But he chose me. A woman with no impressive background.
He pursued me openly and passionately, like a man determined to win. The story of a gentle CEO falling for an ordinary girl was a cliché, but what fresh college graduate could resist? I certainly couldn’t.
Six months later, we were married.
Using work as his excuse, Vernon kept postponing our wedding ceremony, time and time again. After we were married, he took me to countless cosmetic procedures. At first, I thought it was just to help me look better.
After all, in our world, a stunning wife was a statement of status.
But it wasn’t until Riley arrived last year that I learned the truth.
"You think Vernon married you out of love?"
In my dream, Riley looked at me with pure contempt, her eyes cold and mocking.
"He married you because you have the exact same eyebrows and eyes as his first love."
"All those cosmetic procedures were just to make you look even more like that dead woman."
"But me? I was born with this face. You lost, Eloise Howard."
"You don’t even deserve to be a stand-in!"
Riley’s twisted, grotesque face grew closer and closer, her words sinking in like poison.
I screamed, the horror gripping me, and then... I woke up!