He Chose the Fake Sister, Now He Weeps at My Casket
Agatha Christie · Completed · 8.0k Words
Introduction
With purple, cracked fingers, I dialed my fiancé, Silas.
Through the phone came the cozy crackle of a fireplace, and the sweet giggles of the fake heiress, Stella.
"Silas... save me... Route 82..." I gasped, my voice fading.
"Harper, this jealousy game makes me sick," he snapped. "Stella only sat in your passenger seat, and you play disappear? Go freeze to death out there. Don't bother us!"
Beep.
He hung up. Followed by a ruthless block.
He didn't know it wasn't a stunt for attention. It was my last SOS in this world.
When my body was dug out of the snowdrifts, frozen stiff along with the cheap engagement ring he bought on a whim, that arrogant man dropped to his knees on the icy morgue floor, sobbing uncontrollably.
Too bad, I could never see it again.
Chapter 1
A blizzard night. My car broke down in the middle of nowhere, and my legs had already lost all feeling.
With purple, cracked fingers, I dialed my fiancé, Silas.
Through the phone came the cozy crackle of a fireplace, and the sweet giggles of the fake heiress, Stella.
"Silas... save me... Route 82..." I gasped, my voice fading.
"Harper, this jealousy game makes me sick," he snapped. "Stella only sat in your passenger seat, and you play disappear? Go freeze to death out there. Don't bother us!"
Beep.
He hung up. Followed by a ruthless block.
He didn't know it wasn't a stunt for attention. It was my last SOS in this world.
When my body was dug out of the snowdrifts, frozen stiff along with the cheap engagement ring he bought on a whim, that arrogant man dropped to his knees on the icy morgue floor, sobbing uncontrollably.
Too bad, I could never see it again.
Harper's POV
The blizzard tearing through Aspen was a killer.
Route 82 was a total dead zone, and the wind slung ice like shattered glass, quickly burying my beat-up Ford under a sprawling white grave.
The heater had choked out two hours ago. The engine followed.
I was curled into a tight ball on the driver's seat, wearing nothing but jeans and a paper-thin cashmere sweater. I did have a heavy sub-zero parka before we left. But the moment Stella squeezed out a few crocodile tears about her broken zipper, my mother literally ripped the coat right off my back. She draped it over her precious adopted daughter without a second thought.
"Your sister is fragile, Harper. You've got a strong constitution. Just crank the heater in your car and stop being so selfish."
I could still see the freezing disgust in my mother's eyes.
They didn't know my heater was broken. They didn't care. Stella had claimed she needed "alone time" to chat with my fiancé, Silas, practically banishing me to this scrap-metal junker. Right now, the whole happy family was cruising up the mountain in a luxury Range Rover loaded with snow chains and heated leather seats.
Inside my car, the temperature had plummeted to twenty below zero.
Thick frost swallowed the windshield. The biting sting in my fingers had faded into a terrifying numbness. My skin was a sickly shade of purple, the flesh cracking white at the knuckles. Extreme hypothermia. I knew exactly what was coming.
My phone screen flickered weakly in the dark. Two percent battery.
Zero cell service. 911 wouldn't connect. My only lifeline left was the satellite emergency contact.
Silas.
My fingers were as stiff as wood. I pinned the phone between my palms and practically smashed the call button. Every jagged breath I took felt like inhaling crushed glass, making my lungs violently seize.
Ring... Ring...
After what felt like an eternity, the line clicked open.
"Harper, are you seriously still doing this?"
Silas's voice bled through the speaker, heavy with exhaustion and annoyance. But beneath his scolding, I heard the soundtrack of a perfect, cozy evening. The sharp pop and hiss of a massive fireplace. The delicate clink of wine glasses. And Stella's signature, honey-sweet giggle.
"Silas..." My voice was a shredded whisper. I sounded like a ghost. "Save me... Car died... Route 82. Black Pine junction... I'm freezing..."
"Oh, for God's sake, drop the pathetic victim act!" Silas scoffed, his tone dripping with venom. "You really think putting on this zombie whisper will make me ditch Stella to come coddle you? Grow up, Harper. You're twenty-two! Stella took my passenger seat, so you deliberately pull a disappearing act? Do you have any idea how sick your jealousy is?"
"I'm not... acting..." A tear slipped from my eyelashes, crystallizing into sharp ice before it even reached my chin. "Silas, please. I can't feel my legs..."
"Sister? Are you still mad at me?"
Stella's voice suddenly pierced the line, thick with an exaggerated, fake sniffle. "I'm so sorry, it's all my fault. I shouldn't have been so scared of the cold. I shouldn't have taken your coat... or Silas's front seat. Please just come back. Mom and Dad are waiting for you to carve the turkey. Stop this childish tantrum."
"Give me the phone, Stella. Stop humoring her." Silas snapped. He swallowed her bait whole, and his voice turned to absolute ice. "Listen to me very carefully, Harper. If you don't drag yourself up to this cabin and apologize to Stella in the next thirty minutes, this engagement is over. You want to freeze outside throwing a pity party? Fine. Freeze. But keep away from us."
"Silas," I gasped, forcing out my absolute last breath into the microphone. "I'm... actually dying..."
"Then die."
Click.
The line went dead. Then came the cold, automated operator. Number unavailable.
He had blocked me.
In a minus-thirty-degree blizzard, the man I had loved for ten years casually severed my last thread to life.
The screen went pitch black. Dead battery. Dead silence.
I slumped against the steering wheel, my chest heaving as the white plumes of my breath vanished into the freezing dark.
And then, the agonizing cold just... stopped.
A bizarre, blazing heat flooded my veins. It felt like I was trapped in a furnace. Paradoxical undressing. My dying brain was completely misfiring, sending panicked, faulty signals to my destroyed nerve endings. It was the body's final, tragic illusion before the end.
My stiff, claw-like fingers started desperately tearing at the collar of my sweater. God, it's so hot.
In those final minutes, my life flashed by in jagged, painful pieces.
Being brought back to the Davis family at five years old. Finding out I was the real daughter, desperate for my parents' love—only to get cold stares while they hugged their precious Stella.
In that agonizingly lonely world, Silas had been my only anchor. My protector. We started dating at fifteen, and I thought I had finally found a safe harbor.
Until Stella realized I was happy.
She had cried to him. "Sister took my place in the family... is she going to take you away from me, too?"
And just like that, he was completely swayed.
For ten long years, I had played the obedient dog. I begged for my parents' affection. I begged for Silas's loyalty. I even bent over backward to please Stella. All just to scrape up a crumb of validation.
Now I knew. When you are unloved in this world, even drawing breath is considered a mistake.
"Good..."
My frozen, cracked lips managed to curl into a tiny, stiff smile.
My vision washed out into pure white. The crushing pain evaporated, replaced by an overwhelming sense of lightness. Like I was floating.
Just like you wanted, Silas. I'm dead. Now nobody will ever bother you again.
My heavy eyelids slowly slipped shut. My heart gave one final, hollow thump against my ribs.
Then, absolute silence.
Last Chapters
You Might Like 😍
Omega Bound
Thane Knight is the alpha of the Midnight Pack of the La Plata Mountain Range, the largest wolf shifter pack in the world. He is an alpha by day and hunts the shifter trafficking ring with his group of mercenaries by night. His hunt for vengeance leads to one raid that changes his life.
Tropes:
Touch her and die/Slow burn romance/Fated Mates/Found family twist/Close circle betrayal/Cinnamon roll for only her/Traumatized heroine/Rare wolf/Hidden powers/Knotting/Nesting/Heats/Luna/Attempted assassination
Ex-Wife, Current Wife
For three years, she lived in the shadow of a loveless marriage. She was the woman everyone loved to hate, the one who supposedly "stole" him from his first love. She endured his cold indifference, raised their son—who struggles with a speech impediment—in silence, and traded her own brilliant career for the thankless role of a trophy wife.
But when his long-lost love returns, she is unceremoniously pushed aside to make room for the "real" family.
Enough was enough.
After he publicly humiliates her and chooses the mistress’s daughter over his own son during a birthday party, something inside her finally snaps. She doesn't just want out of the marriage; she wants her life back. With a secret talent for design and a newfound resolve, she walks away from the gilded cage of his estate.
But as she rises from the ashes of her failed marriage to reclaim her status as a top-tier designer, he realizes the woman he treated as a disposable pawn was the only one who truly held his world together.
Now, the woman who once begged for his attention is no longer looking back. Will he be able to earn her forgiveness, or is he finally too late?
Accardi
“I thought you said you were done chasing me?” Gen mocked.
“I am done chasing you.”
Before she could formulate a witty remark, Matteo threw her down. She landed hard on her back atop his dining room table. She tried to sit up when she noticed what he was doing. His hands were working on his belt. It came free of his pants with a violent yank. She collapsed back on her elbows, her mouth gaping open at the display. His face was a mask of sheer determination, his eyes were a dark gold swimming with heat and desire. His hands wrapped around her thighs and pulled her to the edge of the table. He glided his fingers up her thighs and hooked several around the inside of her panties. His knuckles brushed her dripping sex.
“You’re soaking wet, Genevieve. Tell me, was it me that made you this way or him?” his voice told her to be careful with her answer. His knuckles slid down through her folds and she threw her head back as she moaned. “Weakness?”
“You…” she breathed.
Genevieve loses a bet she can’t afford to pay. In a compromise, she agrees to convince any man her opponent chooses to go home with her that night. What she doesn’t realize when her sister’s friend points out the brooding man sitting alone at the bar, is that man won’t be okay with just one night with her. No, Matteo Accardi, Don of one of the largest gangs in New York City doesn’t do one night stands. Not with her anyway.
Let Them Kneel
Cast out by her pack. Forgotten by the Lycans.
She lived among humans—quiet, invisible, tucked away in a town no one looked at twice.
But when her first heat comes without warning, everything changes.
Her body ignites. Her instincts scream. And something primal stirs beneath her skin—
summoning a big, bad Alpha who knows exactly how to quench her fire.
When he claims her, it’s ecstasy and ruin.
For the first time, she believes she’s been accepted.
Seen.
Chosen.
Until he leaves her the next morning—
like a secret never to be spoken.
But Kaelani is not what they thought.
Not wolfless. Not weak.
There is something ancient inside her. Something powerful. And it’s waking.
And when it does—
they’ll all remember the girl they tried to erase.
Especially him.
She’ll be the dream he keeps chasing… the one thing that ever made him feel alive.
Because secrets never stay buried.
And neither do dreams.
Mating Moon
The Mafia King's Unknown Doctor Wife
Tempted By The Enemy
She escapes to Preston Island to attend the wedding without informing him only to collide with Lucas’s hot, fiery and arrogant brother, the twenty-three-year-old, Nicholas Donnelly. Sparks immediately fly between them but Alyssa refuses to acknowledge them fearing her brother's wrath.
The wedding is over and Alyssa tries hard to forget the mysterious Nicholas Donnelly but can he forget her? Can he ignore the attraction he feels for her, feelings that have resurfaced after ten years?
What will Allyssa do when she is stalked by the man who has been invading her dreams since the day she met him? What will she do when she is whisked away to a deserted island by the unpredictable Nicholas Donnelly? Can she tame her heart or surrender to sinful temptations? Read to find out!
Part of the Temptation Series. Can be read as a standalone.
Rejected By My Family, Desired By The Mafia
While the real heiress struggled to survive, the nanny’s daughter, Talia, was raised in luxury as the beloved jewel of the Laurent family, pampered by Camille’s parents, adored by her three brothers, and even promised to the prestigious Matteo Devereux through a childhood engagement arranged by their grandparents.
Then the truth came out.
Six months ago, Camille was finally brought back to the Laurent family. To protect the family reputation and prove their devotion to their bloodline, the Laurent patriarch transferred 35% of his personal shares into Camille’s name overnight, instantly making her one of the wealthiest heiresses in the country.
It brought anxiety to all the Laurent family. But what they don’t know…is that Camille never needed them.
Behind her elegant smile lies a woman filled with secrets powerful enough to shake the whole family. She's a miraculous healer capable of curing the incurable poisons.
Yet despite everything, her family still chooses Talia.
Every accusation against Talia is forgiven. Every scheme against Camille is brushed aside. Even Matteo, the man who was supposed to be Camille’s fiancé—cannot let go of the woman he always believed belonged by his side.
But while the Laurent family underestimates Camille, another man begins to see exactly who she is.
Dante Moretti.
The ruthless heir of an old-money dynasty. A billionaire CEO worshipped by the public…and the merciless king of a criminal empire hidden beneath the city’s glittering surface. When Dante is poisoned by a rival syndicate with a deadly toxin no doctor can cure, he offers a fortune for anyone who can save him.
Only Camille can. Their deal is simple: she becomes his personal physician, and he gives her anything she wants.
Letters to a Dark Prince
Thrown into Isteros Academy—a world of old money, blood money, and cruel social games—she's an outsider by birth and an afterthought by design. Her sister Solyn is the school's untouchable queen and Mara is her favorite target.
Everyone expects Atreus to treat his fiancée’s scholarship sister like everyone else does—as if she doesn’t matter.
Instead, his dorm room sits directly across from hers, close enough that she can see his light go out at night. Some nights, he climbs the old maintenance trellis just to check on her. He teaches her chess. He shows up exactly when something's gone wrong—and never once asks to be thanked for it.
"Don't fall in love with one piece," he warns her, over a board neither of them treats like a game anymore. "It punishes the person who only sees half of it."
Mara doesn't understand why the boy who's supposed to make her life harder keeps quietly making it easier—not until she realizes the anonymous stranger she's been writing to every week already has a name.
His.
He doesn't know he's writing to her, either.
By the time they find out, it's too late to stop what's already happening. Far too dangerous for anyone to find out.
In an empty studio, in the middle of a rainstorm, she asks him: 'Am I the kind of girl who kisses a boy engaged to my sister?'
He doesn't answer.
So she asks: 'What are we?’
He told her not to fall in love with one piece.
She fell anyway.
And he was never far behind.
The CEO Above My Desk
“I know she does.”
“And what if she doesn’t want this kind of protection?”
“She will,” I say, my voice lowering slightly. “Because she needs a man who can give her the world.”
“And if the world burns?”
My hand tightens subtly at Violet’s waist.
“Then I’ll build her a new one,” I reply. “Even if I have to burn the old one down myself.”
I don’t work for Rowan Ashcroft.
I work beneath him.
From my desk, I decide who gets access to the most ruthless CEO in the city, and who never makes it past the lobby. I manage his time, his silence, his enemies. I keep his world running while my own quietly collapses under unpaid bills, a mother locked in rehab, and a brother who vanished without a goodbye.
Rowan Ashcroft is power wrapped in a tailored suit.
Cold. Untouchable. Merciless.
He doesn’t flirt. He doesn’t smile. He doesn’t see people, only usefulness.
And for a long time, I was just useful.
Until he started watching.
A shift in his attention is subtle at first. A pause too long. A look that lingers. Orders that pull me closer instead of pushing me away. The man who stands above my desk begins to control more than my schedule, and I realize too late that being noticed by Rowan Ashcroft is far more dangerous than being ignored.
Because men like him don’t crave affection.
They crave possession.
This was supposed to be a job.
Not a test of my limits.
Not a slow, deliberate descent into his authority.
But if Rowan Ashcroft decides I belong under his desk, then so be it.
Survival has a price, and the bills don’t care how I pay them.
The rejected white luna
Where The Ice Gives Way
Blake Atlas scents his mate the moment Charlotte arrives. The bond hits hard and unmistakable, but Charlotte doesn’t recognise it. She doesn’t know why her chest keeps pulling toward the one boy she absolutely cannot afford to want. Blake is Charlie’s new hockey captain. Charlie’s chance at making something good. Charlie makes it clear; his sister is off-limits and Blake tries to do the right thing, but secrets don’t stay buried forever. Rogues prowl the edges of town. The ice cracks. The bond tightens. Then Charlotte’s rare white wolf awakens, the very thing that makes her powerful, also makes her a target.
Shanti needs Shakti. (Peace needs strength.)
Where the Ice Gives Way is a slow-burn YA paranormal romance filled with fated mates, protective alpha energy, fierce sibling loyalty, found family pack bonds, hurt/comfort, and quiet, aching tension. It’s a story about first belonging, learning to be cared for, and what happens when the girl who has always held everyone else up finally falls, and someone catches her.
