Seven years After Losing Me, My Fiancé Fell in Love with a Fake Heiress

Four hours I’ve been waiting for John at the romantic restaurant for New Year's Eve.

I saw a photo on my Instagram of my adopted sister smiling sweetly under the fireworks. The caption read: [Our fifth annual fireworks extravaganza. The one who loves you will never care if you're real or fake.]

The comments section was filled with unanimous blessings. And the hand in the photo, misaligned, touching her head belonged to John, who had told me three hours earlier he'd be there soon.

I calmly liked the post. Under the dazzling fireworks, I finished the couple's set meal alone. Until the last bite of the stale, the steak was tasteless. I was so full I was about to cry.

So, in the seven years he'd lost me, he'd already fallen in love with my substitute.

——

After finishing the last bite of steak, my mother called, “Olivia, don’t misunderstand. Maria’s used to it. We all thought you weren’t coming back, so we arranged their engagement. Now that John wants to marry you, don’t hold this little thing against Maria. After all, it’s our family that owes her.”

A wave of bitterness washed over me. The year I went missing, John and I were a wellknown academic couple on campus, inseparable. Our parents had also arranged our engagement, to be finalized after graduation.

The change happened a month after the college entrance exam. John took me to an abandoned factory to watch fireworks.

Halfway through the fireworks, he received a call from Maria, saying it was a very private and urgent matter and it wasn’t convenient for anyone else to be present. So, he left me alone in the middle of nowhere. While I was waiting for the driver to pick me up, I was drugged and sold into the mountains.

For a year after I was abducted, they went to great lengths, weeping constantly. But John never dared to tell the truth about that day. Maria said she wanted to atone for her sins, so John acted as a gobetween, arranging my parents to adopt her.

My parents missed me terribly, often looking at me through her eyes. So they gave her all the maternal and paternal love they hadn't been able to give. They even changed her surname.

In their daily companionship, they eventually forgot about me. They forgot that I was the one engaged to John. They forgot the seven years we had been separated. Then who would repay everything I've lost?

A sense of powerlessness washed over me as I said, "I understand."

They breathed a sigh of relief, wanting to say something more, but I hung up the phone.

Shortly after, John arrived, travelworn. Behind him followed Maria, her eyes redrimmed.

"I'm sorry, sister, I shouldn't have been so selfish, leaving you sitting here alone for four hours."

John looked at her with the same heartache he had shown me. But now, he frowned at me.

"Alright, Olivia, I'm here. Don't scare her with that stern face. Have you finished eating? I'll take you home." He pushed my wheelchair forward.

At the car, he naturally opened the passenger door for Maria and fastened her seatbelt. After he settled her in, he turned around and saw I had already climbed into my seat.

"Could you help me put the wheelchair down?"

A hint of guilt flashed in his eyes, "Sorry, it's just a habit."

I shook my head. "Let's go."

On the way, Maria activated the car's smart system.

"Here we are! Where are you taking me today, John?" A dense, itchy sensation gnawed at my heart.

During my senior year of high school, because of the pressure of studies, he fell in love with riding motorcycles. The first thing he did after passing his exams was take me for a ride.

When I did poorly on an exam, we went for a ride; when I did well, we went for a ride again. We've practically explored every street and alley in the city.

He said he'd take me for a drive to farther places after he got his driver's license. I didn't get to keep his promise.

What I got was watching him be happy with someone else, like a homewrecker. Watching their knowing glances, I suddenly felt utterly pointless. I calmly looked at the unfamiliar John in the rearview mirror.

I slowly opened my mouth, "John, let's cancel the wedding."

The car brakes screeched. With a thud, John's wheels skidded and hit the curb.

"What happened?"

"I'm fine, I..." But before I could finish, I saw him lean over to look at Maria in the passenger seat.

"What happened? Let me see!"

"I bumped my head, it's okay, I'm alright."

"I'm sorry, Olivia, I willingly let John marry you, this is what I owe you. After you two get married, I'll keep my distance."

Her eyes were red, she looked pitiful.

John's eyes were brimming with worry. He turned and gave me a helpless look.

"She's already feeling guilty enough, why are you saying these things in front of her? What happened back then was all my fault. I told you I'd take responsibility for you, please stop making a scene, okay?"

He took a deep breath and called the insurance company, then he said to me, "I'll take her to the hospital, you stay here and handle the accident!"

The slamming of the car door felt like a bullet to my heart, a dull, throbbing pain. He had never blamed me before. He had never left me to handle difficult situations alone. Even when he skipped class to fight for me and got punished, he had never treated me like this.

Tears fell silently. My heart ached so much I felt like I was suffocating.

After the insurance company assessed the damage and towed the car away, the manager kindly took me to the hospital.

Just as I reached the door, I heard soft sobbing inside.

“Peter, since Olivia has this idea, why not… cancel their marriage? You’ve seen the relationship between Maria and John all these years.”

“We’ve already wronged one person; we can’t wrong another.”

“After all, she’s not a virgin and she can’t have children. The Walter Family may not say it outright, but they’re bothered by it,” said mom.

Dad sighed, but before he could speak, John interrupted sharply, “Auntie! I said I would marry Olivia! This will not change no matter what happens!”

Mom sighed. “Why are you so stubborn, child? Are you willing to sacrifice your own happiness for the sake of responsibility? It wasn’t your fault she got lost; if she hadn’t wandered off and been targeted, none of this would have happened.”

Her fingertips clenched tightly into her palm. So that’s what John told them. I gave a bitter smile and pushed my wheelchair into the ward.

Meeting their panicked and evasive expressions, I smiled. "John, didn't you tell Mom and Dad that you abandoned me in the abandoned factory because Maria confessed her feelings to you on that phone call?"

He tried to cover my mouth, but it was too late. Mom and Dad were shocked, both of them staggering.

Maria knelt before me, her face deathly pale. "I'm sorry, sister! I really didn't know that phone call would cause you to get lost. If I had known, I would have never told him I liked him. It was my fault, I deserve to die!"

I looked at her calmly, my eyes devoid of any emotion. After a long while, Maria gritted her teeth, rushed to the balcony and stepped out with one foot.

"Since you don't believe me, I can only prove my innocence with my death, to atone for your sins!" she threatened.

John stared intently at me. "Do you really have to do this?"

My mom, who had been so concerned for me, suddenly lost all her emotions. She looked at me with a troubled and guilty expression.

"So many years have passed. Maria didn't do it on purpose. Perhaps this was your destiny. Olivia, please forgive her. She has life too."

I looked at them quietly. Actually, I had many grievances. I wanted to tell them about the most painful year, when they kicked me because I disobeyed them and from then on, I lost my legs and could never stand again. And several unborn children were lost through extremely harmful methods. That's why I lost the ability to be a mother, that's why I was no longer fertile.

But seeing how calmly they could excuse the trigger and ignoring all my suffering, I was speechless.

I smiled, tears falling. "I'm not angry. It's my worthless fate. I shouldn't have come back. I should have died there, never disturbing your family's happiness again."

John, his eyes red, slapped me. "What nonsense are you spouting? Your mom and dad suffered so much searching for you, how can you say such heartless things? If it weren't for Maria all these years, they would have been depressed long ago!"

I touched my burning cheek. Looking at my parents, who remained unmoved even after I was hit, busy pulling Maria down from the balcony.

I scoffed. "Thank you for the slap, it woke me from my sweet dream."

I moved my wheelchair outside. Gradually, faint sobs came from the ward. I knew they weren't crying for me. It's okay, I didn’t need anyone to cry for me anymore.

I came back home. I took out the old bag I'd brought with me when I was brought back. Looking around, I realized I could take very little with me.

In the closet were the pretty short skirts that Maria and I wore as sisters. Unfortunately, I couldn't wear them because of my amputation. On the bedside table was a family photo just like Maria's. The difference was, I wasn't in it.

And there's the pile of birthday gifts from every year on my desk. Each one was picked out for me by John and Maria. But none of them were my favorite things.

I still remember what they said when they excitedly presented the gifts to me, "We haven't known what you like all these years, but you two are like sisters, so you should like the same things."

I smiled, stroking a pile of unopened astronomy books. At sixteen, I said I wanted to be the world's best painter. John went to great lengths to get me two rare, masterpiece paintings.

After the college entrance exam results came out, knowing my academic scores were secure enough for a top art school, he even commissioned me to have the same art supplies as those of famous painters.

I thought that even though we were seven years apart, our shared aspirations wouldn't change. But now, he said that the wall in his bedroom where he always kept the double portrait of me was now hung with an astronomical chart of constellations that Maria and I had taken photos of. Like me, it was all in the past.

I stepped out of the indoor elevator, carrying my bag. The nannies and maids gathered outside the kitchen door, preparing meals for Maria.

"If you ask me, Mr. Walter still loves Miss Olivia more. Every time she's injured, he's the one who takes care of her personally. After that, we did everything for her. That day, he saw the rotting wound and vomited, saying he'd never seen such disgusting rotting flesh."

I froze, then it felt like a windowpane had been shattered, a cold wind blowing into my heart.