“Dad, I agree to go to France for the arranged marriage. Please hurry. If you take too long, I might regret it.”

My fingers trembled as I pressed send.

For three years, I had waited for Alexander Chu to choose me.

Three years believing that the way he looked at me meant something.

Three years believing that even if the world said I wasn’t good enough for him, I was still the one person he would never replace.

I was wrong.

My father’s reply arrived almost immediately.

“My obedient girl, everything will be arranged within a month.”

I stared at those words for a long time.

Then I quietly wiped my tears.

Not because I was heartbroken.

Because I was finally awake.

Just one hour earlier, I was still sitting inside Alexander’s Bentley, thinking I was the happiest woman alive.

The partition between the front and back seats was raised.

The driver couldn’t hear anything.

Alexander pulled me closer.

The man who had once made my heart race was still the same.

Elegant.

Powerful.

Untouchable.

I had loved him until I lost myself.

Until I forgot my own pride.

Until I believed that being beside him was enough.

Then his phone rang.

His expression changed slightly when he saw the caller.

Not annoyance.

Not impatience.

Something else.

Something softer.

I accidentally glanced at the screen.

A foreign name appeared.

Lucia Navarro.

I didn’t know why, but my heart suddenly tightened.

Alexander answered.

The person on the other side spoke in Georgian.

A language that almost nobody in our country understood.

Except me.

My family had business connections in Georgia.

I had spent five years learning the language.

Enough to understand every single word that followed.

The man on the phone laughed.

“Did I interrupt something important?”

Alexander’s hand remained around my waist.

His voice was lazy.

“If you know, then get to the point.”

The man laughed again.

“How much does this girl look like Lucia Navarro?”

My entire body froze.

Alexander’s fingers brushed my cheek.

And then he answered.

“About seventy percent.”

Seventy percent.

That number felt colder than any insult.

The man continued.

“Not bad. But what is special about her?”

Alexander looked at me.

The woman he claimed to love.

The woman he had promised would be his future.

And he said:

“She’s simple.”

“Obedient.”

“Like a little dog.”

My breathing stopped.

The man laughed.

“So she really is just a replacement?”

Alexander didn’t deny it.

Instead, he said calmly:

“There’s nothing money can’t solve.”

My hands became cold.

A replacement.

That was what I was.

Not his lover.

Not his future wife.

Not the woman who had stood beside him for three years.

Just someone who looked enough like the woman he actually wanted.

The call continued.

“Lucia arrives tomorrow, right?”

“Yes.”

“After five years, your white moon finally returns.”

“Looks like the replacement will be discarded soon.”

Alexander smiled faintly.

And that smile destroyed the last piece of hope inside me.

Because I finally understood.

He never loved me.

He loved the memory of her.

And I was only the person who happened to be there when she was gone.

The next morning, Alexander woke up as usual.

The sunlight entered our villa.

Everything looked exactly the same.

Except me.

I was different.

He walked downstairs wearing a custom-made shirt and diamond cufflinks.

The second son of the Chu family.

A man admired by everyone.

A man who could make countless women dream of standing beside him.

Three years ago, I was one of them.

He noticed me and smiled.

“I’m going to the company.”

Then he touched my hair.

“Stay home and wait for me like a good girl.”

Like a good girl.

The words that once sounded affectionate suddenly sounded like a cage.

I smiled.

“Okay.”

He didn’t notice anything.

He didn’t notice that I had already started packing.

The couple mugs went into the trash.

The matching toothbrushes.

The photos.

The gifts.

The clothes.

Everything that belonged to the love story I thought we had.

I realized something while putting them away.

Our fake love occupied more space than I expected.

That afternoon, the television announced the return of Lucia Navarro.

The airport was full of cameras.

Fans surrounded her.

Everyone was excited.

She was beautiful.

Successful.

Confident.

The kind of woman who belonged beside Alexander.

Then the camera moved.

And I saw him.

Alexander.

Waiting for her.

At the same moment, his computer notification sounded.

He had forgotten to log out of his account.

A message appeared.

Lucia:
“Alex, where are you? I don’t see you.”

Alexander:
“I’m already in the car. Too many fans. It isn’t convenient for me to appear.”

Lucia:
“Then see you at the hotel.”

A few seconds later:

“Okay.”

Then:

“Five years without seeing you. I really want to be with you.”

I stared at the screen.

But I didn’t cry.

I didn’t break anything.

I didn’t call him.

I simply closed the laptop.

And continued packing.

That night, Alexander returned.

He brought roses.

A diamond necklace.

The exact necklace I had admired months ago.

Three million dollars.

He smiled proudly.

“Do you like it?”

I touched the necklace.

A gift.

Or compensation?

I no longer knew.

“Roses and diamonds…”

I looked at him.

“For a moment, I thought you were going to propose.”

His hand paused.

The smile disappeared slightly.

“When I propose, it will be something better.”

I lowered my eyes.

“How long until then?”

Silence.

A few seconds.

But enough.

Because I already had the answer.

Alexander changed the subject.

His phone rang.

Lucia.

He turned the screen away immediately.

“Work.”

Before, I would have asked.

Before, I would have been jealous.

Before, I would have cried.

Now?

I just smiled.

“Of course.”

Three days later, he finally returned home after disappearing.

I looked at him calmly.

He frowned.

“What’s wrong with you lately?”

I looked at him.

“Don’t you like that I’m obedient?”

His expression changed.

Because for the first time, the word he loved hearing from me sounded wrong.

The next day, the Chu family announced a private banquet.

A celebration for Lucia Navarro’s return.

Alexander told me:

“You don’t need to come.”

I looked at the invitation in my hand.

“But your mother invited me.”

His face changed.

That night, I wore a simple black dress.

No diamond necklace.

No expensive jewelry.

Nothing that connected me to the woman I used to be.

When Alexander saw me, he frowned.

“Where is the necklace?”

“It was too heavy.”

He looked at me carefully.

Maybe he finally sensed something.

But it was too late.

At the banquet, Lucia was the center of attention.

Everyone surrounded her.

Everyone welcomed her.

And Alexander…

Alexander looked at her the way I had once dreamed he would look at me.

His mother raised her glass.

“Lucia’s return represents the restoration of an important connection.”

Everyone applauded.

I quietly drank my water.

Someone laughed.

“Alexander, now that Lucia is back, shouldn’t you recover what you lost?”

The room became silent.

I looked at my husband.

The man I had loved for three years.

The man who called me a replacement.

Then I smiled.

“How interesting.”

Everyone looked at me.

I placed my glass down.

“Some things cannot be recovered.”

“They are simply replaced.”

Alexander’s face changed.

“Sofia.”

That warning tone.

The same tone that used to make me quiet.

Not anymore.

My phone vibrated.

A message from my father.

“Contract signed. France confirmed. Your flight is in ten days.”

I looked at the screen.

Then at Alexander.

Ten days.

Only ten days.

He still thought I was the woman who would wait forever.

He still thought I would fight for him.

But he didn’t know something.

I was no longer trying to win his love.

I was preparing to leave his world completely.

And when Alexander Chu finally realized he had lost me…

It would already be too late.