Holding my small suitcase in my hand, my heart is pounding fast in my chest. 'You got this, Aiko Suzuki. You got this.' Or should I start calling myself Sakura Nakamura?

God, what have I gotten myself into? Hopefully, it will all be worth it.

My hands tremble as I knock on the door to Sakura's apartment, where I will be staying for a month. Hopefully. But I know I can't leave until she comes back.

She told me to come to her house at exactly 7 pm in the evening. And here I am. My heart is in my hands as I patiently wait for someone to open the door for me.

My paranoid self keeps imagining about what would happen if Sakura's boyfriend, William Thompson, figures out I am not his girl. I mean, he must know her very well for him to consider dating her, right?

I don't get a chance to answer myself because the door opens and a smiling Sakura is standing on the other side of the door. As expected, her side dude is right next to her.

"Aiko Suzuki, you're here," she says with a big grin on her face.

I don't see the need to answer that, but I do. "Yes. I am."

"Good, because I will be leaving in a few minutes with my baby, and William will be coming to see me... Well, you, at 9 pm. So you have to get ready," she says while kissing her lover shamelessly and lustfully.

I watch them make out in front of me uncomfortably. I mean, can't they wait until they're alone?

After an entire minute of me looking away and waiting for them to finish their make out session, Sakura invites me inside her apartment. And it is beautiful. Everything is white from the walls, tiles, couch, carpet, curtains, to all the furniture in the living room and everywhere I can see.

She barely gives me time to admire everything as sits me down on the couch and her friend, whose name I keep forgetting, but I think it goes something like Antonio, gives me a contract to sign.

I was already told about the contract, and it says I get paid half right now, and the rest after the job. That half of the money will all go to my brother's hospital fees as I wait for the rest so he can finally get the surgery he needs.

I smile at the thought and quickly sign my part before giving it to Sakura. I see she has already signed hers, though.

With a smirk on her face, Sakura sits next to me. Everything about this lady screams super model from the moment I met her, which I wasn't wrong about because she is a well known model who has walked all the runways I can name. From Victoria's secret, Paris fashion week, you name it. She is so beautiful, I am almost surprised that she looks like me.

Before she can say what's on her mind, I immediately say, "I haven't met William yet. Maybe you should show me his photo so I can be sure it's him when I see him." I feel like that's important, especially since he is coming here soon. I should know what he looks like, right?

When Sakura hears that, she chuckles. "I don't have any photos of him. I wouldn't have kept them either way. But don't worry, you'll know him when you see him. He is coming at exactly 9 and he is too obsessed with me to miss. So you'll meet him then."

I am not sure why but her tone and words makes me very uncomfortable. Maybe it's because she sounds like she doesn't care about that man at all. Of course she doesn't. Why else would she be going away with her lover for an entire month? Or why else would she have a lover in the first place?

I feel so sorry for William, despite not knowing him. Why can't Sakura just break up with him if she doesn't love him enough to stay faithful? But then again, if she did, she wouldn't be giving me this job that I need so desperately.

"Okay. I understand." That's all I say as I wait for her instructions.

Sakura nods at me and clears her throat. Shifting in her seat and sitting straight with a serious look on her face, she says to me, "Good. Now, here are the instructions you need to follow while I am away. Make sure you don't miss any of them. Do you understand?"

I nod immediately.

Sakura seems pleased at that. She turns to look at Antonio who gives her a signal nod, then she turns to me. "Okay, first, you will stay here for the entire month, everyday. This is my apartment so you pretending to be me means you will have to stay here.

"Second, you will have to dress like me. I have a bunch of clothes that I have set aside that you have to wear. You are not allowed to wear your own clothes, there is no way I will be seen wearing such cheap clothes. So I bought you two suitcases full of expensive clothes, shoes, and jewelry from the highest fashion houses and brands. If they don't fit you, lose weight. I am a model, I can't be fat."

Wow, okay! I don't say anything and let her continue.

"Third, you will be using my phone to communicate with William. Some friends might try to reach you too but you can ignore them if you wish. Your priority is William and William alone. All you have to do is make sure he doesn't break up with me. So I am giving you one of my phones that doesn't have work people calling. Just close friends and family.

"Forth, William thinks I went for a throat surgery, or something. I made up a lie about me getting operated on, whose effects would be my voice sounding different for a while until I heal completely. So don't worry about you sounding different. He won't suspect a thing. But do at least try to sound like me, even just a little bit.

"Fifth, I William loves me so much and would do anything for me. So you can take advantage of this to get gifts from him. Don't worry, they will be yours and I won't ask you for them. You can have him get you a puppy, a new phone, even a car for all I care. Enjoy them, and even ask for more if you wish. Because that will be you behaving like me. I always demand for things from him and he always gives them to me."

That doesn't sit right with me, but I don't comment anything just keep listening.

"Lastly, this is strictly business so I don't expect you to fall in love with my boyfriend. And don't even dare try to sleep with him. I know you already told me you would never do that, but I want to be a hundred percent sure you won't. I don't care if he tries to touch you because he thinks you're me. That's my man so you better make excuses and not open your legs for him, do you understand?"

I wasn't planning on sleeping with William or falling in love with him so I don't even understand why Sakura feels the need to warn me against it.

"I will never do that, Sakura. You don't have to worry," I say calmly.

She looks pleased when she hears that. "Good. Good to hear."

She then gets up from her seat and walks over to Antonio, who secures her next to him by wrapping his arm around her.

"Our flight is in 40 minutes, so we have to go. Do you have any questions for me?" Sakura asks as she gives me her phone. It should be the one she wants me to use during this month.

"No, not really. If I have anything to ask, I'll call you to ask."

Sakura nods at that and turns to Antonio with a look on her face and seems to tell him that she is done.

With Antonio grabbing their two suitcases, Sakura throws her apartment keys at me that I catch before it hits my face. Before walking out the door, she says, "William is coming at 9. Be ready for him and keep him entertained until he leaves, just like I taught you. I'll call you first thing tomorrow morning to check on you. Bye."

With Sakura and Antonio gone, I explore the apartment a little more before going to the bedroom and cleaning up. I am so glad the bathroom has a bathtub because I needed a bath to relax.

I soak in my bath as my mind replays everything that has happened to me. I watch the clock waiting for 9 pm as I remember how this whole thing started.

I did get a notification from my bank about the transaction made to my account. That money will go to my brother's hospital first thing tomorrow morning. I smile at that. Finally, my brother will be okay.

Sakura reached out to me a week ago, I don't know how she found me or knew about me but she came out of nowhere. The first thing I noticed when I saw her was how identical to me she looked. She didn't waste any time to inform me the reason behind her visit and her proposal to me. She came with Antonio and I thought he was her boyfriend at first. Well, he is. Just her second boyfriend, if you may.

When I learnt about the nature of the proposal, I was confused. She has a boyfriend she doesn't want to lose by him learning about her infidelity, but she still wants to go and cheat on him for an entire month.

I remember asking her this, "If you are so afraid of losing William Thompson, that's why you want to hire me to pretend to be you while you are away... Then why are you cheating on him in the first place?"

"That's none of your business, Aiko," she responded rudely. "But so you know, I'm more in love with Antonio than Wiliam. They are both my boyfriends. But I like Antonio more."

I blinked at her in disbelief. Really? Is she serious right now?

"If that's the case then why don't you break up with William and stick with Antonio. Because aren't you cheating on him too, with William?" I asked this while looking at Antonio, and I notice that that revelation doesn't seem to bother him at all.

What man is okay with being a side piece to a taken woman? Antonio, apparently.

"I will never do that, Miss Aiko Suzuki. I am sticking with William because he has power and money. Something Antonio and I can both use to our advantage." Hearing those words made me understand it all perfectly. Sakura is taking from William's wallet and giving it to her lover, Antonio. That is why Antonio is okay with sharing her, he is benefiting from his relationship with Sakura in more ways than one. He is benefiting financially from his girlfriend being someone else's girlfriend.

It's a fucked up world we are living in, I must say.

While remembering all that, my hand goes to the bandage on my neck which is supposed to be for the 'surgery' I did that is affecting my voice. Sakura told me she hasn't spoken to William since a few days ago, which should be 'since she got the surgery', I don't worry about acting like I am in pain because 'she left the hospital after the pain was gone'. She has been pretending to be voiceless the entire time after the surgery and it was easier because she 'got the surgery out of the country' and was recovering from there, only coming back today. God, I just hope I don't start feeling guilty after I meet William.

My thoughts are interrupted by the sound of a knock on the door. It's so hard and urgent that it makes nearly jump out of my skin. I take my phone and check the time, it's 8:55 pm. Could it be William? Isn't it five minutes earlier than the expected time for him to arrive?

I curse at myself for being too caught up in the bath and in my thoughts not to realize how quickly time has flown by. I honestly thought he would be here at 9:20 or something. I wasn't even expecting him here at exactly 9. Maybe I am so used to always being late with at least 10 minutes, I expect a stranger I don't know to do the same.

I quickly jump out of the bathtub and wrap a towel around me. I want to put on something before answering the door but the knocks are so urgent that I don't feel I have time to do anything. With no choice, I hold on to my short towel and head towards the door.

'Please don't be William. Please don't be William. Let me be some delivery here that Sakura forgot to mention. Or even be Sakura herself, maybe she forgot something and she came back to get it.'

With my nerves building up, I open the door ready to see who is on the other side. The moment the door opens, what I see on the other side does something to my heart that I cannot explain.

There is a man standing on the other side of the door. He is dressed in a black suit, white dress shirt, and a red tie. He has brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. His lips are pink and full with a stubble beard on his chin and jaw. He is really tall and I can see how tightly his coat grips his muscles, how broad his shoulders and chest look, which tells me all I need to know about his body.

This has to be William, right? If he is, then why in the world would Sakura, or anyone for that matter, cheat on a man who looks like this?

I don't get a chance to answer my own question in my head because the man suddenly jumps on me, pushing me against the wall, pinning me there by pressing his body against mine, and kissing me with passion and longing.

This takes me by surprise. My eyes goes wide and I freeze, not knowing what to do. This definitely is William. And he is kissing me! And God, those lips are so soft!

But just to be sure, I break the kiss immediately and whisper, "William, I-"

He doesn't let me finish as he presses his lips on mine again. This time, taking advantage of my mouth being open because I was talking, he kisses me even deeper nearly making me melt into a puddle. His lips taste so good, and it feels so good to be kissed by him that I forget I am being kissed by a stranger.

I find myself moving my lips against his automatically and giving in to the kiss I was just about to pull away from. My trembling hands goes to his forearms as his stays at my waist and squeezes it lightly then pulls my body to him pressing us together even more.

I melt in his arms and feel butterflies all over my stomach. Since when did kissing strangers feel this good? And why didn't anyone tell me?

Because I would have been kissing strangers everyday.

I almost groan in protest when he breaks the kiss. With his lips still touching mine, he whispers, "Fuck, baby. I missed you so much." He then pecks my lips before asking afterwards while breathing slightly shaky and heavy, "And Christ, what did you do to your lips to make them taste so good, Sakura?"

I am trying to catch my breath when I hear that, something that feels like a compliment to me, but also reminds me that I am Sakura. Him saying he missed me and calling me Sakura was reminder enough.

I snap back from my trance and start looking for a way to get away from William.

Wait, did Sakura say anything about not kissing her boyfriend? She only mentioned not sleeping with him, or falling in love with him. She never said I couldn't kiss him, right?

So technically I didn't break any of the rules, right?

Feeling me trying to wiggle out of his hold, William opens his eyes and looks at me confused. That was when his hand goes to my neck and he touches the bandage there gently by tracing his index finger. His eyebrows furrow and there is a worry in his voice as he asks, "I didn't hurt you, did I, baby?"

I blink at him scared, knowing that I have to speak out loud and he will clearly hear my voice. I am very bad at imitation, something I learnt the hard way when I spent the whole day trying to sound like Sakura but failed miserably.

But I have to say something, right? So he can know I am fine. "No, baby. I am okay." I don't know if Sakura calls him baby, but maybe she does. Hopefully.

But it's so weird how it didn't feel weird calling him that.

When William hears that, his eyes goes wide and he looks at me shocked. And that is enough to make me panic. Does he know? Does he already know I am not his girlfriend?

What if he realizes with the sound of my voice that I am not Sakura and surgery can't change someone's voice that much? What if he notices by looking at me that I look younger than before? Younger than Sakura looked? I know our age difference is just two years but I am sure my features are softer than Sakura's. Not that we don't look identical, though.

I still wonder how Sakura found me. Maybe one day she was told about someone who looks like her somewhere and she decided to look for me when he needed me?

I am so afraid of what will happen next that when I see William about to talk, I am ready to run away at any second.

But suddenly, he smiles as he says with a gentle voice, "I know the surgery temporarily changed your voice until you completely heal, but I didn't expect it to make it so beautiful."