and here it was!

When I got back, I showed him the photos.

He didn't even flinch. He just lounged on his sofa, a mocking smile on his lips. "You can hang out with Silas, but I can't see other people?"

So he saw us.

Then why didn't he say anything?

I suddenly realizedDhe didn't love me, so of course, he didn't care.

He wasn't playing hard to get; he just wasn't playing at all.

As I was thinking, he stood up and loomed over me. "So, in what capacity are you asking me this? Are you my girlfriend?"

"Do you love me? Do you want us to be official?"

Hell no.

A guy like him was fun for a fling, but a nightmare for a relationship.

During our entire "arrangement," Jace had never stopped flirting with others.

One minute he'd be singing a soul-searching ballad to me, and the next he'd be whispering sweet nothings to some girl at a club.

His devotion to my sister was pretty superficial, too. He called her his "guiding star," but his bed was never empty.

He acted like a gentleman in front of her but was a total player behind her back.

Still, I had to admit he had the charm to back it up.

He was a rich kid, generous with his cash, and knew exactly how to make a woman feel special. All his exes spoke highly of him.

Except me.

He always said hurtful things just to see my reaction. No matter what I did, he laughed, making me feel less like a stand-in and more like a stand-up comedian.

I thought he just viewed me as entertainment, but his tone and the way he looked at me made me uneasy.

Was this guy actually considering making me his girlfriend?

My silence and clear resistance made his smile fade. His face turned stone-cold. "Get out."

He stared at me, his expression darkening, before he suddenly burst out laughing.

"I was just asking. Did you actually take it seriously?"

"You're a substitute. Don't get ahead of yourself."

I breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, I played my part. I let my eyes turn red. "You always do this. Do you think I don't have a heart? Do you think I don't hurt?"

Before he could respond, I fired off my prepared speech.

"Jace, I regret this. I should never have gotten involved with you. I don't want to be a stand-in anymore."

"Don't call me again."

I ran out of his house like I was sprinting for an Olympic gold medal.

I was terrified I'd start laughing if I stayed one second longer.

Billionaires have their quirks, and so do I.

I loved pretending to be the tragic lead in a romance novel. I loved the feeling of being unwanted and the thrill of the final breakup.

It was such a rush.

But the rush was temporary.

The cleanup was going to be a pain.

Jace was always the one to do the dumping. Since I beat him to it, he wasn't going to let it go easily.

Silas was tutoring me at my place when Jace showed up to corner me.

Silas was a workaholic, and he forced me to be one too.

I originally only let him get close so I could get help with my exams and competitions, but he took it so seriously that I felt guilty being lazy.

He wasn't doing this out of the goodness of his heart, though. He was arrogant and looked down on anyone he deemed "intellectually inferior."

I was part of that "inferior" group of average people.

The only reason he endured my presence and praised my "talent" was because of my sister.

He didn't want the sister of the campus legend to be a failure.

He was good, though.

In two years, he had helped me secure the top spot in my class and a fast-track to grad school.

After finishing a problem, he dazed off while looking at me again. I tilted my head to an angle that made me look more like Juno.

His gaze was intense, completely at odds with his cold demeanor.

The silence was shattered by a loud pounding on my door.

I knew it was Jace.

Silas asked who it was. I told him it was just a neighbor complaining about parking.

He started to get up to check, but I practically pinned him down to keep him from moving.

When I opened the door, I was met with Jace's furious, shadowed face.

He sneered. "Taking your time, huh? Who's in there? Someone you're hiding?"

He pushed past me like a wolf marking his territory.

Silas, hearing the commotion, walked out of the bedroom.

The two men locked eyes.

Jace let out a sharp, angry laugh.

My skin crawled. I took a quiet step back.

Silas pulled me behind him. "Jace, where are your manners? This is breaking and entering."

Jace tried to grab my arm, but Silas blocked him.

Jace gripped Silas's wrist, his voice dripping with venom. "I'm looking for my girlfriend. What's it to you?"

Silas looked back at me. "Do you like him?"

I instinctively prepared my tragic smile.

But then I rememberedDI wasn't a stand-in anymore. I didn't owe Jace anything.

I bit my lip and hid further behind Silas.

"I don't know him. He's making things up."

Jace looked like he wanted to murder someone. His eyes were actually turning red. "Jade, get over here. We need to talk."

Being a stand-in wasn't exactly something people bragged about.

I was betting that Jace wouldn't dare reveal the truth in front of Silas, who also loved my sister.

And Silas was a man of integrity; he had never explicitly told me I was a replacement.

As far as anyone knew, Silas and I were clean. Jace wouldn't suspect a thing.

I stood my ground. "I have nothing to say to you."

I grabbed Silas's sleeve and whimpered, "Silas, he's scaring me. Should we call the police?"

Jace's face went blacker than coal. He let out a dark chuckle.

His dangerous gaze landed on me.

"You little schemer. You told me I was the only one you loved. Was that all a lie?"

He looked ready to kill Silas first and then me.

I acted confused. "Why are you so angry? Don't you remember what you said when I told you that?"

Back then, he had laughed in my face, telling me my lines were outdated.

He had warned me never to say those things while wearing my sister's face because it felt "wrong."

Jace clearly remembered. He looked momentarily caught off guard.

I stood tall for a second before shrinking back behind Silas again.

Silas seemed satisfied with my performance. He squeezed my hand to comfort me.

Then he looked Jace in the eye. "Please leave."

Suddenly, my phone rang. Both men looked at the screen.

I had Fulton's name saved as his full name.

I scrambled to decline the call, but my finger slipped and hit "answer."

"I'm outside your building."

"Come down."

He hung up.

His voice was quiet, but it felt like a thunderclap in the room.

I was trapped between two men, and a third was waiting downstairs.

I was dead.

But maybe there was a way out.

Fulton's voice had sounded weird todayDheavy and tired.

Maybe they hadn't recognized it.

I looked at my phone and acted panicked, grabbing my bag.

The sudden shift left both men stunned.

As I tried to leave, Jace blocked my path. "Where are you going in such a rush?"

I forced myself to cry on command and pushed him. "Let me go! My dad is in trouble!"

Jace immediately softened. "Don't cry. I'll go with you."

"No! Just get out of the way!"

Jace insisted on coming along, so I turned to Silas for help.

Silas stared at me with his dark, unreadable eyes for a few seconds before stepping in to hold Jace back.

I didn't know if he had seen Fulton's name on my screen, but since he was helping me, I could worry about that later.

Right now, I had to deal with my "Sugar Daddy."

I hurried into Fulton's car, gasping for air. "I'm so sorry! About the other night, ID"

"Sign it."

I froze.

Fulton had his eyes closed. His long lashes cast shadows over his tired, bruised eyes.

He looked fragile and exhausted.

I looked at the documents next to him.

If I signed, two downtown penthouses and three luxury cars would be mine.

There was also a check.

It was blank.

He was telling me to write my own price.

My voice trembled. "What is this for?"

"Juno is coming back next month."

He opened his eyes and looked at me with zero emotion. "It's time to settle the bill."