The Girl They Replaced

The night before my wedding, I caught my fiancé, Miguel Sheffield, kissing the Newells' biological daughter in the garden. I stood there with my pregnancy test in hand, my chest hollow. The next day, the wedding went on. Flowers lined the red carpet. Guests lifted their champagne glasses. But the bells rang again and again, and the bride never showed. The daughter the Newells had raised by mistake left only her engagement ring on the vanity. Then she vanished. I moved overseas and raised my child alone. I cut off everyone from my past. Five years later, I came home. And one by one, they walked right back into my life. Chapter 1 I never thought my first case back in Hawthorne Bay would come from my best friend. Scratch that. My ex-best friend. The partners wanted to grow the firm, so they handed me the Hawthorne Bay office. "Wynna, you're our best attorney. You know Hawthorne Bay. You're perfect for this." I didn't say no. But they were wrong. Sure, I'd lived here. I'd also lost everything here. But five years can blur a lot. That part of my life was supposed to be dead and buried. Yeah. Not so much. On opening day, my past walked right through the door. Shawn Gonzalez stopped cold. "Nina? What are you doing here?" I kept my face blank and nodded toward the chair. "I'm the attorney here. Is that so shocking?" "Of course it is!" Shawn snapped. "You never even graduated college. How could you possibly..." He cut himself off. But I knew exactly what he meant. Five years ago, I'd been kicked out of school. With nowhere else to go, I stood in the pouring rain and begged him for help. "Why should I help you? We're not family. People should pay for what they do. Nina, I finally get why your brother never liked you. He has a sweet little sister like Yuna. Why would he protect a vicious girl who'll do anything to get what she wants?" That was when I understood. It didn't matter how much I explained. His heart was already with Yuna. Just like now. His eyes dragged over me, full of suspicion. "Did you buy your degree? You know that's illegal, right? Or did you sleep your way to the top again?" I sighed. "Mr. Gonzalez, unless you're here to discuss your case, I have work to do." I turned to leave, but Shawn rushed after me. Then the door opened. My assistant, Amy, stepped in, holding a little girl's hand. The second she saw me, Gigi ran over and threw her arms around me. "Mommy! It was my first day of school, and you didn't even pick me up!" I pinched her cheek. "My bad." Beside us, Shawn looked stunned. Then he grabbed my wrist. "You have a kid?" His eyes snapped to Gigi. "You had Miguel's baby behind his back?" Understanding flashed across his face. "So that's it. You had this kid to make Miguel change his mind? You disappeared for five years just to keep her as leverage? Too bad. He and Yuna have been married for years—" "You're wrong. She's my daughter. Mine." I was done. Gigi shrank behind me, and my face went cold. "Stop scaring my daughter. You came here about a case, not some five-year-old grudge. You're the Gonzalez heir. Your time matters. So does mine. And you've wasted enough of it." I looked at Amy, still frozen by the door. "Please show Mr. Gonzalez out. We have a banquet tonight." "Wait." Shawn stepped in front of me. His eyes flicked to Gigi and Amy. He frowned. "Nina, do you know how long your friends looked for you?" Then he reached for my hand. "Stop being stubborn. Come back with me. Everyone misses you." Chapter 2 Nina. Hearing him say my name still threw me. Friends? I laughed under my breath. Five years ago, after Yuna framed me and I broke down crying, I asked him to grab a drink so I could explain. "So now you're the victim? I'm with Yuna right now, comforting her. I don't have time for your lies." The boy I'd grown up with had left me behind. Before Miguel, I'd already known Shawn saw me as more than a friend. Every Christmas and Easter, he gave the other society girls the same gifts. Mine was different every year. Handmade. Because neither of us cared about jewelry or price tags. Even the way he said my name was different. With everyone else, he was polite and distant. Miss this. Miss that. But with me, it was always just "Nina." Back then, I was too young to know what to do with his feelings. By the time I figured out mine, Miguel was already in the picture. I still remembered the day Shawn caught Miguel and me kissing. He drank himself into the hospital with a stomach bleed. For a long time, I felt guilty. I kept wondering how to make us friends again. Turns out, I didn't have to. Because Yuna came back. At first, Shawn hated Yuna even more than I did. He thought she'd stolen everything from me. But after Yuna set me up again and again, he went from defending me, to staying quiet, to telling me to let it go. "Yuna had it rough out there. You've had this life for years. It's time you let her have a turn." That was it. The last place I had to put all that hurt was gone. After that, I just stared at the ceiling and let the tears slide down my face. "Nina." His voice softened. "When you ran out on the wedding, I thought you were just being dramatic. But then..." "But then I disappeared for five years," I said. "You've lived with that for five years, so keep living with it. Pretend I'm dead. You're good at it. "You threw away more than ten years of friendship like it meant nothing. So call today an accident. Or some old dream. "All I want is a quiet life with my daughter. I won't bother you, the Newells, or Miguel. You're all in my past." I turned and walked away. Shawn came after me, but the elevator doors slid shut first. I still heard him curse under his breath. I wasn't going anywhere. Now that I was back in Hawthorne Bay, we'd run into each other again. No need for him to panic. *** On the drive home, Gigi curled up in my arms. "Mommy, that guy was scary." I smiled. "Who was scarier? Him or Wyatt?" "Him, obviously." Gigi didn't hesitate. "Wyatt was always nice to me." Wyatt's name still made my eyes sting. Before I got out, I wiped them fast and passed Gigi to Amy. "Keep an eye on her until the banquet." I'd made a name for myself overseas, but in Hawthorne Bay, I was still nobody. One of my clients wanted to help me get settled, so he invited me to a private banquet packed with the city's elite. Networking went better than expected. Plenty of people asked for my card. Then a man walked over, champagne in hand. Long, sharp fingers held out a business card. "Harrold Newell. Newell family heir." I went rigid. I looked up and met his red-rimmed eyes. The next second, he grabbed my arm and dragged me into the garden. He held up the card I'd just given someone else. "Wynna Walker? Do you hate our family that much? Enough to run for five years? Enough to change your name?" "Yes. I hate you all." I met his eyes, calm. "But that's not the only reason I changed it." "Then why? Or did you marry someone and take his last name?" "I don't owe you an explanation." Harrold stared at me, his hand shaking around the card. A second later, his voice softened. "You can't be doing that well. Not if you're handing out business cards at some banquet. I'm your brother. Listen to me. Come home. Be a Newell again. We won't hold the wedding thing against you anymore." My brother. Right. I let out a bitter laugh. Before Yuna came back, my father favored me. I beat Harrold at almost everything. He hated it. I knew he did. So at family events, I always talked him up. I even gave up spots in private competitions so he could win. I'd seen those rich kids tear him apart. A girl beat him. He couldn't even hold onto his place as heir. But Harrold worked hard. I wanted him to be happy. Instead, my sacrifices just gave them more to laugh about. Yuna's praise was what made him feel seen. Five years ago, all he had for me was sarcasm and disgust. Now he was standing here acting like this. Too bad. I wasn't the Nina who needed them to protect me anymore. I had my own career. And I had people to protect. Gigi. And the thousands of victims I'd fought for over the years. When I didn't answer, Harrold got even more desperate. "This firm is nowhere near Newell Corp in size. You're a lawyer. You know how to weigh your options. Besides, you never cared about law before. Walking away should be easy." "No." I turned to leave. To my surprise, he followed. In his rush, he knocked over a wineglass. Wine splashed all over him, but he didn't even look down. He just grabbed my wrist harder. "Come home with me." I went quiet for a second. Then I turned and handed his business card back. "Mr. Newell, after tonight, I have no interest in knowing you. Let go." Harrold froze. "You... what did you say?" "I said I don't want to know you." "But we're family. You were my sister for over twenty years." I gave a quiet laugh. "Careful, Mr. Newell. Your real sister might not like hearing that." "If you need proof, I'll take a DNA test. But my daughter's waiting for me. If you need me again, talk to my assistant." Then I peeled his fingers off my wrist, one at a time, and walked out. Behind me, his voice caught. "...Daughter?" He rushed back into the ballroom. But I was already gone through the back exit. Chapter 3 Harrold clearly hadn't expected to see me. I should've known better. At a banquet full of Hawthorne Bay's old-money crowd, of course the Newell Corp CEO would be there. If I stayed in Hawthorne Bay, running into them was going to be normal. Annoying, sure. But I'd survived worse. Compared to everything else, this was nothing. I picked Gigi up from Amy. She was so sleepy she could barely keep her eyes open. On the way home, we passed Hawthorne Hospital. That was where I lost the last person in the Newell family who'd ever loved me. Carter. The Newells' longtime butler. I still remembered the day Yuna came back. She saw Carter fanning me in the summer heat, even at his age, and looked jealous. "It must be nice to have someone care about you. At the orphanage, they only hit me and screamed at me." Later, the man who'd always looked out for me died in what everyone called an accident. Carter had been healthy. Yuna was there when he fell. So she was the first person I questioned. Before I could get the truth out of her, she jumped from an upper floor in front of everyone. Just like that, she became the victim. Every sympathetic face around me went cold. I still remembered Miguel grabbing me by the throat in the waiting area. "Yuna's fighting for her life, and you're happy? Carter was old. Old people die. You're not grieving. You're just using this to hurt her." Harrold backed him up. "He was just a butler. My real sister is the one in there. If she dies, I swear I'll make you pay." Back then, I was wrecked. Miguel was one thing. But Carter had cared for Harrold, too. How could he say something that cruel? Yuna survived. Later, I overheard her talking to Harrold. "I just wanted to try on one of Nina's dresses. Hers were always prettier than mine. Carter caught me wearing it. I panicked and tried to put it back, but he grabbed it. We struggled, and he fell down the stairs. Harrold, I swear I didn't push him that hard. I swear..." "I believe you." Harrold patted her head. "Don't tell anyone else. Got it?" In that second, my blood went cold. For a second, I even thought Carter had died because of me. When did I finally give up on Harrold? Maybe that day. "Ms. Walker, I think someone's following us." I snapped out of the memory, my face going cold. "Let them." If they wanted to follow me, fine. I'd have to face them eventually. Then a car slammed into us from behind. Through the window, I watched the driver storm toward us. The second I saw his face, my breath caught. I'd thought Harrold was following me. It wasn't him. It was a murderer I'd helped put behind bars. I covered Gigi's eyes. "Don't be scared. It's okay. Mommy's here." But how could she not be scared? Even I couldn't stop shaking. Then the shots came. Each one hit my nerves like a hammer. Flames swallowed everything around us. My vision blurred. Through the smoke, I saw Harrold, covered in blood, dragging Gigi and me from the wreckage. "Nina, stay with me. I've got you. I'm right here. Nothing's going to happen to you. Just hold on. The ambulance is almost here." For one second, looking into his tear-filled eyes, I forgot how much I hated him. I grabbed his wrist. "Save Gigi first... She's all I have..." He pulled me into his arms. His tears soaked my shoulder. After that, nothing. I only knew I had a dream. And in it, I saw someone I'd missed for a very long time. Chapter 4 Wyatt Walker. The man who once sat across from me in handcuffs, accused of murder. He didn't look like any murderer I'd ever met. No violence in him at all. When I sat down, he even greeted me like we were meeting for coffee. "Good evening, ma'am." Back then, I was still a rookie attorney. It was the biggest case I'd ever taken. So I gave it everything. He'd killed a man who used his power to assault his little sister. The victim had been stabbed more than a dozen times. One fatal blow, and I might've argued self-defense. But this? Maybe because I'd spent more than twenty years as someone's little sister, I understood that kind of rage. So I prepared like my life depended on it. I even used public opinion to help his case. On verdict day, everyone expected Wyatt to get the death penalty. Instead, he got a few years. A miracle. And the best case I'd ever won. That win made my name. Later, good behavior and community supervision got him released early. I picked him up the day he got out. The second he saw me, he grinned. "Well, look at you. Not such a rookie attorney anymore." We became close friends. I was always buried in work, so Wyatt often picked Gigi up and brought her home. Sometimes he took her to amusement parks. I kept telling him he didn't owe me anything. Helping him had been my job. He always acted like he couldn't hear me. Instead, he took care of us so I could throw myself into work. Everyone called me a genius. What they didn't know was that someone stood behind me, giving everything and asking for nothing. Whenever an angry defendant tried to corner me, Wyatt stepped in. Seeing him come home bruised always made me mad. And weirdly touched. "Are you trying to get yourself thrown back in prison?" "No." He didn't hesitate. "I don't want to be away from you and Gigi." My face got warm. I tossed him a bandage. "Even if you did, too bad. My hourly rate's insane now. I wouldn't have time for your case." Whenever I lost a case and couldn't shake it, he'd bring a beer and sit with me on the beach. He told me stories about people he'd met in prison. How low they'd fallen. How they'd clawed their way back. Even as an attorney, I'd never heard those stories from someone who'd actually lived it. By the time he finished, my latest loss—and even everything I'd survived as Nina—felt small. Wyatt never bought me expensive gifts. But he taught me love. He taught me life. Then one day, a fire broke out in an apartment building near mine. I shoved Wyatt toward the exit. "Take Gigi and go!" But he didn't hesitate. He threw both of us over his shoulders. As the fire spread, my vision tilted. I watched the flames climb his body. His feet. His calves. By the time the firefighters appeared, he had nothing left. He dropped to his knees. As they lifted me onto a stretcher, I reached for him. On the ground, he forced a crooked smile. "Don't worry. I'll be fine." Wyatt always kept his promises. But this time... He lied. All I did was shorten his sentence. He paid me back with his life. It wasn't worth it, Wyatt. The dream kept replaying those last moments—Wyatt surrounded by flames. I didn't want to wake up. Just one more second. I wanted to see him again. *** "We spent five years tearing the world apart for her. Now you finally find her, and you don't even tell me? And you let this happen?" That voice... Miguel?