Two days later…

Emily stood outside Samantha’s apartment building.

The elevator ride had felt unusually long.

By the time she reached the hallway, she had already considered turning around at least six times.

She raised her hand.

Then lowered it again.

“What am I doing?”

She whispered to herself.

This was insane.

Completely insane.

But she had run out of options.

Finally, she knocked.

A few moments later, the door opened.

Samantha stood there wearing a loose white sweater and black leggings, her long blonde hair tied carelessly behind her head.

She looked surprised.

“Emily?”

Emily forced a weak smile.

“Hi.”

Samantha leaned against the doorframe.

“This is unexpected.”

“I know.”

“You usually text before showing up.”

Emily looked down.

“I need your help.”

Samantha immediately became curious.

She stepped aside.

“Come in.”

The apartment smelled faintly of vanilla candles.

Soft jazz played somewhere in the background.

Everything looked expensive.

Minimalistic.

Perfectly arranged.

Completely different from Emily’s tiny Brooklyn apartment.

Samantha handed her a bottle of water.

“So…”

She crossed her arms.

“What happened?”

Emily looked everywhere except at her.

“I did something really stupid.”

Samantha smiled slightly.

“You’ll have to narrow that down.”

Emily didn’t smile.

After several seconds of silence, she finally spoke.

“I joined a dating app.”

“Okay…”

“I used your pictures.”

Silence.

Samantha blinked.

“You what?”

Emily’s cheeks burned with embarrassment.

“I used your pictures.”

Another pause.

Then Samantha laughed.

Not because it was funny.

Because she genuinely couldn’t believe what she had just heard.

“You actually did that?”

Emily nodded slowly.

“I wasn’t thinking.”

“No…”

Samantha chuckled.

“You definitely weren’t.”

Emily wrapped both hands around the water bottle.

“I thought nobody would ever message me.”

“And?”

“Someone did.”

Samantha’s smile disappeared.

“Who?”

Emily hesitated.

Then quietly answered,

“Ryan Carter.”

For the first time since the conversation started…

Samantha became completely still.

“Ryan Carter?”

Emily nodded.

“The tech billionaire?”

Another nod.

“The one who owns Carter Innovations?”

Emily looked uncomfortable.

“Yes.”

Samantha slowly sat down.

“Interesting.”

Emily noticed something change in her friend’s expression.

Not excitement exactly.

Curiosity.

A dangerous kind of curiosity.

“He wants to meet me.”

Samantha looked back at her.

“And?”

Emily’s voice became barely audible.

“I need you to pretend to be me.”

The room fell silent.

Samantha stared at her for several seconds.

“You cannot be serious.”

“I am.”

“Emily…”

She shook her head slowly.

“Do you even hear yourself?”

“I don’t know what else to do.”

“You tell him the truth.”

“I can’t.”

“Why?”

“Because he’ll leave.”

Samantha sighed.

“And you think lying even more is somehow better?”

Emily lowered her head.

“I know it’s wrong.”

“Then why continue?”

“Because…”

Her voice cracked.

“…for the first time in years someone actually sees me.”

Samantha watched her carefully.

Emily looked completely defeated.

“I know he doesn’t see the real me.”

She smiled bitterly.

“But he still makes me feel… important.”

Samantha’s expression softened slightly.

Only slightly.

“I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

“I believe you.”

Emily looked hopeful.

“Then you’ll help me?”

Samantha stood up and slowly walked toward the window.

She folded her arms.

Ryan Carter.

She had heard plenty about him.

Successful.

Brilliant.

Private.

Influential.

The kind of man who almost never appeared in tabloids unless it involved business.

She smiled faintly.

“You’ve accidentally chosen quite an interesting man.”

Emily immediately stood.

“Samantha…”

Without turning around, Samantha spoke.

“I’ll meet him.”

Emily let out the breath she had been holding.

“But…”

Samantha finally turned back.

“…only once.”

Emily nodded eagerly.

“That’s all I need.”

“And after that…”

Samantha pointed directly at her.

“You tell him the truth.”

Emily nodded again.

“I promise.”

It was the second lie she told herself.

The day of the meeting arrived much sooner than Emily expected.

She barely slept the previous night.

Her stomach had been in knots since morning.

Samantha, meanwhile, looked completely relaxed.

She adjusted her earrings while standing in front of the mirror.

“What do you think?”

Emily looked at her.

Beautiful.

Effortless.

Confident.

Exactly the woman Ryan expected.

“You look amazing.”

“I know.”

Samantha smiled playfully.

Emily rolled her eyes.

“I mean it.”

“So do I.”

Both women laughed briefly.

The laughter eased Emily’s nerves.

At least for a moment.

Before Samantha left, Emily opened a drawer and removed the second phone she had been using to chat with Ryan.

She handed it over carefully.

“You’ll need this.”

Samantha accepted it.

“For consistency?”

Emily nodded.

“He knows this number.”

Samantha looked through the recent conversations.

“You two really talk a lot.”

Emily suddenly felt embarrassed.

“I told you…”

“I know.”

Samantha locked the phone and slipped it into her purse.

“I’ll manage.”

Emily wasn’t sure why those words frightened her.

Emily’s apartment felt unbearably empty after Samantha left.

Emily tried reading.

She couldn’t concentrate.

She tried watching television.

Nothing made sense.

She kept checking the time every few minutes.

Hours crawled by.

Every possible disaster played repeatedly inside her head.

What if Ryan realized immediately?

What if Samantha forgot something?

What if they talked too long?

What if…

Her phone rang.

Samantha.

Emily answered immediately.

“Hello?”

“I’m done.”

“How did it go?”

“It was… interesting.”

“What does that mean?”

“You’ll see.”

Before Emily could ask another question…

Samantha ended the call.

Nearly an hour later, Emily arrived at Samantha’s apartment.

She barely waited for the door to open.

“Well?”

Samantha shrugged casually.

“It went fine.”

Emily frowned.

“That’s it?”

“What else do you want?”

“Everything.”

Samantha laughed.

“Relax.”

She reached into her handbag and handed Emily the phone.

“He didn’t suspect anything.”

Emily sighed with relief.

“Thank God.”

She immediately unlocked the phone.

There was a new message waiting.

Her smile disappeared.

RyanCarter88: Tonight was… different.

Emily’s heartbeat quickened.

She replied immediately.

EmilyP: Different how?

Several minutes passed.

Finally…

RyanCarter88: I don’t know.

Another message appeared.

RyanCarter88: You felt quieter than usual.

Emily looked up.

“What did you two even talk about?”

Samantha shrugged.

“A little bit of everything.”

Emily looked back at the screen.

Another notification arrived.

RyanCarter88: Even your voice sounded different.

Emily felt the blood drain from her face.

Of course it did.

It wasn’t her voice.

She quickly typed.

EmilyP: Maybe I was nervous.

No response.

Instead…

A new message appeared.

RyanCarter88: Let’s do a video call tonight.

Emily froze.

No.

No.

No.

She typed frantically.

EmilyP: I can’t. My camera completely stopped working.

Ryan replied almost instantly.

RyanCarter88: Then use your other phone.

Emily blinked.

Her fingers stopped moving.

Other phone?

She stared at the message.

Slowly.

Very slowly.

A horrible realization settled over her.

She typed carefully.

EmilyP: What other phone?

Ryan’s reply came less than ten seconds later.

RyanCarter88: The number you gave me at dinner.

Emily’s heart slammed against her chest.

She slowly lifted her eyes from the screen and looked at Samantha.

“You gave him…”

Her voice barely came out.

“…your number?”

Samantha’s confident smile faltered.

For the first time that evening…

She looked uncomfortable.

“Why did you give Ryan your number without telling me?”

Emily asked sounding disappointed.

Silence lingered for several seconds.

Then Samantha answered calmly.

“For convenience.”

Emily frowned.

“Convenience?”

“He asked for my number before we left the restaurant.”

“And you gave it to him?”

“Yes.”

Emily took a slow breath, trying to steady herself.

Then she left for her apartment feeling more confused.