She Took the Rags, I Took the Empire novel · Chapter 13 of 24
Chapter 13: The Swap
We decided it in the Fenner kitchen before the sun came up, with the whole family at the table.
Dinah's father had made eggs nobody ate.
Dinah's mother stood behind her chair with one hand on her shoulder, and she had not let go once since three in the morning.
"I'll be the bride," I said.
"No," Dinah said.
"Hear me out."
"I've heard it. You're the one he needs. If you walk into that house, he locks the door behind you."
"He needs a signature, Dinah. He doesn't need me to be happy about it."
"That's not a plan."
"It's half of one." I turned my phone over on the table. "You can't open that safe if you're sitting at the head table in white. You can't sit at the head table if you're upstairs in his study."
She stared at me.
"One of us has to be seen all evening," I said. "The other one has to disappear for an hour."
Dinah's father put the pan down.
"Rehearsal dinner," he said slowly. "The night before. It's at the house."
"Twenty guests, the board, the lawyers," Dinah said. "Adelaide counts every glass. Leopold watches the door."
"And both of them watch the bride," I said. "So the bride will be me. They think I'm sulking in a diner."
"They'll see the white dress and the ring and the tape," Dinah said slowly, "and they won't look any further."
"And you go in black, with the staff."
"Nobody looks at the help," Dinah said, and almost smiled.
Her mother got up without a word and came back with a roll of white medical tape and a pair of scissors.
Keep reading free with an account. Start She Took the Rags, I Took the Empire from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.
← Chapter 12 · All chapters · Chapter 14 →
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend