My Lying Wife in Disguise

After my wife died, I stayed on as a chauffeur for a female CEO just to keep myself and our daughter fed. Five years later, an anonymous message reached my phone: [Tonight. Eight o'clock. The little garden. There's a surprise waiting for you.] I didn't know what to make of it, but curiosity won out, and I went anyway. The moment eight o'clock struck, I looked through the window and watched the CEO peel a mask of human-like skin off her own face. Underneath it was, unmistakably, the face of my dead wife. Beside her, Marcus Kane shot me a scornful look before pulling her into his arms. "Sweetheart, you're too good to me," he said. "Giving up your husband and daughter, hiding your identity, just to help me build this business empire." He let out a theatrical sigh. "Then again, maybe you should go back to him. Cooper has had it rough. I could probably manage taking care of little Tobias on my own..." She melted against him. "Don't be silly. If I left, what would people think of you, raising a child alone? Back when Francesca died in that accident, my heart broke for the two of you—a widower and his little boy with no mother. So I made the mask that very night, and let the world believe I was the one who'd died." "Cooper is strong. He can handle a little hardship. I'll pay off what I owe him and our daughter in the next life." I stood frozen, tears sliding down my cracked, calloused hands, stinging where they fell. With nothing left to lose, I gave my reply to an anonymous number: [Alright. Let's work together.] Chapter 1 I don't remember how I made it back to the servants' quarters. For five years now, Marcus Kane had made a habit of tormenting my daughter and me right in front of Diana Winslow, and Diana always took his side, punishing us without ever asking what actually happened. So that was it. She was proving her loyalty to Marcus. Numb with despair, I pushed open the door and heard my daughter's cry for help. "Daddy! Daddy, it hurts!" Inside the room, Marcus's son, Tobias Kane, was shoving a huge wedge of peanut cake down my daughter's throat. She was allergic to peanuts. I rushed over and pulled the two children apart. A second later, Tobias's palm cracked across my face, and he spat at me. "You're nothing! Just some filthy driver, and you think you can stop me? "My mom's the richest woman in the country! Without her, you two beggars would've starved to death years ago! "Forget the cake—if she told you to eat garbage off the ground, you'll have to do it!" When I didn't react fast enough for his liking, he stood up, stuck out his little belly like a general inspecting the troops, and looked around the room with disgust. "Ugh. No wonder people like you live in a dump like this. My dog's kennel is bigger." He wasn't wrong. This cramped, filthy storage room was where my daughter and I had been crammed together for five years. When my wife had left home for her assignment, I couldn't bear the thought of her struggling for money, so I sold the house my parents had left me and handed her every cent. I never imagined she'd take that money and pour it into starting a business for the penniless Marcus and his son. Tobias, decked out head to toe in designer labels, strutted around the room like a general touring a refugee camp. Then his eyes landed on a photo of my wife, Diana, and he hurled the rest of the cake straight at my daughter's head. "You stupid oaf! Why do you have a photo of my mom hidden away? Just because your mom's dead doesn't mean you get to steal someone else's!" He must have caught a few glimpses of Diana's real face, the one hidden under the mask. My daughter, blood trickling from a cut on her forehead, lunged to snatch the photo back. "Daddy says that's my mommy. My mommy's a hero. Don't you dare talk about her like that!" Furious, Tobias tore the photo to shreds. "This is my mom! My mom looks like that sometimes! You broke roach, you think keeping a photo makes you some kind of princess? Let me tell you something—you're nothing but a filthy pest!" That was the last straw. My daughter threw herself at him, and the two of them tumbled to the floor, grappling. I tried to pull them apart and failed. Then, behind me, a crisp voice rang out. "What is going on here?" Diana stood in the doorway, taking in the scene: Tobias with nothing worse than a scratch, and my daughter with a bleeding forehead and bruises all over her body. Chapter 2 Diana scooped Tobias up without a moment's hesitation, her eyes full of concern. "Sweetheart, how did you get hurt so badly?" Then she rounded on me. "How are you supposed to be watching these kids? If something happens to Tobias, can you even take responsibility for that?" She didn't spare our daughter a single glance. I stared at the familiar face hiding behind that stranger's mask, and something bitter twisted at the corner of my mouth. She'd hurt her own flesh and blood to protect someone else's son. This was the woman I'd torn my family apart to marry. Tobias shot my daughter a provoking look and piped up. "Mommy! She hid your photo and pushed me, and now my knee really hurts." Every servant in the room turned on my daughter and me with open contempt, looking ready to lay hands on us themselves. That was how it always went. Because Diana and Marcus treated us like dirt, the staff had picked up the habit too, until my daughter and I had become fair game for anyone in the house. My daughter held up the torn pieces of the photograph. "Tobias's mommy, I didn't hide your picture. This is a picture of my mommy. I look at it when I miss her. But Tobias..." Diana's gaze caught on the familiar face in the photo and held there for a moment. Before she could say anything, Tobias jumped in. "That's my mom! My mom looks like that sometimes!" Diana shot me a quick glance, a flicker of panic in her eyes, terrified I might have noticed. Only when I showed no reaction did she let out a small, relieved breath. Marcus strolled over in a hand-tailored designer suit, every inch the pampered young heir. He shot Tobias a look of mock anger. "What's wrong with you, brat? That's not your mother!" Then he turned to us with an apology. "So sorry about that. Kids get confused about who's who. Don't take it personally." Tobias pouted, and Diana's heart melted instantly. She rounded on me again. "It's just a torn photo! Was that really worth shoving my baby? How are you supposed to be watching these kids? If you can't handle the job, get out! Some washed-up driver, walking all over my son!" Tobias burrowed into Diana's arms and made a face at me. This was the same woman who used to trail after me, who could never bring herself to say a harsh word to me. Now, hiding behind a stranger's face, she humiliated me without a second thought. Something in me let go of the need to keep playing along. I said quietly, "Fine. I quit." The words made panic flash across Diana's face. Before she could stop herself, she blurted, "Then how will you support your daughter?" Marcus immediately plastered on a fake smile and stepped in. "Oh, come on, my wife's always babied our son. She was just a little harsh—don't take it to heart, Cooper. "Back when I had that car accident, my wife stayed by my side all night, worried sick. She even tore into a few doctors and nurses. But that's just her—she cares too much about us. She means no harm." Two years earlier, I'd driven out to pick up Marcus, dead drunk. He'd grabbed the wheel in a drunken fit, and we'd plowed into the back of a truck. He walked away with nothing worse than a scraped eyebrow and got a VIP room with the best doctors in the hospital. I ended up with broken ribs punched through a lung, stuck in a crowded ward next door, operated on by an intern. I nearly bled out. The doctors issued a critical notice. As I hovered on the edge of death, I heard Diana's voice, frantic, coming from the operating room next to mine, and for one desperate second, I thought my dead wife had come back to me. I held on to that last breath, praying she'd turn and look my way. But Diana never so much as wavered behind that mask. She turned, gave me a distant smile through the pool of my own blood, and said, "Sorry, sir. You have the wrong person." I lost every scrap of hope that day. I barely made it through. Diana. You really are heartless. My thoughts snapped back to the present. My daughter was on her knees, apologizing frantically. "I'm sorry, Tobias's mommy. It's all my fault. Please don't fire my daddy. He already works so hard..." Diana let out a small, satisfied breath. "Tell you what—let my son push your daughter once too, and we'll call it even." Catching Marcus's helpless look, she pouted and burrowed into his arms. "Honey, you're just too kind-hearted. Tobias is the light of our lives. I won't stand by and let anyone push him around!" Chapter 3 Diana led the two children to the edge of the pond and egged Tobias on. "Go on! Mommy's got your back!" Tobias, puffed up like a proud little rooster, kicked my daughter straight into the water. She was terrified of water. I broke free from the servants holding me back and dove in after her like a madman. Underneath the surface, her face had gone white, but she didn't dare struggle, too afraid that fighting back would cost her father his job. As I fought to drag her back to the surface, I could still hear Diana praising Tobias from the bank. "Good job, baby! Remember that. From now on, if anyone bullies you, hit them. If you kill them, Mommy will pay for it." That night, my daughter's fever spiked into pneumonia, and she slipped into unconsciousness. A few more strands of my hair turned grey overnight. The doctor looked at me with pity. "Right now, the most important thing is giving her a reason to fight. Is there anyone she cares about?" I closed my eyes and called Diana anyway. "I know you're my wife. Our daughter needs you right now. I can let go of everything else that's happened. I just need you to talk to her for a few minutes. That's all I'm asking." I even thought, if she'd just help, I'd cancel the arrangement with that other person. Heavy breathing came through the line. My daughter, still unconscious, mumbled deliriously. "Mommy... I miss you so much, Mommy. Everyone at school has a mom. I'm the only one who doesn't. Tobias keeps calling me a motherless stray and getting the whole class to leave me out." My hands curled into fists. Tobias was the one without a real mother. My daughter had one. Then someone finally spoke, but it was Marcus, his voice dripping with malice. "Tch, you are a stray, sweetheart. Just go ahead and die. I bet your mommy's waiting for you to join her. Once you're dead, you'll get to see her again. No more pain, good girl." The heart monitor flatlined. Doctors and nurses rushed my daughter out for emergency treatment. I lost it completely. "That's enough, Marcus! Are you even a man? You know exactly who Tobias's real mother is!" Before I could finish, a familiar voice cut in. "Who's on the phone? What's going on?" Marcus let out a sigh. "Honey, Cooper called just to yell at me, saying Tobias is a motherless stray." Diana's voice turned icy. "How dare he talk about our son like that? Does he think I'm dead?" A little while later, my phone buzzed. The kindergarten teacher's message was curt and superior. "Your daughter doesn't need to come to school tomorrow. She isn't welcome here anymore." My eyes stung. I'd once gone down on my knees in front of every school administrator just to get her a spot, and now one careless word from Diana had undone it all. But I didn't have time to dwell on that. My daughter was still in emergency surgery, and the doctors said the deposit wasn't enough. I had no choice but to go home for the compensation money the military had given me after she'd died. I never expected to walk into a house that had been torn apart. "Wow, honey, this wedding suit looks expensive! I should wear it for the ceremony tomorrow!" Marcus's voice rang out, followed by Diana's sweet laugh. "Sure, wear it." I ran to the bedroom door just in time to see Marcus pulling on the wedding suit my mother had left me. I'd cut ties with my entire family to marry Diana. My mother hadn't approved, but she'd still sewn that suit for me with her own hands. Not long after, she died in a car accident. It was the last gift she ever gave me. I hadn't even let myself wear it on my own wedding day to Diana. How dare he. I lunged at Marcus like a man possessed, and we grappled violently. Diana frowned and drove her foot into my stomach, kicking me aside. "That's enough out of you! You're our driver. Everything you have belongs to us." Chapter 4 "After all these years, how much have you even been paid working for our family? And you're telling me it's worth less than some ratty old suit? Don't be so ungrateful!" Diana snapped. Pain broke me out in a cold sweat, and I glared at Diana with everything I had. Five years side by side, and she'd played the stranger this whole time, watching me suffer for love, watching me sink into poverty. Did that feel good to her? Something flickered behind Diana's eyes, a flash of reluctance she couldn't quite hide. Gritting through the pain, I forced open the drawer of the nightstand, reaching for the compensation money the military had given me. A second later, Diana snatched the card right out of my hand. She looked at me, her tone heavy with meaning. "This doesn't belong to you. I'll hold onto it for you." I stared at her, furious. "How does it not belong to me? My wife is dead! I've spent five years raising our daughter alone, and I can't even touch my own compensation money? Do you have any idea what these five years have been like for us?" Maybe the hatred in my eyes was too raw to ignore, because a flicker of guilt crossed her face. Still, she and Marcus ignored my pain and hurried off with the card and the suit, like a pair of thieves making off with their loot. Maybe out of guilt, the next morning Diana called me, something she'd never done before, and got straight to the point. "Be Marcus's best man. I'll pay you fifty thousand dollars." I closed my eyes. "Fine." At the same time, I sent a text to someone else: [We can move forward.] That night, I'd given Diana a real chance. At their vow-renewal ceremony, Diana wore her mask, but the smile underneath it was genuine. The groom wore the suit my mother had made with her own hands, his bride on his arm, taking the microphone to tell the story of their five years in love. It felt like a slap across my face, a reminder of just how pathetic my last five years of suffering had been. Then, out of nowhere, Marcus turned the conversation on me with a bitter little smile. "So, would my best man mind not trying to steal my wife anymore?" He stared straight at me as he said it. At that exact moment, the hall's speakers played back the voicemail I'd left Diana that night. "I know you're my wife. Our daughter needs you right now. I can let go of everything else that's happened." The guests erupted into chaos, their mockery landing like knives. "What a pathetic man—'I know you're my wife'? They've been married for years, and he's still making a scene!" "Right? I heard his own wife died in an accident, and now he's calling another man's wife his own. Disgusting." "He's some broke loser. He's lucky they even let him work here as a driver, or he'd have starved by now. And now he thinks he can move up in the world with this cheap trick? Pathetic." The angrier they got, the more they threw at me, grabbing leftover food off the tables and pelting me with it. "Freeloader! Get out! Death to homewreckers!" I couldn't dodge fast enough. My white best man's suit was soon soaked in grease and sauce. I stared straight at Diana. "Tell me. Who's the real homewrecker here?" Catching the certainty in my eyes, Diana reached up uncertainly and touched the mask on her face. Only once she confirmed it was still intact did she relax, her tone as distant as ever. "I only have one husband, and that's Marcus." I burst out laughing. There were plenty of reporters at her wedding, and she knew exposing Marcus would ruin me completely. But she chose him anyway. The woman who'd once knelt outside my family's estate for three days and three nights, begging me not to give up on her—she seemed to have vanished without a trace. Diana frowned, looking at me like I was an embarrassment. She had people drag me out of Verista City and banned me from ever setting foot in the city again. She leaned in and swore quietly to Marcus, "From now on, Cooper and that girl have nothing to do with me. Starting today, you're my only husband." The words had barely left her mouth when a group of armed men stormed the scene. "Nobody move!"