Chapter 2 - The Doppelgänger’s GameEmily froze in the dark container. How could her identity be used at the mansion while she was shivering on a dirty floor?
She pulled up the live feed from her hidden indoor security cameras—an app only synced to her burner phone. The footage made her breath hitch. Sitting in the dimly lit living room of her multi-million-dollar estate were Daniel and Michael. They were sipping scotch, wet towels draped over their shoulders, celebrating their twisted victory.
Then, the camera showed a third figure walking down the stairs, wearing Emily’s favorite silk robe, holding a glass of wine, and wearing her exact haircut.
Emily zoomed in. The woman turned toward the camera. It was Victoria—Daniel’s "assistant" whom Emily had suspected of having an affair with her husband months ago. Victoria was wearing realistic silicone facial prosthetics and a wig. She looked terrifyingly identical to Emily from a distance.
“It’s done,” Daniel said on the audio feed, leaning back on the sofa. “The Coast Guard will find her purse washed up near the sharp cliffs tomorrow. A tragic suicide brought on by her severe water phobia and recent mental instability.”
“And the beauty of it,” Michael chuckled, clinking his glass against his brother’s, “is that 'Emily' will show up at the bank on Monday, sign over her $40 million family trust fund to Vance Enterprises, and then 'mysteriously disappear' on a flight to Switzerland forever. Perfect crime.”
Emily clutched the burner phone so tightly her knuckles turned white. They didn't just try to murder her; they had planned to steal her dead father’s legacy and erase her existence using an impostor.
She sat in the dark, her heart pounding with a dangerous, calculating rhythm. Going to the police right now was suicide. The police chief in this county was on the Vance brothers' payroll; she had seen his name on the ledger. If she walked into a station, she’d be dead before morning.
She needed an ally. Someone ruthless. Someone who hated the Vance brothers even more than she did.
She opened her contacts and scrolled to a number she had sworn never to call: Marcus Kane. Marcus was Daniel’s former business partner—a man who had been framed by the twins three years ago and spent time in prison, stripped of his reputation.
An hour later, a black SUV pulled up into the alley outside the warehouse. The door slid open, revealing Marcus Kane, holding a suppressed pistol, his sharp eyes piercing through the dark.
“I was told Emily Vance drowned tonight,” Marcus said coldly, pointing the gun at her shadow.
Emily stepped into the moonlight, wet, bruised, but eyes burning like hot coal. “Emily Vance did drown, Marcus. I’m what’s left behind. And I’m going to help you burn their empire to the ground.”
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Chapter Hook: Marcus slowly lowered his gun, a slow, dangerous smile spreading across his face. “I’m in,” he whispered. “But you’re too late for phase one, Emily. Look at the news.” He tossed his tablet to her. The breaking headline read: “BODY OF LOCAL HEIRESS EMILY VANCE RECOVERED FROM SEA; HUSBAND DEVASTATED.”
If her body was already found... whose corpse was lying in the morgue?
