Bianca's POV
The woman with gray hair pushed me into a bedroom bigger than my entire apartment.
"This was hers," she said. "Now it's yours."
I stood in the doorway, afraid to move. Everything in the room was white and gold. The bed looked like it belonged to a princess. But it felt cold, like a tomb.
"I'm Mrs. Chen," the woman said. "I take care of the house. And now I take care of you."
"I can take care of myself," I said.
Mrs. Chen laughed, but it wasn't a happy sound. "Can you? Because from where I stand, you look like a scared little girl playing dress-up."
Her words stung because they were true. I was scared. More scared than I'd ever been in my life.
"The wedding is tomorrow," Mrs. Chen said. "We need to get you ready."
"Tomorrow?" My voice came out as a squeak. "But I just got here."
"Mr. Leo doesn't like to wait."
Mrs. Chen walked to a huge closet and opened the doors. Inside hung the most beautiful wedding dress I'd ever seen. It was white silk with tiny pearls sewn all over it. The skirt was so long it would trail behind me like a cloud.
"Put it on," Mrs. Chen said.
"Now?"
"Now."
I walked closer to the dress. It was beautiful, but looking at it made me feel sick. This dress was supposed to be Alessia's. She was supposed to wear it on the happiest day of her life.
Instead, I would wear it to a fake wedding with a man who already knew I was lying.
"I can't," I whispered.
"You can and you will," Mrs. Chen said. "Unless you want to explain to Mr. Leo why you're being difficult."
The threat was clear. I thought about Leo's cold golden eyes. About the way he'd looked at me like he wanted to hurt me. About the phone call he was making right now.
"Fine," I said.
Mrs. Chen helped me out of my regular clothes. I felt embarrassed standing there in my underwear. My bra was old and my underwear had a hole in it. Mrs. Chen didn't say anything, but I saw her look.
"Arms up," she said.
The dress slipped over my head like water. It was heavier than I expected. The silk was smooth against my skin, but it felt wrong. Like I was wearing a costume that didn't belong to me.
Mrs. Chen zipped up the back. "Look in the mirror."
I turned around slowly. The mirror was as tall as the wall. When I saw myself, I gasped.
I looked exactly like Alessia. The dress fit perfectly. My hair was the same color as hers. My face was the same shape. We were identical twins, but seeing myself in her wedding dress made me feel like I was looking at a ghost.
"You look beautiful," Mrs. Chen said.
"I look like her."
"That's the point."
I touched the pearls on the dress. They were real. I could tell by how heavy they were. This dress probably cost more money than I made in a whole year.
"She was supposed to be happy," I said.
"What?"
"Alessia. She was supposed to be happy on her wedding day. She was supposed to love him."
Mrs. Chen's face got hard. "Love is a luxury. This family doesn't deal in luxuries."
"What do they deal in?"
"Power. Money. Control."
I looked at myself in the mirror again. The dress was beautiful, but something was wrong. There were small dark spots on the white silk. They looked like...
"Are those blood stains?" I asked.
Mrs. Chen looked where I was pointing. Her face went pale.
"I thought they cleaned it," she whispered.
"Cleaned what?"
"The dress. It was... it was what she was wearing when..."
"When she died?"
Mrs. Chen nodded. "The car accident. She was coming here for the final fitting. She never made it."
My stomach felt sick. I was wearing a dead woman's wedding dress. A dress that still had her blood on it.
"I need to take it off," I said.
"No." Mrs. Chen grabbed my arm. "If Mr. Leo sees you're not ready, he'll be angry."
"I don't care."
"You should care. You should care very much."
Something in her voice made me stop. Mrs. Chen looked scared. Really scared.
"What happened to the last person who made him angry?" I asked.
Mrs. Chen didn't answer. She just walked to the jewelry box on the dresser.
"Put these on," she said.
The jewelry was beautiful. Diamond earrings that sparkled like stars. A necklace with a pendant the size of my thumb. And a bracelet that looked like it was made of pure gold.
"These were hers too," Mrs. Chen said.
"Everything in this room was hers."
"Everything in this room is yours now."
I put on the earrings first. They were heavy and cold. Then the necklace. The pendant sat right over my heart.
"The bracelet," Mrs. Chen said.
I picked it up. It was heavier than I expected. The gold was warm from sitting in the jewelry box. I was about to put it on when I noticed something strange.
There was a tiny gap in the metal. Like it opened somehow.
"How do you open this?" I asked.
Mrs. Chen frowned. "It doesn't open. It's solid gold."
But I could feel the seam. I pressed on it, and suddenly the bracelet clicked open. Inside was a small piece of paper, folded so tiny I almost missed it.
"What is that?" Mrs. Chen asked.
I unfolded the paper carefully. It was old and yellow. The writing on it was small and hurried, like someone had written it in a rush.
My heart stopped when I saw what it said.
"Trust no one. The truth is in the music box."
"What does it say?" Mrs. Chen asked.
I folded the paper quickly and put it in my hand. "Nothing. Just an old receipt."
But Mrs. Chen was looking at me strangely. "Let me see it."
"It's nothing important."
"If it's nothing important, then let me see it."
I backed away from her. "I said it's nothing."
Mrs. Chen stepped closer. "Give me the paper."
"No."
"Give me the paper or I'll call Mr. Leo."
My mind was racing. This note was from Alessia. It had to be. She had hidden it in her bracelet. She had left me a message.
But what music box? And what truth?
"I don't know what you're talking about," I said.
Mrs. Chen's eyes got narrow. "You found something. Something she left behind."
"Who?"
"Alessia. She was always writing things down. Always asking questions. Always poking her nose where it didn't belong."
"What kind of questions?"
"The kind that got her killed."
The words hit me like a slap. Mrs. Chen had said it so casually, like she was talking about the weather.
"You said it was an accident," I whispered.
"I said a lot of things."
Mrs. Chen walked to the door and put her hand on the handle. "You want some advice? Stop asking questions. Stop looking for answers. Just be a good wife and stay alive."
"What if I can't do that?"
"Then you'll end up like her."
Mrs. Chen opened the door. "The wedding is at ten tomorrow morning. Be ready."
"Wait," I called after her.
She stopped but didn't turn around.
"The music box," I said. "Where is it?"
Mrs. Chen's shoulders got tense. "What music box?"
"You know what I'm talking about."
"I don't know anything about a music box."
"Then why do you look scared?"
Mrs. Chen turned around slowly. Her face was white as paper.
"Because," she said quietly, "the last person who went looking for that music box ended up dead."
Then she left, closing the door behind her with a soft click.
I stood there in Alessia's wedding dress, holding her secret message, and realized that I wasn't just pretending to be my sister.
I was following in her footsteps and those footsteps led to a grave