BETWEEN SISTERS AND SINS のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 1 - チャプター 10

~MAYA~ "Zip it higher," my mother, Evelyn Lin, snapped. Her fingers dug hard into my shoulders, spinning me around to face the triple-pane vanity mirror. "Maya, stop slouching. Ayra never slouches. You look like a broken doll." I stared at the reflection, but all I saw was my twin sister. The ivory lace hugged every curve of my body, but it didn't belong to me. Nothing in this room belonged to me. The five-carat pink diamond ring glittering on the velvet tray belonged to my twin sister. The penthouse overlooking the financial district belonged to her. "Mom, this is insane," I whispered, my voice trembling as I reached up to touch the heavy, layered lace of the cathedral veil draped over my head. It was thick enough to obscure my features, transforming me into a nameless, faceless silhouette. "Ayra’s been gone for only two hours. The wedding is scheduled to start in fifteen minutes. You can't just expect me to walk down the aisle and pretend—" "Shut your mouth!" Evelyn hissed,

~MAYA~ My heavy silk train swept behind us like a dying white bird, catching on the concrete floor, but Julian didn't care. He walked with the single-minded focus of a executioner heading to the gallows. "Julian, wait! Please!" A frantic voice echoed from the stairwell. It was Evelyn. She was running after us, her high heels clicking frantically against the concrete, her face masked with panic. Julian stopped dead in his tracks just three feet away from his idling, armored luxury limousine. He didn't turn around to face her. He kept his back to my mother, his broad shoulders casting a terrifying shadow over me in the dim garage lighting. "Vance Security," Julian barked, his voice cutting through the damp air like a blade. Instantly, four broad-shouldered men in sleek black suits stepped out from the shadows, blocking Evelyn's path. "Julian!" my mother screamed, her voice cracking as a guard physically intercepted her. "We need to talk about the registry! The contracts!

~MAYA~ The crimson warning lights of the penthouse alarm pulsed rhythmically against the marble pillars, casting a bloody, undulating glow over the grand foyer. The electronic chime blaring from the walls was like a relentless heartbeat, perfectly matching the frantic rhythm hammering inside my chest. Downstairs, the private executive elevator was already moving. Floor 3... 4... 5... "Julian," I gasped, the silk of my heavy wedding train twisting around my ankles like an unyielding shroud. My voice was like a breathless, panicked mess as I stared at the security monitor flashing on his palm. "They’re coming up. Damian has federal marshals. If they step out of that lift and see me instead of Ayra... your merger is dead. You’ll be thrown in a federal prison for corporate fraud. The whole Vance empire will slide into a nightmare." Julian didn't look at the elevator monitor. He didn't even pick up his pace. He turned around slowly, his frame completely absorbing the red emergency ligh

~MAYA~ The morning sun shattered against the floor-to-ceiling smart glass of Julian’s penthouse like glass. I sat completely rigid at the marble vanity, staring at the monster staring back at me in the mirror. The high-society styling team Julian had summoned at dawn had covered the swollen welt on my cheekbone with industrial-grade concealment cream. They had woven my dark hair into an intricate, gravity-defying French twist—Ayra’s signature look. "Stand up," Julian’s voice sliced through the hum of the central air conditioning. The styling team vanished instantly, slipping out of the master suite like ghosts. Julian stepped into my line of sight. He looked devastatingly handsome, dressed in a custom charcoal-three-piece suit that made him look less like a CEO and more like a modern emperor. His dark eyes swept down my body, inspecting the emerald-green silk sheath dress he had chosen for me. The fabric was tailored perfectly, skimming over the slight, hidden curvature of m

~MAYA~ "Room 404..." The words left my lips as a breathless whisper; the sudden realization hit me. The hands that had pinned my wrists to the headboard in the dark. The deep groans had vibrated against my collarbone as the storm raged outside the resort windows. It hadn't been a nameless business partner my mother sold me to. It hadn't been a faceless stranger as I assumed. It had always been Julian. "You..." I choked out, my hands automatically lifting to press against his solid chest, to keep myself from drowning in the shock of it. "You knew. You knew it was me the entire time. When I walked down that aisle... when you forced that ring onto my finger..." "I knew the exact second my fingers wrapped around your wrist at the altar," Julian murmured. His massive frame remained leaning over my hospital bed. "Your scent, the texture of your skin, the way your heart hammers like a trapped bird when I touch you... I spent three months hunting for the woman who vanished from my bed