His Spoiled Reborn Bride

7 Let Them Be Together

The silence stretched on for seconds and then minutes. The cheery, sunlit room felt gloomy and oppressive. Isabel’s palms grew sweaty and her mouth felt dry, but she didn’t dare say anything else.

Finally Janet broke the silence, “What are you talking about? How did I encourage you to elope? As if I could make two people fall in love and want to run away together.”

Isabel squared her shoulders and said, “Did they hurt you out there, Janet? Did they hit your head? How can you have forgotten something that only happened a few weeks ago.”

She closed her eyes as if trying to remember the details, but they were as clear as day. She’d replayed her conversations with Janet over and over in her miserable years with Noah, and they’d haunted her every day in prison.

“I remember you said you would help make sure I was happy because that’s what sisters do for each other,” she said. “You transferred me 100,000 pounds and told me you had a contact who could help Noah with his passport and visas. I told you that the money was too much, that I didn’t know when I could repay you, but you insisted.”

She continued, “I thought it was a little strange that you didn’t even want me to pay you back and I remember crying because I was so grateful. What an i***t I was! A few days later you told me you had plane tickets for me and Noah to fly to Canada. You said we should spend our honeymoon in Vancouver and let things calm down here before we returned to Europe. You really don’t remember any of that?”

By the time she finished speaking, her hands shook and her knees felt weak. She’d never stood up to someone so aggressively before. Like Janet, she’d gotten her petty revenge by stabbing people in the back.

All her life, people had treated her like a fool: her family, her friends, even Noah and Janet. She’d been such a suggestible sucker, she’d let them walk all over her. First her uncle had laid claim to the family fortune when her father died. He kicked her stepmother and brother out of the family estate and cut their allowance down to nothing. When she objected, he made her believe that they were trying to steal her inheritance and that he was protecting it. She’d trusted him.

She’d fallen under Janet’s spell just as easily. She practically worshipped the ground Janet walked on—she was fierce and independent and she wasn’t afraid to get into a little bit of trouble. After she’d landed in prison, she realized that Janet was manipulating her as well.

“You’re talking like a crazy woman,” Janet said. “Did you sleep okay? Please tell me they weren’t too hard on you here.”

“Save your fake concern for someone who cares,” Isabel said.

“Okay, okay,” Janet said raising her hands in defeat. “It seems we both have very different memories of what happened. But of course, only one of us can be right. So now the question is—who does Howard believe?”

She stood up and strutted toward Howard. The thin silk slip clung to her generous figure and revealed her long, toned legs. She ran her fingers through her ruined hair, tossing it over her shoulders. Her hazel eyes widened and her lips pouted. Isabel had seen her use the same act to get out of trouble with men before. The thought of her using it on Howard made her stomach turn.

“Don’t go near him,” she said.

Janet stopped and turned around, “You had no problem with me going near him when I was dressed up as you. You said you didn’t care if he didn’t realize we’d switched places until after the wedding night. You were willing to w***e me out, and I loved you enough to do it.”

Janet’s eyes filled with tears and a cold dread ran through Isabel. She’d forgotten what a good actress Janet was. She wanted to look at Howard to see what he thought, but she was terrified of meeting his eye.

Janet dropped to her knees at Howard’s feet and one of the thin slip straps slipped off her shoulder. Her breasts heaved up and down as she sobbed dramatically.

“I’m sorry Howard,” Janet said. “I know that what I did was wrong, but I was blinded by my love for Isabel. She’s not just my cousin or my friend, she really is a sister to me. Please forgive me for what I did.”

“Is that so?” Howard asked, a warning edge in his voice.

“It is,” Janet whimpered. “You have to understand, she and Noah loved each other so much. I’ve never seen her like that with a man before—he was all she could talk about. When she saw him she got this look in her eyes, like nothing else existed for her. She told me she was willing to give up everything for him and I’m a romantic at heart. I had to help them any way I could.”

“Isabel, is that true?” Howard asked.

Isabel’s blood ran cold. Everyone knew that Howard Denmark was a proud and jealous man with a quick temper. Janet was reminding him of the elopement on purpose, trying to make him fly into a rage.  

“It’s not true,” Isabel said.

“Oh Izzy, don’t lie,” Janet said. “Howard, I saw it for myself. Isabel’s love for Noah is the type of love that comes once in a lifetime. She may deny it now because she’s scared, but I know her heart like my own. She’ll love Noah for the rest of her life. No matter how long they’re separated, she’ll never have room in her heart for another man.”

Isabel sucked in her breath. Janet was good—she played the role of loving and worried friend while driving a wedge between her and Howard.

“Please,” Janet said, raising her dirtied hands like she was praying. “Let them be together.”

Howard stood from his chair and stepped around Janet like she was filth on the carpet. Isabel watched him stalk toward her, her heart thrumming in her chest. He closed his hand around her upper arm and his grip was like a vice.

“What do you think?” he asked her. “Should I let you two be together?”

She shivered and shook her head.

“Say the words,” Howard said, squeezing her arm even tighter. “Convince me.”

“Come on, Izzy,” Janet called from her spot on the floor. “Tell him the truth. Maybe he’ll go easy on you.”

Isabel knew Howard would never go easy on her. He was a proud and powerful man and she’d humiliated him by running away on their wedding day. He’d caught her once in her last life and kept her imprisoned in his house for fifteen days. She’d gone on hunger strike and even threatened suicide, but nothing moved him. He was as merciless in his personal life as he was in the business world. Still, her time imprisoned in his home had been better than her time with Noah.

“Howard, you can check my bank account information,” she said. “You can look at my emails and go through my computer. You’ll see that I’m telling the truth. Janet gave me the money and arranged the flights.”

“I don’t deny doing that,” Janet said from the floor. “But it’s like I said, I was just trying to help a young couple in love.”

Isabel seethed. Janet had a point—though Howard could check the facts, he might choose to believe Janet’s version of events. She closed her eyes, trying to remember the past but it was hard. She’d lived ten years' worth of events between the elopement and this day. Had Janet ever said anything to reveal that she secretly wanted Howard for herself? Had she let anything slip in a text or email?

She hung her head—nothing came to mind. Janet was far too cautious to make such a basic mistake.

“I know it’s a bad situation,” Janet said. “But Howard, there are so many women who would love you and care for you and be the wife you deserve. Before you announced your engagement they were practically lining up for you. Just let Isabel go and be with her love. This story can still have a happy ending.”

“Isabel,” Howard said, pinching her jaw and turning her head up to him. “I asked you a question.”