C2 My name is Stacy

On the surface, Jane was calm but her palms were sticky with sweat. She had never been this close to a man before and now she would have to be the one to lean in, to press her lips to his, someone who was a stranger…

Best get it over with quickly.

Summoning her will, Jane shut her eyes and planted a kiss on his thin lips before pulling his mask back in place and rising to her feet.

Ethan was startled by her brisk, businesslike actions. His gaze narrowed, simmering with unreadable depths. Had this woman really just kissed him so boldly?

He had thought she would be scared or at least disgusted by the scars on his face but she had merely glanced it, hardly giving any indication of noticing anything out of the ordinary.

As Jane rose, her veil swept off his head but her scent, faint though it was, lingered. He let his eyes slide down, on the inside however, he was filled with a new burning certainty.

This woman was not Stacy.

Ethan was in poor health and no activities followed the wedding ceremony. His butler, Bruce, helped push his wheelchair to bring him home to his mansion.

Jane and Ethan sat together in the backseat of his car. The sun streamed through the windows, illuminating the side of Ethan’s face. His lashes were long and thick, and the slope of his nose was high and straight.

The burns had ruined half his features but from where they now sat, shrouded in the shadows, the unmarked half of his face was flawless — a work of perfection, gilded by the sun’s rays.

It was as though he were half an angel and half a demon.

Without warning, her husband turned his head to her. Jane didn’t have time to avert her gaze. Their eyes met and she felt a twinge of embarrassment at having been caught staring.

Ethan reached out a hand and grazed the spotless white fabric of her veil.

“Aren’t you going to take this off?”, he reminded her, chuckling.

There had been rumors that his wounds had made him irritable with an erratic temper, it seemed they weren’t true after all.

Tilting her head towards him, she asked tentatively, “Will you help me?”

She had only been half-expecting him to agree, but with a hint of playfulness, he brushed the veil back from her face then lingered to tuck her slightly ruffled locks behind her ear.

Despite the cold sensation of his touch, Jane noted how gentle his actions were. His temper is much better than I imagined, she mused. Maybe being his wife won’t be so bad after all.

“What’s your name?”, he asked unexpectedly.

“Me?” Jane laughed, trying to cover up her surprise.

“I’m Stacy, you know that”.

Ethan fixed her with a piercing, intent look, like a physical weight in her chest was pinning her to her seat. But in the next instant, there was only gentleness in his eyes and she wondered if that fleeting sense of suffocation had been her imagination.

She knew he wouldn’t believe her, even if he did, she would not be able to continue such a lie like it was nothing. He would eventually find out one way or another.

With a shake of her head, Jane turned to face him and took his hands in hers.

“Alright, allow me to properly introduce myself then. My name is Jane, Jane Fitzergald, your new lawfully wedded wife”.

“Fitzergald? You’re not a Harrison?”

Jane shook her head again, “It doesn’t matter who I am, all you need to know is that Stacy didn’t want to marry you… but I do”.

Ethan nodded then leaned back in his seat. His brows furrowed, as if from weariness.

Jane stared at him in silent disbelief. That was it? Wasn’t he acting… a little too calm?

She eyed him for a while longer but his exhaustion must have been contagious. She decided to follow suit, allowing herself to drift to sleep in the backseat of the car.

*. *. *. *. *.

After they had alighted from the car and he was pushing Ethan to his chambers, Bruce asked, “Young Master, do you want me to send this woman back home? As a warning to the Harrisons?”

The Harrison family had truly gone too far, picking some woman off the streets to play the role of the bride during the wedding today. How could they let such disrespect for Young Master Ethan slide?

Ethan’s eyes were gentle, without a hint of anger and his voice held no weight to it; he appeared extremely frail.

“Never mind that. Sometimes, mistakes are not necessarily bad things”.

Bruce protested, “But you’re…

Ethan lifted a hand and Bruce fell silent. Jane was right, it didn’t matter which family his wife came from — only that she had married him out of her free will.

“Let me see the marriage contract”.

After confirming that Jane had indeed signed the contract with her own name and not under Stacy Harrison, he returned it to Bruce.

“Use this to prepare the marriage certificate”.

Bruce was shocked, “Young Master, we don’t even know who this woman is or where she came from. Do you really want her for a wife?”

A marriage certificate was more than just a piece of paper. If this woman harbored any harmful secrets or any schemes, she could walk away with half of the Young Master’s fortune anytime she wished — hundreds of millions of dollars at that!

Bruce was about to insist that his Young Master rethink his decision when there was a noise at the door.

Warily, he opened the door only to find Jane standing there. The young woman’s gown was too loose for her shape but her features were delicate, fine, pretty and behind her rosebud mouth, her teeth were pearly white.

So this was why his Young Master was refusing to send back his substitute bride?

The little temptress. Bruce was unable to prevent a flash of disdain across his face.

“The Young Master needs to rest. You…”