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He Paid Me to Be His Stand-In Girlfriend Then I Exposed His Stolen Heiress Scheme
Novelix
new
Completed
When a wealthy heir said I looked exactly like the woman he couldn't forget, I didn't cry over being a substitute. I gave him my rates. He paid millions to keep me by his side, never imagining that I could spot fraud in his company's accounts—or that I kept receipts for every insult. Then his precious Vivian tried to shame me with private photos at her wedding. I fought back in front of the entire room. But exposing their cruelty was only the beginning: my mother had proof that Vivian was the twin daughter stolen from her at birth, and the man behind the switch had stolen far more than a child.
Chapters (4)
第1章
My mom spent my childhood listening to billionaire romance audiobooks. By the time I was old enough to understand what a “cold CEO” was, I was sick of the phrase.
When a heroine cried because she was a stand-in for a dead first love, I’d say, “She should bill him for emotional damages.” When Mom sobbed over a breakup, I’d open a spreadsheet and estimate the divorce settlement.
“You’re going to scare every man away,” she’d say.
She was right. I had the kind of face that made strangers think I was judging them, and no guy had ever risked approaching me.
Then, at my college graduation party, a group of rich young men spotted me across a hotel bar.
“You look exactly like Vivian,” one said.
The best-looking man stepped closer. “You remind me of someone I loved and lost. Stay with me, and I’ll make sure you’re taken care of.”
I opened my payment app. “A million dollars up front. Plus triple rate for the substitute-girlfriend work, emotional labor, and wasted time.”
He blinked. His friends called me a gold digger. The man—Ethan Cole, heir to Cole Holdings—kept staring at me.
“Fine,” he said. “Six million.”
The transfer hit my account. I smiled. Mom’s shopping list was about to get very short.
第2章
“I’m not your girlfriend,” I told Ethan. “That money was for keeping quiet, not for buying my time.”
He offered a weekly arrangement. I named my rate, added a weekend surcharge, and told him I’d invoice for every hour. He agreed before his friends could talk him out of it.
On Monday, he showed up at my apartment with a designer dress and two assistants.
“I need you somewhere.”
“That wasn’t in the contract.”
“Ten times your rate.”
“Confidentiality costs extra. Deposit first.”
He paid. The car took us to Cole Holdings, where a board meeting was underway. Ethan seated me in a corner and told me to stay quiet.
The executives were discussing a plan to buy a small construction company, Redwood Development, at a distressed price. Their finance chief rushed past a set of suspicious numbers.
I raised my hand.
“The third-quarter cash flow doesn’t match the construction assets,” I said. “There’s money moving through a shell vendor. Who’s getting paid?”
The finance chief called me uninformed. I walked to the screen and pointed out three mismatched entries. The room fell silent.
Ethan ordered an internal audit. Then he asked how I’d noticed.
“Accounting degree. Top of my class.”
“You left that out.”
“You never asked.”
第3章
Ethan’s office door flew open. Vivian Lane—the woman whose face I supposedly wore—stormed in.
“You brought her here? And you fired my father’s finance chief?”
Ethan’s expression softened. “Vivian, he’ll be treated fairly.”
She turned to me. “You were taking pictures of the security system downstairs. You’re obviously working for a competitor.”
I’d photographed the lobby chandelier because Mom wanted ideas for a renovation. I unlocked my phone and showed them the pictures.
“There. If you want to accuse me of corporate espionage, the defamation fee is ten million.”
Ethan’s mouth twitched. He transferred it. Vivian’s face drained of color.
“Apologize,” I said.
She muttered something.
“Louder. I’m recording.”
“I’m sorry.”
Ethan drove me to his estate that night. He asked who I really was. I told him: his contractor, with an outstanding invoice.
He kissed me without asking. I turned away.
“That’s a separate service.”
He stopped. For the first time, he looked embarrassed.
“I’m sorry.”
That apology cost him nothing. I still made him pay the invoice.
第4章
Ethan kept coming by. Sometimes he asked me to cook. Sometimes he fell asleep on my couch after a long day. He paid my posted rates, even when I charged for the groceries and the company.
He never said Vivian’s name in my apartment, but I could tell he was thinking about her. She was engaged to a wealthy investor named Daniel, whose family could bail out the company her father ran.
The night before the wedding, Ethan arrived drunk. He grabbed at me, then stopped when I shoved him away.
“I’m not Vivian,” I said. “You don’t get to use me to rehearse a goodbye.”
He crumpled against the wall. “She’s marrying someone else tomorrow.”
“Then go home and deal with it.”
He left. In the morning, his assistant delivered a couture dress, a diamond necklace, and an invitation to the wedding. The note said: *Come as my date. Fifty thousand for the day.*
I went because I wanted to see what Ethan would do when there was an audience.
Vivian stood beneath a flower arch, radiant in white. Ethan walked in with me on his arm. Cameras turned toward us.
