Abigail's brows furrowed in disbelief.
"W-What did you say?" she whispered. Her voice sounded distant, as if it belonged to someone else. "I look like your wife?"
No. That couldn't be true.
She was an only child. Her father had never mentioned anyone else—certainly not a twin or someone who looked like her. Things like this only happened in cheesy soap operas or low-budget dramas. Not in real life. Not to her.
"This has to be a mistake," she murmured, shaking her head slowly. "You're wrong. You're all wrong. I… I can't look like your wife."
"But you do," Ethan replied coldly.
Ian, who had been standing silently behind Ethan, finally spoke. "Yes, Miss Abigail. We're not lying. Anyone in this room can testify. You look exactly like Princess Frostbite...." He coughed awkwardly, pinched the bridge of his nose, and corrected himself, "I mean, Vanessa. To be precise, you're her exact replica."
Abigail tightened the blanket around her shoulders, suddenly feeling cold. Everything that had happened in the past few hours felt like a surreal nightmare: first, the deal with Jaxon. Then the kidnapping. Now, a stranger was telling her she looked like his wife.
Everything felt too strange, too fast, too much.
"I'd show you her picture, but..." Ian trailed off, regret lacing his tone.
Her heart squeezed painfully. She understood.
If she could see, maybe she could confirm it for herself. But she couldn't. She was blind. Completely dependent on the words of strangers who claimed she looked like someone she had never met.
She hated this. This helplessness.... this dependence.
Still, despite everything… this man had saved her father. She owed him that. Even if he was dangerous, even if his motives were unclear, he had done for her what no one else had. She had no other choice but to agree.
However, there was one problem.
"Even if I agree?" she asked quietly. "How will you convince others? I may resemble your wife, but I'm blind."
"That's my problem. Not yours," he cut in sharply.
She swallowed her doubts, biting down on her inner cheek. "Your wife," she said hesitantly, "Where is she now? What happened to her?"
Ethan's jaw tightened. His face turned cold, his body language rigid. The atmosphere in the room instantly shifted. "You don't need to know about that," he said curtly.
Abigail flinched at the iciness in his tone. For a moment, she regretted asking. She had no right to ask questions regarding his personal life. That was not why she was brought here. "If I agree to be your pretend wife, can I see my father?" she asked in a low voice.
Ethan narrowed his gaze, confused. "See your father?"
"I mean, visit him. Just sometimes. Just to make sure he's okay," she said, hesitantly.
Ethan tilted his head slightly, studying her. Then, surprisingly, his expression softened. "I'm not asking you to be my slave," he said, a faint trace of amusement in his voice. "You'll be my pretend wife, but you're free to visit your father whenever you want."
Relief hit her so hard she nearly sank into the floor. "Thank you," she said, voice trembling. As long as she could see her father. As long as he was alive. As long as this man kept his word, she would do anything he wanted.
"I'll do it," she said after a long pause, lifting her chin slightly. "I'll be your pretend wife."
Ethan didn't blink. "Good."
He had known she would eventually say yes. Refusal wasn't an option for her. But then, her next words caught him completely off guard.
"But I have a condition."
Ethan raised a brow. Condition?
Judging by her situation, he expected her to ask for something material like money, maybe jewelry, like most women who threw themselves at wealthy men. But what she said next left him stunned.
He blinked, not quite sure he'd heard her correctly. "W-what did you say?"
"While I'm pretending to be your wife, can you pretend to be my boyfriend?" she asked hesitantly. "I mean, just in front of my father."
The room fell into stunned silence. Ethan stared at her, and so did everyone else. No one said anything for a while. Abigail fidgeted with the blanket nervously, biting her lips, wondering if she had asked for too much.
She could feel the temperature drop in the room, making her heart pound faster and faster. Meanwhile, Ian stiffened behind him. Everyone knew Ethan Blackwell wasn't a man people made demands to. Conditions weren't something he entertained.
No one dared to negotiate terms with him. People who tried were either crushed or ruined. Yet here she was—a blind girl, poor and fragile, boldly making demands.
Ethan stared at her as if she'd just asked the Devil to kneel. For the first time, someone had put such an absurd condition infront of him. And for some reason, he wasn't angry, just amused.
"Why?"
"My father...," she continued, taking a deep breath, "he'll wonder how I managed to afford his treatment, especially without losing the house or money. If I say my boyfriend helped… it'll ease his mind. It'll make the lie more believable. So, please, can you?"
Ian looked between Abigail and Ethan and shook his head. He knew Ethan would refuse immediately. After all, how could a cold, ruthless man agree to be a blind girl's fake boyfriend? He used other people for his motives, not the other way around.
But the next moment, Ethan's answer made his jaw drop.
"Yes," Ethan answered.
Abigail blinked, stunned. "W-What?"
"I said yes."
She didn't expect him to agree, but when he did, a big smile lit up her face. "Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you so much."
The others in the room, however, looked like they'd just seen the impossible.
He agreed?
Was the world ending?
Had the sun started rising from the west?
Or were they seeing a dream?
Ian gawked. "You… you agreed?"
Ethan didn't respond. He was too busy staring at the woman in front of him, smiling like he'd just given her the world. And maybe, in some twisted way, he had. That smile was bright and innocent. Too pure for the world he lived in.
Yet somehow, it was the most beautiful smile he had ever seen.
And the fact that he was the reason behind it stirred something inside his chest, something unfamiliar and foreign. And that alone was dangerous.