The Fake Wedding Was For Me, The Real One For Her Chapter 03

The Fake Wedding Was For Me, The Real One For Her Chapter 03

“Julian hates hot showers—he needs the water exactly at body temperature. Clara, make sure you get it right for him.”

“He loves wearing blue—but for his underwear? Trust me, heather gray is his absolute favorite.”

“Oh, and he is a heavy cuddler. Clara, scoot down a little when he wraps his arm around you—otherwise he’ll crush you in his sleep.”

A relentless list of demands. Dozens of intimate habits. Every single one more private than the last—the kind of details you’d only know after sharing someone’s bed.

Julian lunged for the control panel to cut the audio. I caught his arm and held him back.

I listened to every agonizing second. When it finally ended, I turned to him and mouthed two phrases.

“It’s okay.”

“Thank her.”

All the blood rushed from his face.

“Clara, listen to me—she’s bluffing. I barely even see her.”

He was talking too fast, tripping over his own excuses. I didn’t give him a single reaction — just turned and looked at my parents standing behind me.

“Chloe’s voice is so lively,” Mom said, completely unfazed. “Even on a recording.”

Nobody said a word about the content. Not one person. But the second a few guests started whispering—speculating whether the Sterling family had a secret love child, whether this other girl was a mistress—Dad grabbed the microphone.

“The young woman you just heard is someone our family took under our roof years ago.”

“She’s adopted, but we’ve always treated her like blood. She’s a bit of a prankster—and she and Julian grew up together, so she knows his quirks. That’s all.”

Chloe couldn’t be touched—not by a single whisper. But the public humiliation she’d just put me through? Dad brushed it away in two sentences.

Pitying looks rippled through the crowd. Julian’s eyes stayed locked on me the whole time.

He was looking for a crack — anger, tears, anything. He didn’t find one.

I moved through the rest of the ceremony on autopilot. Smiled on cue. Posed where they told me. Gave them absolutely nothing to complain about.

Julian was the one unraveling.

The ceremony ended. I’d barely stepped backstage to change before the toasts when Julian caught my arm and spun me around.

“Clara, what is your problem?”

I signed it slowly, deliberately. “Nothing’s wrong.”

“Everything’s fine.”

“Don’t do this. I already explained it—why are you acting crazy?”

He stopped mid-sentence. My eyes had dropped to his ring.

The inner band didn’t say Clara and Julian. It read: Chloe and Julian.

He clenched his fist to hide it, too late. But the fight had already left me. I looked at him and signed.

“How long, Julian?”

“How long have you been with her?”

His gaze slid away from mine. When he finally spoke, his voice was completely detached.

“What do you mean, me and her? There is no ‘other woman’. You two are the exact same person.”

“You share the same body, so what does it matter?”

My vision blurred. The tears came before I could stop them.

“You told me we were different. YOU said you could tell us apart.”

“And what good does that do me?” Julian exploded.

“You expect me to date someone for half a month and then watch her vanish into thin air? Every single time?”

“Besides, you share the exact same face. She’s just… vibrant. She has a voice. She can actually speak to me…”

He couldn’t look at me. When he spoke again, any trace of guilt was gone.

“Clara, stop playing the victim. I slept with your body. Technically, I haven’t done anything wrong.”

I hit him. Open palm, full force, a sickening crack echoing through the room.

Arthur, Mom, and Dad burst through the door a second later, dragging me back.

“Are you out of your damn mind? Do you want to ruin this engagement?” Mom’s hand cracked across my face before I could blink.

“With your condition, who else do you think would ever put up with you?”

Before she could say another word, a waiter burst through the door.

“Mr. Sterling, Mrs. Sterling—there’s a man outside. Says he’s some kind of spiritualist and he needs to speak with the family. Now.”

“He keeps saying something about two souls, one body—that they need to be separated. Sent back to where they belong.”

“He said what?”

Every face in the room drained of color. I pressed my hands over my mouth, suffocating a laugh that sounded utterly unhinged.

The charade was over. The man who was going to erase me from this world had arrived.