Chapter 1: Replacement Bride

• Her face was pale from endless crying, making Miracle look disheveled. Her eyes were blank, her mind wandering ahead. Just a few hours earlier, she had married her twin sister’s fiancé.
• Misfortune struck when her sister ran away from the wedding, forcing Miracle to marry a man she had never known.
• Yes, Miracle’s life seemed to have stopped. Getting married is what every woman dreams of, but this marriage was not hers. If she had known it would turn out like this, she would never have attended her twin sister’s wedding. If time could be turned back, she would have avoided it. But now, she was trapped in a marriage she never wanted.
• Now, Miracle wiped the tears from her eyes. She wanted to escape, but she certainly couldn’t. If she ran from the marriage, her family would suffer the shame. It was enough that they had been humiliated when her twin sister ran away, and Miracle could not do the same.
• The footsteps entering the room made Miracle stop her reverie and look toward the door. Immediately, her expression changed as a man in a white tuxedo stood before her. His face was cold, and his eyes held an arrogant stare.
• “Wipe your tears; I don’t want people thinking I’m torturing you.” The man’s deep voice admonished Miracle as he gave her a cold stare from where she sat not far away. He then took off his tuxedo and placed it on the sofa.
• Miracle glanced at the man. Her eyes were red and puffy, but she stared coldly at him. “Why are you here?” she asked, clearly displeased that he was in the room.
• “This is the bridal suite. I don’t think you need to ask,” he replied firmly. He was fed up with Miracle’s stupid questions.
• “Go away! You can find another room. Your house is big and must have many rooms,” Miracle retorted coldly, turning her face away to avoid looking at him. Even though she knew this was her bridal suite, she didn’t want to sleep in the same room as him.
• “I should have kicked you out. This is not the room for you. But you came and delivered yourself in place of your twin sister who ran away. Do you really want to marry me?” he said sarcastically. His dark brown eyes sharpened as he glared at Miracle.
• “Don’t talk nonsense, Mateo! I stepped in for my twin sister because I didn’t want to bring shame to my family!” Miracle replied vehemently. She refused to accept what the man—now officially her husband—had said.
• Mateo De Luca, the man in front of her, was her twin sister’s fiancé. The man who had been matched with her sister. Miracle had to face the misfortune in her life. She had come to Milan to attend her sister’s wedding, only to be confronted with the reality of her twin sister running away. She had no other choice—only she could protect her family’s reputation.
• Miracle had never known Mateo. The only thing she had heard was that her twin sister was involved with a powerful businessman from Milan. Beyond that, she didn’t know Mateo well. Having lived in Rome for so long, Miracle was unaware of her family’s plans, including arranging Mateo for her sister.
• Mateo smiled sarcastically. “You may say you’re replacing your twin sister, but you really want this marriage. You could have run away and refused, yet you accepted it. So, don’t make excuses like I’m stupid. Save your tears—I won’t be fooled,” he replied piercingly.
• Miracle almost laughed at Mateo’s words. Indeed, she had never met such a confident man—and she felt like beating him for putting her down.
• “Did I hear you right? You should have prevented all of this! I was only helping to save my family’s good name. If you were against this marriage, then none of this would have happened. You could have argued that you couldn’t possibly marry a woman you’d never known! Ah, or were you the one who wanted this marriage?”
• Miracle turned Mateo’s words around. She couldn’t accept being accused of wanting this marriage. Meanwhile, she was caught in a complicated situation. The person who could have stopped this marriage was Mateo. Yet, he still chose to go along with it. She didn’t understand why he would follow his family’s wishes instead of resisting. From the beginning, Miracle had been confused by how calm and unconcerned Mateo had seemed during the wedding process. He should have rebelled. If he had, he might have avoided this marriage.
• Mateo let out a rough breath and stepped closer to Miracle. For a moment, his brown eyes met her blue ones. They stared coldly at each other.
• “Don’t be too confident. Women like you are not my type.”
• Miracle’s eyes narrowed angrily at his words. She lifted her face instantly, glaring sharply. “You think you’re my type? You’re the one who shouldn’t be so confident!”
• Mateo shrugged indifferently. “Arguing with you is a waste of my time. You’d better shut up and leave me alone,” he replied coldly.
• Without another word, Mateo turned, about to walk away. But Miracle swiftly ran after him.
• “Wait, you haven’t answered my question yet.” She touched his arm.
• Mateo glanced at her sharply, immediately pulling his hand away. “What answer haven’t I given?” he asked coldly.
• “Why didn’t you prevent this marriage? You could have stopped it because you were supposed to marry my twin sister instead of me from the beginning!” Miracle said, her gaze probing his brown eyes for the truth.
• Mateo let out a harsh breath. “You told me you were taking your twin sister’s place to save your family. Then your answer and mine are the same. I had no choice. You made the decision, so you bear the consequences.”
• “You’d better change your dress. Do you want to sleep in a wedding gown?” Mateo said, staring coldly at her.
• Miracle looked down at herself. Sure enough, she was still wearing the wedding dress. She stomped her feet as she headed for the bathroom. But suddenly, her gown caught on the edge of a table, and she fell to the floor.
• “Awww!” she screamed. The stack of files on the table tumbled immediately. Meanwhile, Mateo chuckled at how careless she was and stepped closer.
• “That hurts…” Miracle complained, touching her elbow with a frown. She cursed under her breath.
• In the next moment, as she was about to leave after getting up, her gaze landed on a brown folder labeled “Marriage Agreement.” Her brow furrowed, and she immediately picked it up.
• “Mateo, what is this agreement?” Miracle asked, staring at the file.