Not Your Stand-in Wife

Last life, he paid ten grand to make me his wife. This life, he'd hold out fifty million just to beg me back.

Seven years of marriage, and when he died, he left every last cent to my best friend. And me, the real wife, the one whose name was on the license? They threw me out on the street.

I died under the wheels of a car. Alone. Then I opened my eyes. I was sitting in that same restaurant again. The white tablecloth. The glass of wine I hadn't touched.

Across from me, my best friend was glowing, so pleased with herself, ready to marry me off to Cassius Sinclair, the man who'd raised her like family. Ivy League. CEO.

The man who owned half of New York. I set down my fork and looked at the husband who'd spent seven years using me as his standin.

This time, I was going to burn the two of them to the ground. Too late. Chapter 1 "Sorry.

There's already someone I'm in love with." The second the words left my mouth, the table went dead silent. Cassius stopped midcut, the knife hovering over Selene's steak.

Selene's head snapped up, her eyes wide. "Wren, since when do you have someone?

Why don't I know about him?" I set down my fork and let a small smile curl my lips. "Things I'm not sure about, I don't go around announcing." "I don't buy it." She decided it on the spot. "You're just making up excuses to wriggle out of this." Then she tilted her head, her voice going soft and sweet, like she was doing me a favor. "Wren, I'm not trying to put you down.

But look at you. Twenty years old and you've never even been on a real date.

You're not much to look at, sure, but honestly, lights off, we're all the same." A beat. "And you still can't land a boyfriend.

You know why?" In my last life, I was too stupid to hear it. Concern like that is just a knife going in slow.

But I played along. "Why?" "Because your standards are a joke next to what you actually bring to the table." She was beaming now. "Look at Cassius. Ivy League.

CEO of the Sinclair Group. Every woman in this city wants to be his wife.

If you weren't my best friend, you think I'd ever hand him to you?" Beside her, Cassius laughed under his breath, that indulgent, longsuffering sound a man makes for a girl he can't say no to. "So eager to find me a wife?" he said.

Selene huffed. "Don't act like you don't know. The family wants you locked into some strategic match. So I figured, better my best friend than a stranger moving into our house.

Why hand it to an outsider?" She said it like it was the most reasonable thing in the world. Cassius raised an eyebrow. Didn't correct her. Which was its own kind of yes.

And then, finally, he turned to look at me. I'll say this much for him. Cassius wears a plain black sweater better than any man I've ever met. Sleeves pushed to the forearms.

A Rolex Submariner on his wrist. I knew that watch. Selene bought it for her boyfriend. He thought it was beneath him, so she turned around and gave it to Cassius.

Something another man had tossed aside, and Cassius held onto it until the day he died. Sometimes I actually marveled at how devoted he could be.

To all the wrong things. "Wren." He watched me. "What are you thinking?" I finished the last of my wine. "I think I already told you.

There's someone I'm in love with." Cassius said nothing.

His long fingers picked the knife back up, cut a clean piece of steak, and fed it to Selene like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Then, easy as anything: "I don't think I come up short, though." "Like Lena said. Plenty of women want to be Mrs. Sinclair. Choosing me is all upside for you.

No downside." "As for this thing you keep calling love—" He paused. "Wren. How much do you really think love is worth?" Charm first, blade second.

The move he used to close every deal. Too bad I wasn't the Wren from last life anymore. And too bad it was me who walked up to him first, all those years ago.

I let the silence stretch. Then I smiled. "You're right. Love isn't worth much." "But here's the other thing, Mr. Sinclair. I'm sorry to say it.

You're just not my type." The table went dead quiet all over again. Selene's smile froze on her face. The knife stopped moving in Cassius's hand. I didn't wait to see his face.

I set down my glass, stood, and walked out. Chapter 2 My phone lit up the whole way out. Selene, one text after another.

Selene: [Wren, what the HELL was that?] Selene: [My guardian is willing to marry you and you should be on your knees thanking me.

Have you looked in a mirror lately?] Selene: [I treated you like my best friend. This is how you pay me back?!] I didn't answer a single one. I just blocked her.

What surprised me was the next request. Cassius. Adding me himself. Cassius: [I'm willing to marry you only because of Lena.

Don't mistake it for interest.] Cassius: [Once we're married, I won't interfere with your private life.] I stared at the words, and the corner of my mouth curled.

For his precious ward, Cassius would bend himself into any shape. But I'd already spent one whole lifetime as their beard, the polite little cover they hid behind.

This time, they could play their games without me. I dropped the phone back into my pocket and flagged down a car to campus.

In the office, my advisor slid the residency papers across the desk. The overseas deployment. Her face was tight. "Wren. Are you sure about this?" "It's not New York out there.

You know how dangerous that deployment gets. Your parents—" She caught herself. I took the papers and nodded. "I know. But I've made up my mind.

I'm not changing it." Last life, I let Cassius rewrite everything I was supposed to be. Now, somehow, the universe had handed me a second draft. So I was going to fix it.

Walk the road I should have walked the first time. My advisor looked at me for a long moment, then let out a quiet breath and squeezed my shoulder. "All right.

I won't push." A pause. "You're like your parents, Wren. Every bit as good." I gave her a smile. My mother and father died five years ago.

An earthquake had torn through the overseas deployment zone. They were two of the most respected doctors in New York, and the second the call for help came in, they got on a plane.

I saw them off at the door the way I always did. I waited for them to come home. What came home was two boxes of ashes. I was fifteen. They died in an aftershock. They died heroes.

And I became an orphan. Here's something no one knows. Before Selene, I met Cassius first.

I was eighteen, working odd jobs to cover rent, running deliveries for the little shop downstairs.

The day I met him, the first hard rain of the year came down over the city, the roads swallowed in fog. I clipped the back of a luxury car.

The impact threw me clear and slammed me into the asphalt. My arm tore open. Bones broke in a few places. The pain pinned me flat to the ground. A crowd swelled around me.

Not one of them stepped in. Even the driver stayed behind the wheel. Only one man crouched down and reached for me.

All he said was, "Does it hurt?" And just like that, my eyes went hot. I cried until I couldn't breathe.

Because after fifteen, it had been so long since anyone asked whether I hurt. Whether I was tired. Cassius was the first. In my last life, he was also the last. So do I hate him?

I shouldn't. But I can't love him anymore either. Back in the dorm, I started packing for the posting three days out. There was one other intern on the same assignment.

His name was Soren. When the friend request popped up, I let out a soundless sigh. New York or the far side of the world. It didn't matter.

I could never quite untangle myself from the people in Selene's orbit. Because the man Selene was dating, the one she was going to marry, was Soren's older brother. Beckett Ashford.

Chapter 3 Beckett Ashford was a notorious playboy. In my last life, Beckett married Selene for the family behind her, not for love. Or so everyone said.

The Ashfords and the Sinclairs went back generations, old money on both sides.

And Cassius had paved her way himself: shares, property, a fortune worth a hundred and fifty million, all of it settled on her. Beckett cheated anyway.

Selene wouldn't leave, so she cried to Cassius every day. He lost his temper exactly once and put Beckett in a hospital bed for it. What he got back was three days of her silence.

Here's the funny part. In the end, Cassius came to me. He wanted me to put in a good word for him. With Selene. He loved her that much. And how low did that love drag him?

Low enough that one day he actually said it. "Wren. If you can get Lena to forgive me, I'll sleep with you. Give you a child." I wanted so badly to answer him. I don't need a child.

But nothing came out. It was the third year of our marriage. We never did sleep together. Because Selene showed up again.

The doorbell rang, and the man who was never anything but composed scrambled to get it.

She fell straight into his arms and buried her face in the crook of his shoulder, sobbing until her shoulders shook. "Cassius.

Beckett says he wants a divorce." "He's a monster!" Cassius's eyes went red with it. Like her pain was carving straight through him. I used to think about asking her, back then.

Do you know he's in love with you? I never could. I was too scared it would ruin what we had. Because I think she already knew.

She kept her eyes wide open and played blind, including the part where she pushed me at him. She knew exactly what she was doing. I came from nothing.

Easier to handle than some heiress with a name. Otherwise, how would she keep up all that quiet almostsomething with him, hiding behind the fact that he'd raised her?

She floated between the two of them. Beckett and Cassius. One she wanted, one who wanted her. Winning on every side. And I was the beard. The cover they hid behind. Willingly.

That's exactly what Soren called me, the first time we ever met. Flat. Sharp. No mercy in it. Once he'd accepted my request, the schedule came through. Three days out.

One last line at the bottom. Soren: [Three days. Ten sharp. Campus gate. I don't wait.] Me: [OK.] Nothing after that. The next morning, I didn't expect Cassius to show up.

The RollsRoyce sat at the campus gate. He stood beside it in a black overcoat, face carved from stone, those deep eyes flat and unreadable. Distant. Untouchable.

Every student who passed turned to look. I pretended not to see him. But a step before I could get past, he spoke. "I don't understand why you're this stubborn.

Why you're fighting me on the marriage this hard." "You're an adult now, Wren." "You should be able to see what's actually in your best interest." I stopped.

Let out a short, cold laugh.

Cut my eyes at him. "And I don't understand why it has to be me." "Just because Selene wants it?" So he'd steamroll everyone else's wishes to make it happen.

On what grounds, exactly? "Cassius.

I don't want any part of whatever you and Selene have going on." "I just want the two of you to stay the hell away from me." Chapter 4 I turned to go.

His hand came up and stopped me again. Then he pulled a check from his pocket. "A deal that won't close just means the number isn't high enough." "Marry me, Wren.

The fifty million is yours." I looked down at it. Laughed without a sound. Fifty million. Last life, Cassius married me for ten grand. Why ten grand?

Because Selene decided it. "Cassius, Wren's my best friend. Just give her a little something.

She'll be living off you anyway, and handing her real money would only make things messy." I've never wanted much. I was used to earning my own way.

And if I'd never met Cassius, ten grand was about what a regular guy pays to get married. So I didn't think twice about it. Now it just makes me want to laugh.

Nobody treasures the thing that drops into their lap. It's only what stays out of reach that people will burn themselves down to get. The way Cassius did, with Selene.

He gave her his whole life. Spent himself down to nothing. When the stomach cancer was eating him alive, his last wish was to see her one time. And where was Selene?

Cozying up to Beckett. Handing over every Sinclair deal she could get her hands on. No strings. No hesitation. "Generous of you, Mr. Sinclair." "Shame.

I'm not interested in doing business with you." After Wren left, Cassius didn't move. He stood where he was, and something in his chest pulled tight.

He slid the check back into his pocket. He hadn't expected her to say no. It was fifty million.

A smart person could vault clean out of the life they were born into with money like that. But nothing about her made sense to him. Was marrying him really so impossible to stomach?

The first time Selene tried to introduce them, he'd turned it down. Then he saw her photo.

And for reasons he couldn't name, he kept feeling like he'd seen that face somewhere before. Today was only the second time he'd met Wren in person. She was too rational.

Too cleareyed. When she looked at him, nothing moved behind her eyes. Not one ripple. He told himself it wasn't supposed to be like this. Then what was it supposed to be like?

He couldn't work it out. He only knew the ache kept sharpening. Some part of him said to reach out and take hold of her. For Selene. Or maybe for himself.

A while later, Selene's message came in. Selene: [Cassius, just get her into bed already. Make it a done deal.] Selene: [I can record it on the sly and hold it over her.

Then she'll HAVE to say yes.] Cassius read the two lines. His brow drew tight. The ache got worse.

The night before I left, I was going through my papers one more time, checking for anything missing. Then. Bang. The dorm door flew open on a kick.

My head snapped up, straight into Cassius's eyes. Something dark and vicious sitting in them. He crossed the room in a few strides and caught my wrist.

Before I could get a word out, he was hauling me toward the door. He threw the car open and shoved me inside. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" He didn't answer.

He slammed the door, gunned the engine, and tore off. Before long, he pulled up outside a nightclub. "Get out," he said, cold.

I backed away on instinct. "What do you actually want from me?!" "You don't know what I want?" he shot back, the anger still live in his voice. Chapter 5 I frowned.

The next second, he hauled me out of the car. He wasn't gentle about it. My left leg twisted under me as I hit the ground, and the pain drove straight to the bone.

I sucked in a breath before I could stop myself. Cassius frowned. Something complicated moved behind his eyes. Then the anger swallowed it whole. "Drop the act.

You're overselling it." I said nothing. I didn't understand what he meant until he shoved open the door to a private VIP room. Crystal light spilled low and hazy over everything.

Neon bled through a fog of smoke. A man sat in the middle of the couch, elegant, careless, a cigarette between his teeth.

Off to one side sat Selene, her clothes in disarray, her eyes cried red. And on the floor, three men. On their knees. Begging. Blood running down their faces.

I didn't have to guess what had happened in here. But what did any of it have to do with me? I looked at Selene.

She darted a guilty glance my way, then sniffled, her voice cracking. "Wren, I know you don't like me getting involved in your love life.

But you—" "We've been best friends for years.

Did you really have to send men to humiliate me?" Something cold slid down my spine. "I sent men to humiliate you?" "Wasn't it you who texted me to come here?!" Selene shot to her feet and threw her phone down on the table.

There it was, plain as day. Messages sent from my number. Cassius's gaze settled on me now too. And me. All at once, I went calm.

Because my account was still logged in on Selene's phone. Which meant she could text herself from it. Easily. On my end, there was nothing. No messages at all. Prove my innocence?

How? Cassius would just decide I'd deleted them. But proof didn't actually matter.

Cassius only ever believed what he wanted to believe. "Part of me hoped it wasn't you," he said at last. "But you've disappointed me, Wren." I just smiled. Thin and cold.

Then I watched him cross to Selene, bend down, and lift her into his arms. He spoke to the man who'd stayed silent this whole time. "Beckett. She's all yours.

I'm taking Lena home." The man called Beckett raised a brow and agreed. Cassius passed me on his way out, disgust plain on his face.

Four words, low and final. "You brought this on yourself." He didn't look back. The door clicked shut. On the floor, all three men lifted their heads at once and looked at me.

Greedy. Rank. Giving off a stench I could almost taste. "Miss Wren. So sorry about this." Beckett's voice stayed lazy. Unbothered.

I raised my eyes, calm, and set my phone faceup on the table. He glanced down. Saw the 911 already dialed on the screen.

Something surprised flickered through his eyes. "Guess I underestimated you." I walked out of the club. It was already past midnight. The night air came in cool.

Beckett fell into step behind me. "Miss Wren. That little setup back there really wasn't her finest work." "When Selene came to me for help, I figured I'd just watch the show.

I had no plans to step in." "Just now, I only wanted to see how far you'd actually take it." The corner of my mouth curled, mocking. I didn't answer him.

I flagged a cab and was about to climb in. Then Beckett drawled, easy as ever, "Ren says don't be late tomorrow." "Safe travels, you two." I went still.

By the time I turned back, all I could see was Beckett's back. Chapter 6 I didn't know much about him