Chapter 8 - THE WOMAN WHO NEVER EXISTED
The world seemed to tilt on its axis.
I stared at the photograph. At two identical faces. At the name beneath the obituary.
LYDIA MERCER WHITMORE. BELOVED WIFE OF ADRIAN. LOVING MOTHER.
Lydia.
I had married Lydia.
But the woman living in my house. The woman who had kicked my daughter. The woman who had vanished Clara and my children… she called herself Vanessa.
She had swapped places.
Three years ago. The accident. The fall. The death.
Everyone thought Vanessa had died.
But it was Lydia.
And the woman I had been living with for three years… was her identical twin sister. Vanessa.
I gripped the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white.
That was why everything had changed three years ago. Why she had grown colder. Sharper. Why she had begun watching me. Taking notes. Planning.
It wasn’t the same woman.
I grabbed my phone. Dialed Elena.
“Adrian? Where are you? The police are looking for you—”
“Elena—listen to me. Three years ago. The accident. When my wife fell from the balcony—who did you bury?”
Elena paused.
“Vanessa. Of course. We buried Vanessa.”
“Did you see the body?”
“Adrian… what are you asking?”
“Did you see her face? Was it recognizable?”
“Not entirely. She… she was badly damaged. We identified her through jewelry. Through dental records.”
“Dental records,” I whispered. “And identical twins have identical dental records.”
Silence.
“Adrian… are you saying…”
“I’m saying I don’t know who is living in my house. I’m saying the woman I married died three years ago. And the woman who took her place… is pretending to be my wife. And she has my children.”
Elena’s breath caught.
“Oh my God.”
“Lydia was my wife. Kind. Warm. Gentle. She would never have hurt her children. She would never have lied. She would never have vanished innocent people.” I gripped the phone tighter. “Vanessa is the dangerous one. The ambitious one. The one who was always jealous. Always competitive. Always wanted everything Lydia had.”
“Adrian… how could you not know?”
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“Identical twins. Same face. Same voice. She knew everything about Lydia. Every memory. Every secret. Every habit. She studied her for years. And then… she took her place.”
“And you never suspected?”
