chapter 1

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."

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***