Sister Took My Face... But Not My Husband's Secrets

Chapter 2

Nina snapped out of it and said softly, "I've been feeling a little dizzy lately. I was afraid I might drop the bowl."

Liam didn't say anything right away. Just looked at her, too long to be casual.

I caught it, the flicker of fear in her eyes. She swallowed hard.

Wow. The irony.

She stabbed me once, right in the heart, and twisted the blade just to be sure.

Now she's playing the fragile damsel?

She must've realized she overplayed it, because she quickly added, "Actually, I'll get it."

Liam turned away, heading into the dining room. "Don't worry about it. If you're not feeling well, get some rest."

I froze.

Two years. Two years of marriage, and he never once told me to rest.

Now that I'm dead, suddenly he's thoughtful?

Weird, isn't it? I'd always been frail, low blood pressure, cold hands, fatigue. But the last year, I was getting better. Stronger.

Like my body was finally catching up to the life I was forced into.

Two years of sharing a bed, and only once did I whisper his name in the dark, barely loud enough to hear.

I was hoping he'd come get me. Take me away from the Dawson house. From the people who made sure I never forgot I was nothing more than collateral.

Grandma Dawson had died. She was the last person I owed anything to.

After that, I had nothing left to hold onto.

Not anger. Not hope. Just exhaustion.

The freezer they stuffed me in? Too damn cold. I'd always hated the cold. I just wanted warmth. Sunlight. Peace.

But when I overheard them talking about cutting up my body?

That's when the fear kicked back in.

I didn't want to die in pieces.

If I had to go, I wanted to be whole.

Burn me, drown me, whatever. Just let me leave this world as one person, not a puzzle of limbs and blood.

Liam didn't flinch at Nina's act. He sat down, lifted the spoon, and said, "I heard you've been going out a lot lately."

My ears perked up.

That was the first thing he'd said that sounded like Liam.

Maybe… just maybe, he was starting to notice.

When I married into the Hawthorne family, I had no one in Harbor City. Just the Dawsons.

On our wedding day, my parents told me, "If you want Grandma's medication to keep coming, you do whatever it takes to make Liam happy. As long as the Dawsons stay stable, the supply doesn't stop."

After that, they told me not to come back.

So I didn't. I barely left the house unless I was picking up groceries.

No friends. No outings. Nothing.

Of course Liam thought it was strange I'd suddenly become "social."

Nina didn't miss a beat. "The weather's been crazy lately. My parents got sick, so I went to check on them."

Hearing her say our parents made something twist in my chest.

I remembered that night all too well.

The night she tried to kill me.

I fought back. Hard.

And then my mother stepped in, not to protect me, but to hold me down.

She and my father pinned me while Nina shoved the knife in.

That was the moment I gave up.

The moment I realized I didn't matter to any of them.

Liam didn't respond to her excuse. He just said flatly, "Better to get out of the house than sit around all day."

It hit me harder than I thought it would.

He never said things like that to me.

He never noticed what I did. Or didn't do.

At our wedding, my parents told him, "She's here to repay our debt. Use her however you want, we won't complain."

Liam wasn't cruel. He didn't hit me or yell.

But he was cold. Distant. Like I was a piece of furniture he never got around to replacing.

After dinner, the two of them headed upstairs.

Nina sat on the edge of the bed like she was auditioning for a role, watching Liam as he pulled off his tie and rolled up his sleeves.

He leaned down toward her, just close enough to make her hold her breath.

Then his phone rang.

He checked the screen, picked it up, and within seconds, he was slipping on his jacket and heading for the door.

Work, probably.

Nina's smile faltered, but she forced it back on when he turned around.

"You're wearing too much perfume," Liam said, pausing in the doorway. "I liked it better before."

Then he was gone.

Nina sat there frozen, blinking like she didn't hear him right.

A second later, she lifted her arm and sniffed.

Nothing. The scent had already faded.

But he noticed.

And the man who never noticed anything before… just might be starting to.

Nina quickly waved Mrs. Jenkins into the bedroom.

"Can you smell perfume on me?" she asked urgently.

Mrs. Jenkins leaned in, sniffing Nina's arms and neck. "No, I only smell your shampoo."

Nina frowned and started pacing back and forth. "When you worked for Sarah, what did she smell like?"

Mrs. Jenkins paused, thinking for a moment. "She didn't wear perfume. Never used any of the bottles in her cabinet. Honestly, she didn't smell like anything at all, kind of like she didn't care to enjoy life."

Mrs. Jenkins had been hired by my mother six months ago. She was supposed to help me with herbal broths, since I hadn't conceived.

At the time, I was thrilled. It felt like my parents were actually showing some care for me.

But that was the catch. It wasn't care. It was a plan.

From the moment Mrs. Jenkins stepped into the house, she was part of a bigger scheme. Her real job was to watch me, study my habits, and secretly film me so Nina could perfect her impersonation.

Nina smirked at Mrs. Jenkins' remarks, her lips curling. "Not just unlucky, Sarah was doomed from the start."

Mrs. Jenkins blinked, confused. "Doomed?"

Nina's smirk faltered for a second before she quickly recovered, delivering her rehearsed line with a cold ease.

"She was always sick. The old widow who raised her was always begging my parents for more money to take her to the doctor."

Mrs. Jenkins nodded, seemingly agreeing. "All that woman ever did was ask us for money. A beggar raising another beggar! Sarah was so pathetic, trying to do everything herself. No wonder she couldn't even manage the house staff."

I couldn't take it anymore. My fists clenched, and I lunged at Nina, throwing punches and kicks, my body moving as if I was alive.

But my fists passed straight through her.