Chapter 7 I'm Just A Replacement

• **POV: Harper**
• Damn, she’s so good! Her acting skills need to be applauded. I sat upright, pulling the sheets up defensively, my heart racing in confusion and annoyance. You know, when she walked in here, she looked like she had seen a monster, her face pale and eyes wide with distress as she stood in the doorway, hugging herself like a terrified child.
• He offered to walk her back to her room; he left me horny and wet just to comfort his guest. He had his hand around her shoulders as he led her out of the room, with me staring after them like a fucking moron.
• She tried to rub it in my face; she gave me that proud look that showed she knew exactly what she was doing. I scoffed and shook my head, cursing the day she walked into my life to destroy everything. When she couldn’t get a reaction out of me, she stopped moving and stood by the doorway, throwing her arms around him.
• “Ethan!” she cried, her voice urgent and edged with panic. She bucked her hips toward him, feeling his hardness that had gone down considerably after her interruption. The fact that he doesn’t even know what she is doing is even more annoying.
• Ethan is obviously pissed by her interruption, but he had to hide his displeasure. His expression switched from surprise to concern, and he held her to his chest, pulling a hand through her hair and rubbing her back gently.
• “I had a terrible nightmare, Ethan,” she blurted out, her breath coming in quick gasps. She made sure to turn around, her gaze darting between me and Ethan, her actions revealing her unease.
• “It reminded me of... of the past. It felt so real; I couldn’t sleep anymore.” She sobbed, her eyes tearing up. Now, where the hell did those tears come from?
• “Hey, hey, I’m here now; it’s okay. Let’s take a deep breath,” he soothed, his voice gentle and firm, a complete opposite of her chaotic energy.
• “I think it’s because you are in an unfamiliar environment. You just need to relax, Serena; you will be fine. I will not let anything happen to you, I promise,” he told her, pushing her gently toward the door, trying to get her to leave and go back to bed.
• But she refused to take the hint; she was obviously stalling to annoy the hell out of me. She brushed her hair back, sniffling and pretending to wipe her tears away.
• “Come with me, Ethan. I found something I really want you to see,” she said, her voice steady and firm this time as she smiled beautifully, holding his hands in hers.
• “It’s something you gave me when we were kids. It’s so beautiful, Ethan; I need to show it to you, I’m sure you would love it,” she told him, smiling brightly at him. All traces of her initial dramatics disappeared completely. She was back to her annoying, bitchy self. I felt sick to my stomach; I just wanted to yell at the top of my voice and tell her just how much I detest her presence in my house.
• But I didn’t let my anger take over; I kept my cool the entire time. I did it for my husband. I lay back on the bed, ignoring them both. I guess my action made him realize his mistakes.
• “Serena, it’s late. Can’t this wait until tomorrow?” he asked her gently, trying to get her to leave. She held him tighter, putting on that pathetic look that always gets him to give her whatever she wanted.
• “Don’t be like that, Ethan. I’m just too excited to fall asleep without showing it to you,” she urged him, trying to pull him out of the room with her. Any sane person could see that she was making up these stories. Any sane person, but not Ethan.
• “It can wait, Serena. I will make time to see it tomorrow, but certainly not tonight. It has been a long day, Serena; it’s time to go to sleep. I will post a guard outside your room to make sure you are okay. There is nothing to worry about; I will protect you and make sure you are happy,” he promised her, smiling warmly.
• Serena nodded slowly, the fight in her dissipating, but not before I saw a flicker of sorrow cross her face. She turned to leave, her shoulders heavy with unspoken words. I felt so hurt as I saw guilt wash over Ethan. He felt guilty for letting her leave on her own. He stood in the spot and called the head of security, asking him to send a guard to keep watch on Serena and assure her of his protection.
• I could see that he truly cares about her, and for some reason, it hurts me to know that he likes her. I lay facing the wall, trying to hide my silent tears. As the door clicked shut, silence enveloped the room again, and the warmth we had shared was replaced with a heavy chill. There was tension between us, and he knows it.
• He sighed in frustration, coming closer to wrap his hands around my hips, kissing my neck. I shrugged him off roughly, refusing his gentle touch. I have never denied my husband access to my body, but tonight, I just can’t let him touch me—not after all this drama.
• “Come on, my love; I already said I’m sorry,” he told me, pulling my hair away from my face, pecking me on my chin and neck.
• “I’m sorry too, Ethan. But I’m no longer in the mood; I just want to be left alone,” I affirmed, refusing to turn his way. All night, I kept thinking about her two-faced attitude and how she could switch from being sweet and docile to being rude and evil.
• There is more to her than meets the eye, and I intend to find out everything. My curiosity kept me awake all night, gnawing at me. There must be something I’m missing here because I don’t understand why he would care so much about her when he wasn’t even in a relationship with her, but with her sister.
• I’m curious to know everything about their past. So I decided to privately conduct an investigation into his past. I would have tried asking him again, but that would be futile. So I’m going to ask the one person I know has the answers I seek.
• The next day, I asked Brad, Ethan's best friend, out to ask him some questions about Ethan and Serena's past. I got him excited by inviting him out for lunch at his favorite Chinese restaurant, and he promised to meet me there.
• He arrived a few minutes after I did, smiling excitedly. We placed our orders with the waiter, and while we waited for our food, I decided to tell him why I had asked him out for lunch.
• “Hey, I need to talk to you about Ethan and Serena,” I said, keeping my tone casual. Brad hesitated, and I could swear that I saw a flicker of caution crossing his features when I mentioned their names. It felt as though he knew exactly what I wanted to ask and was preparing himself.
• “What’s there to talk about?” he shrugged, picking up his glass of wine that the waiter had just dropped on the table.
• “Anything!” I urged, trying to coax the truth from him without sounding desperate. He shrugged his shoulders again, telling me there was nothing to tell about Ethan and Serena.
• “Your husband is an open book, Harper, and Serena is just an old friend,” he shrugged, smiling warmly to put my mind at ease. I smiled back at him; I could tell my tenacity was making him uneasy, and I could see him considering his words carefully. I decided to bluff and see what he would say.
• “That’s a lie, Brad, and you know it. Serena is not Ethan’s friend. Rather, she is Emma’s sister. Emma is Ethan’s friend and not Serena,” I told him, making his eyes go wide in surprise.
• “Yes, Brad, Emma. I know about Emma already. Ethan told me about her,” I lied, my eyes piercing through his hesitations. The name hung heavy in the air, and I watched as his resolve crumbled. He looked so guilty that I thought he would walk away, but he didn’t.
• “Okay, fine,” he relented, running a hand through his hair.
• “Emma was… important to Ethan. They loved each other so dearly; they were going to get married,” he confessed. His words stung like bees, making my heart bleed in pain. I felt the weight on my chest, and it was suffocating. He said so many wonderful things about Emma and Ethan, how well they bonded, and how they were perfect for each other.
• “He loved her, Harper; he adores her even,” he told me. I felt so broken and sad; I didn’t even know what to think. He told me she was in the hospital right here in this city. I had no idea she was so close, and I wanted to see her for myself. I wanted to meet the woman whom my husband loved deeply in the past.
• He agreed to take me there; after all, I already knew the truth about her. Later that day, he picked me up and drove me down to the hospital to see Emma. There, at the hospital, my whole world shattered when I came face-to-face with a woman who looked strikingly familiar.
• It was Emma, Ethan’s ex-fiancée. But it seems like the world seemed to blur as I looked at her and realized that she is a just like me. My heart raced, it felt like I was looking in a mirror. Our shared features were uncanny, we have the same deep-set eyes, similar curve of our lips, nose and same body structure and hair.
• I stood frozen, struggling to control the whirlwind of emotions swirling inside of me. Was i just a replacement, a shadow of the person who had occupied a more significant space in Ethan’s heart?
• Remembering that Emma was Ethan's ex-fiance made me look so stupid. My heart was torn into pieces as I believed that I was only a replacement for Emma. I felt used, I can’t believe that he never loved me for me. He just chose me as a replacement for his ex girlfriend because I looked like her. I can’t believe that he would do this to me, I can’t believe that everything is a lie.
• Our marriage…
• The love we s…
• Our bond…
• Everything is a lie!
• Just then, Ethan and Serena appeared at the entrance, glancing in my direction. Their expressions were sharp and disapproving, as they looked at me, glaring at me.