Chapter 202

Lucy White stirred her coffee in silence as Ian Stone's deep voice flowed beside her.

"My mother passed when I was seventeen," Ian tapped the table lightly with his slender fingers. "Stage four stomach cancer. Three months from diagnosis to the end."

Lucy's heart clenched. The ripples in her coffee mirrored her furrowed brow.

"The day after the funeral, a man claiming to be my father appeared." A sardonic smile curled Ian's lips. "He told me I had an identical twin brother."

Sunlight through the window suddenly turned harsh. Lucy squinted, watching gold edges frame Ian's profile.

"So you became his shadow?" she murmured.

Ian nodded. "Same height, face, even vocal timbre. The perfect doppelgänger."

She noticed his knuckles whitening around the word "doppelgänger."

"How much did they make you learn?"

"Enough to pass as a multinational CEO." Ian loosened his tie. "Three languages, close-quarters combat, and..." He paused. "Certain unspeakable arts."

Lucy's spoon clinked against her cup. Now she understood the dissonance she'd sensed in him.

"The curse you carry—"

"Family specialty." His laugh was ice. "Insurance against disobedient stand-ins."

Lucy leaned forward abruptly. "Our meeting at Heritage Mountain?"

"Family assignment." Ian met her gaze squarely. "They ordered me to approach you."

"Why me?" Her nails scraped the cup's rim unconsciously.

"Only to investigate your father's whereabouts."

Lucy stiffened. Her father had been missing three years—connected to a European mage family?

"What about Simon's performance today?" She recalled the day's theatrics.

"He enjoys defying the family." Disgust flickered in Ian's eyes. "Though..."

"Though?"

"His interest in Lily Green is genuine." An enigmatic smile appeared. "What blood mage wouldn't covet an aura like hers?"

Lucy nearly choked on her coffee. So the epic romance from the original storyline was a fraud?

"And you now..." She hesitated.

"Waiting for my moment." Ian's voice dropped. "Which is why the curse..."

"I understand." She cut in. "Suppress it temporarily, don't break it."

Tension drained from Ian's shoulders. Sunlight filtered through his lashes, scattering shadows across his face.

"One last question." Lucy studied him. "Does Simon know you've told me the truth?"

Ian smiled. "He'll find out soon enough."

Their reflections gazed at each other in the window glass. For a fleeting moment, Lucy saw the boy who'd once slipped her candies under school desks—except now those sweets hid poison-tipped blades.