Substitute Wife For The Mafia King: Chapters 1–5

Today, I’m finally getting married to the man of my dreams and my first love. I don’t remember when I first fell in love with him, but for as long as I can remember, I’ve always been in love with him. I wasn’t certain whether it was because of pure good luck or ill-fated misfortune that my one-sided forbidden love would be fulfilled today after I have spent countless years yearning for my twin sister’s fiancé.

I’m not even sure where to start to describe all the pain, suffering, and misfortunes that I’ve had to deal with before reaching this moment. Dressed in a very expensive designer wedding dress with a white lacy veil covering my face, my hand tightened slightly around my father’s arm as I tried to stop my legs from shaking from the mix of nervousness and overwhelming excitement.

It just didn’t feel real.

I didn’t dare close my eyes for too long for fear that when I reopened them again, I would find out that everything about this wedding was just a sweet fantasy dream that I’d had countless times before. Ever since I was a small girl, I had dreamt of my wedding day many times before. Each time, some details may have been different such as the dress that I had on or the wedding venue, or how the ceremony would play out. However, the one thing that remained constant in all my dreams was the identity of my groom. I would always marry him, and no one else.

“Don’t you dare mess this up, Dahlia…”

The deep voice that hissed those words grumpily to me belonged to none other than my father. Without wanting to, I instinctively looked up into his face to see him glaring at me with menacing eyes. I had always hated the way that he looked at me as if I wasn’t human or simply something that shouldn’t have been born. Even on this day, I had hoped that he would feel even a shred of thankfulness that I was here and once again doing his bidding for the sake of saving our family’s name and face.

Before my thoughts and mood would turn dark, I decided to face straight ahead and simply ignore him. In all the dreams that I had of my wedding, I walked proudly down the aisle to where my handsome groom was waiting for me alone. My father was never by my side just like he is now and there were more than a few good reasons for that.

“Thirty seconds and the doors will open. Please don’t forget to smile and don’t forget to kick the skirt of your dress each time you take a step forward,” one of the staff from the wedding organizer team reminded me before showing me a bright smile.

“Thank you…” I replied in a soft whisper as I nodded my head slightly in acknowledgment.

Of course, the last thing I wanted was to fall flat on my face at such a key moment like this. Although I knew that this was a wedding of convenience and necessity, I didn’t let it weigh too much on my mind. For someone as unlucky and unfortunate as me, just standing here with the chance to marry the man of my dreams felt like more than I could have ever asked for. They say it takes two to tango and that made me wonder for a split second if my groom-to-be was fine with marrying me.

‘They’ll have to. With all that they’ve done, they won’t have any other choice…’

My father’s words and the rage in his eyes came back to me as I was reminded of his response when I asked him if the groom and his family would really be fine with me. He didn’t tell me that they would be fine with it, but it may be true that just like me, they also didn’t really have a choice in the matter anymore. Without this wedding, our families and all the wealth and position that we hold may really fall apart after so many generations of success.

It was a wedding for both of our families to survive.

“3…2…1. Best of luck!” the staff member said to signal my queue to enter the church.

Snapping out of my deep thoughts, the vivid sights and sounds of the situation around me came back to me again. I quickly realized that two men dressed in polite black suits were already pushing open the luxuriously decorated large double door of the church where I would make my entry with my father. The band was already playing the wedding march to signal the entry of the bride and that bride was me.

Suddenly, the dress that I had on felt too tight around the chest and waist, and the high heel shoes that I had on felt so uncomfortable. My father tugged on my arm slightly to urge me to take a step forward into the church where all the honorable guests were waiting to witness our wedding and the eventual joining of our families.

This isn’t just about me. Although it was supposed to be, this isn’t for my family. This is for my twin sister…and for me!

This is for you, Dina.

I love you, Dina. Thank you for always loving me and being there for me.

The light from the spotlights that shone down on me to highlight my entrance into the church felt blinding. It felt quite relieving in a strange way that I wasn’t able to see the many spectators gathered in the church to witness our wedding. Relatives that shunned me almost all my life, business partners who only wanted to benefit from my family’s social standing, and unknown reporters and members of the press. Camera flashes went off as I tried my best to plaster a beautiful smile on my face while feeling thankful that my face was still partially obscured by the veil that I had on.

The walk down the aisle felt unreal, and each step felt like I was walking on clouds. Most of that was because I could barely feel my legs under me anymore. I cursed silently as I trained my eyes to stare forward while my mind wondered why the church had to be so large and the walk to my groom so long.

--To be continued…

After what felt like a short eternity, we finally arrived in front of the altar where my groom was waiting for me. It felt like time had stopped and in that moment nothing else in the world mattered when I laid eyes on him. Just taking a peek at him from the other side of the veil that I had on made my heart race dangerously in my chest.

“Do your job properly. This is going to be all over the news,” my father whispered close to my ear.

Honestly, he didn’t need to tell me that because I knew from the moment that we made our agreement that I had to do my best to uphold my end of the bargain. Once again, I reminded myself that I wasn’t doing it for them, but I was doing it for my elder sister and for myself. My poor excuse of a father walked away from my side, and I was left alone to face my groom. Seeing him again right in front of me in the flesh reminded me that we had been apart for far too long. The day I left this country, I never thought that I would one day return and I definitely did not think that I would return to marry him or all people.

“Diana…”

His voice sounded like heavenly music to my ears but the name my groom called so lovingly wasn’t my name but that of my sister. Despite knowing that something like this was supposed to happen, I still felt a twisting pain inside my chest and then I felt tears sting the back of my eyes.

“Anthony…” I called his name softly.

Anthony Vulkan, my first love and probably the only man that I have ever truly loved, and also my sister’s fiancé.

His name felt so foreign to my lips, and I realized that I haven’t said it for more than four long years since the day that I left this country and my family behind. In my mind, I tried to forget him and that was probably why I had avoided saying his name as well. A bittersweet feeling filled my chest at the sound of his name. He reached his hand out to me invitingly and I slowly placed my hand into his much larger one. The moment his fingers curled around my hand, I felt the warmth of his touch and the reassurance of his presence.

Given how identical I looked to my sister, I wondered if he knew who I really was. We looked so alike that almost everyone, including our parents, could tell us apart. Once again, I regretted not having a chance to meet or talk to him before our wedding day.

“Welcome back. You look extremely beautiful,” Anthony whispered sweetly in my ear.

Did he just say, ‘Welcome back’?

My eyes widened at the sudden confirmation that Anthony does indeed know that I’m not my sister because he wouldn’t have said something like that otherwise. It seemed like my parents did keep their promise of making sure that he was fine with me taking my sister’s place after all. As for the reason why he agreed to this wedding while knowing that he would be marrying my sister in name only, I wasn’t quite sure. I could feel the eyes of everyone watching our every movement and knew that all the questions that I had would have to wait until I was alone with Anthony.

“Even with my veil still on?” I replied teasingly before smiling.

“Of course. This might be a little out of order but…I’d rather see your face properly” he said in a low voice that was meant for my ears only.

Slowly, his hand approached my face, and then the thin lacy veil that was covering my face gently lifted. With one smooth motion, Anthony lifted my veil over my head and revealed my face. The clear view of his face literally took my breath away. Maybe the fact that I missed him and wanted to see him so much was responsible for making his face more attractive than I had remembered it.

Anthony was dressed in a white tuxedo that brought out the color of his blond hair and highlighted the depth of his ocean-blue eyes. Nothing felt more fitting to that face than his beautiful straight nose and his perfectly formed lips. I knew that I was staring with my eyes wide open, but I just couldn’t stop myself from marveling at his good looks. I wasn’t wrong when I thought that he looked even more attractive than the last time that I saw him in person.

When he smiled at me, I could feel heat rush to my face as my heart started to race fast in my chest. Nothing else mattered at that moment and everything and everyone just faded away as it felt like we were the only ones left in the world.

“You really look wonderful. Shall we?” he said invitingly before showing me another kind smile that tugged gently at my heart.

“Yes…” I replied softly with a slow nod of my head.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t keep everyone waiting forever and we had to get on with the rest of the ceremony including our wedding vows. When I was younger, I wasn’t at all confident about my looks. However, the fact that everyone thought that my sister had an outstandingly beautiful face and smile made me feel like it had to apply to me as well. After all, we are twins, and we look so identical that everyone had trouble telling us apart from each other. With that logic, I was certain enough that Anthony must have meant what he said when he told me that I looked beautiful.

With my hand still in his, Anthony led me toward the altar where the priest would be guiding our vows of marriage. I was too nervous to pay attention to anything but the fact that Anthony was really standing by my side. It still felt out of this world unreal that he would become my husband formally in a matter of minutes or even seconds.

“It’s your turn…” Anthony whispered to me as I felt his hand squeezing mine softly.

With widened eyes, I realized that I had been spacing out and it was now my turn to say my vows.

“I do…I do…” I blurted out quite loudly before repeating myself again.

“You may now kiss the bride,” the priest said with utmost satisfaction as he beamed a smile our way.

--To be continued…

That’s right, we have to kiss…

I felt like I was lost in a daze as Anthony turned to face me. He gently placed his hands on my shoulders before his hands slowly slid down my arms. My body felt frozen in place as a fluttering feeling developed in the pit of my stomach when I realized that he was going to kiss me. Even if it was supposed to be just a ceremonious kiss to seal our wedding vows, it was still a kiss and it would be our first kiss ever. It wasn’t like I didn’t have experience with men but standing in front of Anthony made me feel as nervous and anxious as if I was a young virgin girl all over again.

Without saying a word, Anthony pulled me closer to him as his face approached mine. I felt his large manly hands slide down to the small of my back as he pulled me even closer to him. We were so close that our bodies were pressed together, and I could feel the heat of his body against mine. My eyelids instinctively slid closed as I offered my lips to him in sweet surrender and acceptance. My heartbeat raced wildly as I waited eager for his lips to meet mine.

I felt the warmth of his hand gently against the side of my neck for a brief moment before I felt the softness and heat of his lips against mine. Our first kiss started off gentle and even fleeting. It was such a tender and chaste kiss that felt full of love. His lips began moving on mine as he moved to kiss me gently from various angles. Just when I thought that the kiss was starting to last a little too long, Anthony pressed his lips firmly against mine as the hand he placed at the small of my back pushed me against him and held me in place as if to prevent my escape.

My heart skipped a beat when I felt the hot wetness of the tip of his tongue flicking teasingly against my closed lips. He licked my lips while he continued kissing me as he silently asked for my permission to enter my mouth. My lips slowly parted to grant his tongue entry into the wet depths of my mouth. Anthony thrusted his tongue deftly inside my mouth and I felt his heat and taste fill my senses. His tongue moved relentlessly as it explored the cave of my mouth. Our sweet gentle kiss quickly got wetter, deeper, and even more passionate.

“Mhmm…” I moaned softly in my throat although I knew that I wasn’t supposed to.

His kiss quickly grew even more demanding and aggressive to the point where it felt like he was devouring me. I started to panic a little when I was reminded that everyone was looking at us. His tongue entwined with mine until I began grinding my tongue against his in a fervent dance. A tight throbbing sensation developed in my lower abdomen as he continued plundering my mouth with his hot tongue. I knew that I should break our kiss but the moment I tried to move away, his arm tightened around me and then I felt a slight pressure at the back of my head where he held my head in place so that I could not escape from his deep kiss.

The pleasure of his kiss made my body heat up and my legs feel weak. It felt like the sweetest temptation for me to surrender myself to his lead. For the longest time, this man had been my sister’s fiancé but now I’m the one who’s marrying him. I’m the one that he’s kissing and I’m the one that will be by his side from now on. That thought filled my heart with so much bliss; however, my feelings of joy were interrupted by a stinging pain that pierced my lower lip.

Did he just…bite me?

The sweet taste of our kiss was quickly tinged with the slightly metallic taste and smell of blood. His tongue licked my lower lip before thrusting deeply into the depths of my mouth again. I heard myself moaning despite my shock and surprise at his actions. He kissed me deeply as his tongue swirled around mine in a heated dance. I felt so intoxicated by his kiss as I wondered if I would crumble to the floor had he not been holding me in his arms. His body shook a little and I realized that he was chuckling a little as if he was enjoying himself immensely.

When his lips finally let go of mine and his arms loosened from around my body, I was gasping for breath with tears stinging my eyes. I never expected him to kiss me like that. Anthony was supposed to be a warm and loving gentleman, but at the same time, I did not mind seeing this more passionate and aggressive side to him.

There was a moment of awkward silence in the church before loud applause rang out and echoed all around us. I was too busy struggling to breathe and dealing with the mix of excitement and embarrassment that invaded my feelings to care much about the reaction of our spectators. They seemed to have gotten more than they had hoped for from the show that Anthony had decided to put up for them.

My lips felt bruised from his kiss but when I glared at him accusingly, Anthony just showed me a sweet smile. The completely innocent look on his face made me feel like I had imagined the whole episode that had just happened between us just now. That unexpected bold and aggressive change in him seemed to have completely disappeared as if it had not taken place. Anthony was back to his bright and smiling self as he wrapped an arm around my waist and gently pulled me close. I stared up at his face to see him smiling brightly at the crowd of people who were there to celebrate what was supposed to be one of the most joyous days of our lives.

At least, that was how it was supposed to be…

“I can’t wait for tonight to arrive…” Anthony whispered close to my ear.

His warm breath caressed my earlobe, and the seductive sound of his voice made my entire body tremble. Someone I did not recognize approached us and started sharing words of congratulations, but I couldn’t hear what that person was saying at all because all I could think about was our fast-approaching wedding night.

--To be continued…

**Roughly a week ago**

It all started when I received an unexpected phone call. To be honest, it was also a phone call that I dreaded. After being sent abroad by my family and breaking things off with them, I had not heard from my parents for more than four years. The only person from my ‘old life’ that I kept in touch with was my elder twin sister and that felt like more than enough for me. It was hard but I had moved on with my life and I was working hard toward building what I hoped would be a bright and free future for myself.

“You’re working so hard again today. Don’t stay too late, ok?” Louise turned to tell me with a sweet smile on her lips.

After graduating with a degree in business, I was lucky to have found a job in sales and planning in a decent-sized company in the city. On top of that, I had a very supportive team leader who always looked out for me.

“Thank you but don’t worry about me or the work. I’ll definitely get it done by tonight,” I replied with confidence.

“Honestly, I’m more worried about your health than the work. Make sure you get enough sleep and please keep your diet healthy. Don’t go out partying so often…” she warned before winking at me.

“Sure. I’ll see you tomorrow!” I called out to her as she headed for the door.

Louise turned and waved at me before disappearing through the door. Now that my team leader was gone, I was the only one left in the office. Despite my confident words from earlier, the truth was it would be a very long night for me at the office if I didn’t focus properly on the work in front of me.

**Ring Ring Ring**

The sound of my mobile phone ringing sounded too loud in the almost silent office. I quickly grabbed it only to find out that it was an international call from a number that I did not recognize at all. My first reaction was to ignore it but when I thought that it could be my sister calling me from an unknown destination, I hesitated a little before moving my finger to answer the call. Little did I know at the time that this phone call would be one that would change my life forever.

“Hello?”

“I need to talk to you…” a woman’s solemn voice spoke through the phone after a brief moment of silence.

My blood ran cold at the sound of her voice, and I truly felt that I would have rather seen a ghost than hear her voice. Facing an unknown ghost would have felt much better than facing a cruel ghost from my past. A lump formed in my throat and suddenly my face felt numb. My hands balled into fists as I struggled to get my words out.

Why is my mother calling me? Why is she getting in touch with me now after all this time?

“Mum…” I said in a breathless whisper while still shocked and in disbelief.

“Listen to me. Your sister has gone missing,” she stated coldly.

“What?! Dina is missing? What do you even mean?” I asked while almost shouting into the phone in shock.

“Don’t call your sister with that disgusting nickname. It’s just as I have told you. Diana is missing. We don’t know where she is, and we can’t get in contact with her. She’s been missing for almost three days now. Do you know where she could be?” my mother asked me coldly.

Although her tone was solemn and dry, I could tell that she was hiding a lot of distress under her calm act. Not that I cared at all about how she was feeling. At that moment, all I cared about was the fact that my sister had gone missing. I prayed that nothing bad had happened to her and that she would be found soon.

“How am I supposed to know? I live in a completely different country,” I reminded her without bothering to hide my hostility.

“It’s always you who talk your sister into doing crazy things so I’m just checking if you have a hand in her disappearance this time as well,” she said accusingly.

The truth was, I had never played a part in my sister’s sudden disappearance before but that was something that my parents didn’t need to know about. They could keep blaming me forever and I was willing to take the fall for it as long as my sister would remain unscathed. If someone had to take the blame for everything, I would rather it be me than her.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you but I have no idea where she is this time,” I replied while thinking that I should just hang up.

The worry that I had for my sister stopped me from committing such a careless action. My brows furrowed tightly together as I tried to sift through my memories while searching for clues as to where my sister could be or the reason behind her disappearance. This wasn’t the first time that something like this had happened, and it was highly possible that she would randomly return home after a few days of staying away.

At least, that was normally what would happen…

“Try calling her. She might pick up your call. Make sure that you report to me immediately. We need to find her and we’re running out of time!” my mother yelled through the phone.

Whatever calm front that she managed to put together had cracked completely. For once, I was thankful that I was the only one left working behind late at night at the office because that meant that no one was here to overhear such a melodramatic phone call.

“Call the police. Have you contacted the police and filed a missing person case?” I asked.

“No. You know well enough that we can’t do that...” she replied softly.

For a moment, I completely forgot that I was dealing with a woman who worried more about the family’s social standing and reputation than the life and well-being of her daughters.

--To be continued…

Even when it came to her absolute favorite daughter the family’s reputation still came first. Something about what she said bugged me and I gasped out loud when I finally realized what it was. She mentioned that they were running out of time, and she was right.

“Wait! Isn’t her wedding in less than a week?!” I exclaimed before my hand flew to cover my agape mouth.

I can still recall the call that my sister gave me to tell me that she was finally getting married to Anthony, her long-time fiancé. Ever since my sister and I were around ten years old, our family and the Vulkan family made an agreement for their only son to marry the eldest daughter of our family and that was my twin sister.

“You’re not completely stupid after all…” my mother replied sarcastically.

We have to find her, and we have to find her as fast as possible.

“I’ll do what I can,” I replied begrudgingly while trying to seal away my pride.

My mother did not say anything, and the line went silent for a few seconds. Just when I was about to hang up, I heard my mother let out a long sigh. Her next words surprised me even further.

“You should come back home,” she stated simply.

“Back home?” I repeated her words questioningly as if I had no idea what she was talking about.

At first, I was taken aback and confused by her words and then all I felt was a burning rage. How dare she ask me to return home after all that she’d done to me? Although I was partly at fault for what happened, just as always, my mother never took my side, and she did not hesitate or show any remorse when my father made the decision to cut me off. They also made the decision to send me off somewhere far away with nothing but a generous sum of money. As if money would ever solve or heal all the broken pieces of my heart and soul.

“Yes, until we can locate your sister, you should come home,” she stated coldly.

“I see…” I murmured.

I should have known that there was no way that she wanted me back. All she wanted was for me to return because it may increase their chances of finding my sister. Although I hated to admit it, I had to agree that she was right. If my sister was hiding somewhere in the country, then I had the highest chance of sniffing her out because I was the closest person to her.

“I’ll return back to the country but just until I find my sister,” I said while making sure to make myself clear.

“Of course…” my mother replied immediately.

Before I could say anything else, the line clicked dead. My mother had always been like this. After saying all that she wanted to say and completing her objective, she would cut me off because any further interactions would just be ‘a waste of time’ according to her.

I stared at my phone as an uncomfortable void welled up in my chest. Not surprisingly, I wasn’t sure what I should do. After recovering from my shock and piecing my mind together, I quickly called my sister. After waiting for quite a long time and trying to call her over and over again, I was convinced that something was wrong and that she was intentionally not answering my calls. Just like all human beings, in reality, my sister was far from perfect, and I knew that better than anyone else. She had real emotions and thoughts of her own. That also meant that there were times like these when she could do quite selfish things…like running off when her long-awaited wedding was right around the corner.

“Where did you run off to? Why did you just disappear like this?” I muttered to myself as my frustrations started taking over.

Did Dina run off because she didn’t want to get married?

That thought never occurred to me before. Just like me and practically everyone in our country, Dina had known for a very long time now that she was engaged to be married to Anthony. If she was against it, she never voiced her objection to anyone, not even me. She never complained about it and took it as is. On top of that, she seemed to get along very well with Anthony to the point where everyone thought that they were in love with each other and that a political marriage of convenience had turned into one of love. At least, that was the sense that I got from the time when I was living in the same household as my sister.

Did something happen over the years that I was gone?

Our family, the Alnault family, is one of the oldest families in the country and also the one with the closest relations with the governing royal family. My ancestors were aristocrats, and the title has been passed down through the generations until it reached my father. It came as no surprise that my mother was from another aristocratic family and that my parents’ wedding was arranged. Everything seemed green and rosy on the surface, but the truth was that the influence of my family diminished drastically since my father took over after the death of my grandfather.

My father was never meant to inherit the family’s name and fortune but with the sudden passing of his older brother from a tragic car accident, he became the only son left who could take over after my grandfather. Growing up, I never knew that there was something twisted and wrong within my family. We were extraordinarily wealthy, and my parents had no hesitation in flaunting their wealth. From private parties that were regularly held at our mansion to my mother’s frequent shopping sprees to expensive vacations abroad, my parents had the money, and they did not think twice about spending it.

It was later in my teenage years when I had more exposure to the world and people outside of our closed circle that I finally began to see that the life that we led wasn’t a normal one.

--To be continued…