I Faked My Death After He Drugged Me

Ten minutes before the wedding march was set to play, I was sitting in the bridal suite, touching up my lipstick.

Ethan Sterling walked in with a glass of warm water and helped me adjust my veil.

Drink some water. Don't be nervous. I'll take you out in a bit.

I smiled, took the glass, and asked him if his tie was straight.

The moment the glass was empty, the back of my tongue went numb.

I looked up at him. He had already locked the door of the bridal suite from the inside.

"I asked the doctor. The dosage is safe. Three hours of sleep is all you need."

The lipstick in my hand slipped, crashing onto the skirt of my wedding dress, leaving a stark red smudge.

He knelt down and tried to wipe away the stain.

"Sienna is pregnant. She's carrying Julian's baby. She can't handle any stress right now."

"The child needs a legitimate status. For today, she'll wear your dress and go through the ceremony. I'll explain everything to the guests later."

I tried to stand, but my knees buckled, and I crashed against the vanity.

He caught me, his voice still filled with that same gentle, coaxing tone.

"Chloe, be sensible. Once her pregnancy stabilizes, I'll give you an even bigger wedding."

Outside the door, the officiant began calling for the bride.

My vision blurred, and I fell into a deep sleep.

When I woke up, the first words came out through my gritted teeth.

"Don't touch me."

Ethan's sister, Zoe Sterling, was crouching in front of me, twirling my wedding ring between her fingers.

"Chloe, you woke up fast."

She tossed the ring onto the floor.

"And here I thought the doctor my brother hired was reliable."

I pushed myself against the wall, trying to sit up, but my wrists were too weak to support my weight.

My throat was dry and numb, and my chest felt like it was stuffed with wet cotton.

"Where is this?"

"The hotel basement."

Zoe smirked.

"Don't be so tense. The wedding went beautifully."

I stared at her.

"Who was the bride?"

"Who else? Sienna, of course."

She held her phone up to my face. The screen was playing an Instagram livestream of the reception.

Sienna was wearing my wedding dress, holding Ethan's arm, standing right under the brightest spotlight.

The officiant called out, "You may now kiss the bride."

Applause erupted from the crowd like a crashing wave.

My fingers slowly curled into fists.

"Zoe, give me the phone."

"Why?"

She pulled the phone back.

"So you can crash the wedding? So you can trigger Sienna's panic attacks?"

"That was my wedding."

"Not anymore."

She tilted her head, her tone as casual as if she were commenting on an ill-fitting dress.

"Chloe, you're a nice girl. You just don't see the bigger picture."

I let out a cold laugh.

"My wedding was stolen from me, and you're talking to me about the bigger picture?"

Zoe's face darkened.

"Don't get sarcastic with me."

"Sienna is carrying Julian's only child. Her emotions can't handle any shock right now."

"You're only missing out on walking down an aisle once. She's missing her entire future."

I looked up at her.

"Her baby needs a name, so a living person like me has to be drugged and locked away?"

"Didn't Ethan say he'd make it up to you?"

Zoe frowned, looking at me as if I were being ungrateful.

"Why are you so hard to please?"

"Make it up to me?"

My throat burned, but I couldn't stop the laugh from escaping.

"Locking me in a basement, letting someone else wear my dress, take my place, and receive my congratulationsyou call that making it up to me?"

"Don't make it sound so ugly."

Zoe stood up, her heel stepping right onto the train of my dress.

"You were never good enough for my brother anyway."

"The Sterling family only let you in because you were quiet, obedient, and didn't cause trouble."

"Now that Sienna is pregnant, your constant whining just makes you look incredibly selfish."

I reached for my pockets. My phone was gone.

Zoe saw my movement and smirked even wider.

"Looking for your phone?"

She pulled it out of her designer bag and waved it in front of me.

"It's off."

"My brother foresaw all your little tricks."

I stared at the phone in her hand.

"I need to call Ethan."

"Call him for what?"

"He's busy giving toasts."

"With so many guests and media out there today, he doesn't have time for your drama."

My chest tightened.

The drug from that glass of water felt like a thick film coating my throat, making my breaths short and shallow.

"Zoe, I'm having an allergic reaction."

She raised an eyebrow and scoffed.

"Allergic to warm water?"

"To sedatives."

I leaned against the wall, my voice cracking.

"If it's severe, it can kill me."

Zoe stared at me. She froze for two seconds, then burst into laughter.

"Chloe, your acting is so outdated."

"Faking a life-or-death crisis the moment you wake up? No wonder you're just a commoner trying to claw your way into high society. This drama is so cheap, like those trashy soap operas."

I forced out every single word.

"Give. Me. The. Phone."

"No."

She stuffed the phone back into her bag, leaned down, and patted my cheek.

"Just stay here for three hours."

"Once Sienna finishes the ceremony, Ethan will come get you."

"And honestly, if you actually die, consider it your final contribution to the Sterling family."

Footsteps echoed outside, and a bodyguard poked his head in.

"Miss Sterling, they're about to cut the cake upstairs."

Zoe immediately smoothed down her dress.

"Keep an eye on her."

I grabbed the hem of her skirt.

"Zoe... I am really dying..."

She looked down at me and smiled.

"Chloe, your biggest flaw is that you think too highly of yourself."

The door was locked shut again.

I slumped against the cold wall. It felt like someone was sucking the last bit of oxygen right out of my lungs.

The bodyguard went out for a smoke, leaving my phone carelessly on the shelf near the door.

I crawled over, pressed the screen to light it up, and dialed Ethan's number.

His voice came through the speaker.

"Chloe, where are you?"

I gasped heavily.

"Basement..."

"I'm having... an allergic reaction. Call a doctor."

There was a moment of silence on the other end.

In the background, someone laughed and shouted, "Ethan! Sienna says the baby just kicked. Come feel it!"

Ethan lowered his voice.

"Chloe, stop throwing a tantrum."

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"I'm not."

"My tongue is numb... my throat is swelling... my chest is tight."

"The drug you gave me contained benzodiazepines, didn't it?"

His voice grew cold.

"How do you know that?"

"Because I can't touch them."

"Ethan, I told you this before."

The clinking of glasses echoed from the phone.

He was quiet for so long that I thought the call had dropped.

"I don't remember."

I leaned against the door frame, my body sliding down inch by inch.

On the day of our pre-marital physical exam, I had written down my allergy history three separate times.

Ethan had sat right beside me, holding my hand, promising that he would memorize every single one of my medical triggers.

But that was the same day Sienna returned from abroad after her surgery.

She had posted on Instagram, saying how much she feared the smell of hospital disinfectants.

That very night, Ethan bought out half a flower shop to fill her hospital room.

My medical report was carelessly stuffed under the car air freshener.

I asked him, my voice trembling.

"Do you remember now?"

Ethan's voice sounded impatient.

"Chloe, today is an exception."

"Sienna almost fainted earlier. The doctor said she can't handle any shocks."

"I asked Zoe to keep you in the basement because I was afraid you'd do something reckless."

I let out a choked laugh.

"Afraid I'd be reckless, so you drugged me?"

He lowered his voice.

"The dosage was very light."

"The doctor said you would sleep for three hours at most."

"You're awake now, which means you're fine."

"I will die."

My voice was barely a whisper.

"Ethan, I am really going to die."

He sighed.

"Every time you're unhappy, you exaggerate things to the extreme."

"Just bear with it a little longer. Wait for me."

"We still have the family toasts and reception. Once it's over, I'll come down."

I gripped the phone, begging.

"I can't wait... right now..."

He cut me off, his tone still patronizingly gentle.

"Chloe, Sienna saved my life."

"When I got into that car accident years ago, she was the one who dragged me out of the wreckage."

"Now she's pregnant with my late brother's child. I can't let her be humiliated in front of everyone."

I froze.

"The person who saved you... was her?"

"Who else would it be?"

"Please don't start arguing with me about this now."

I clutched my chest, a bitter smile gracing my lips.

Ethan's voice softened a bit.

"Chloe, you're quiet again."

"I know you feel wronged."

"But don't blow this out of proportion."

"I'll explain everything to you after today."

"Just bear with it."

I leaned against the door, black spots starting to swim in my vision.

"Ethan."

"Yeah?"

"If I die, will you regret this?"

He paused.

"Don't say such jinxed things."

Someone called out to him in the background.

"Groom, the toasts are waiting!"

Ethan immediately answered them.

The line went dead.

The bodyguard came back, snatched the phone away, and cursed.

"Still trying to stir up trouble, huh?"

I opened my mouth, but only a raspy, broken breath came out.

The bodyguard glanced at me and sneered.

"Miss Sterling said you're a good actor."

"Don't actually play dead on me."

I wanted to tell him I wasn't acting.

When Zoe returned, she was holding a half-empty glass of champagne.

The bodyguard stood at the door, whispering, "Miss Sterling, her face looks really off."

Zoe cast a casual glance at me.

"If her face looked perfectly fine, how could she play the victim?"

I slumped against the wall, my breathing turning into rapid, shallow gasps.

"Epinephrine..."

I raised a trembling hand, pointing toward my bag.

"My EpiPen... inside pocket."

Zoe looked down and rummaged through my bag, indeed pulling out a blue injection pen.

She held it in her hand, her expression turning smug.

"Oh, look at that. You even brought props."

"Give it... to me..."

"Just because you asked?"

She raised the EpiPen high out of my reach.

"Chloe, admit one thing first."

I stared at her.

"Admit what?"

"Admit that you're just jealous of Sienna today."

Zoe crouched down, her voice low and venomous.

"Admit that you're faking this illness just to ruin her big day and steal her spotlight."

"I'm going to record a video."

"That way, when Ethan asks, I'll have proof to show him."

A raspy, bitter laugh escaped my throat.

"You Sterlings are truly experts at stabbing someone and expecting them to thank you for the blade."

"Still stubborn, I see."

She opened her phone camera and aimed it at my face.

"Come on, say it."

"Say that Sienna is kind and generous, and you're just a petty, jealous bitch."

I closed my eyes.

"No."

Zoe pressed the EpiPen against the edge of the table, slowly pushing down.

"If you don't say it, I'll break it."

The bodyguard gasped.

"Miss Sterling, is that thing really life-saving medicine?"

"She says it is, so it is?"

Zoe sneered.

"Does she know better than a doctor?"

"My brother asked. The sedative dosage is perfectly safe."

"Besides, even if something does happen, it's just her own weak constitution trying to blackmail the Sterling family."

I forced my eyes open, my vision already blurring.

"Zoe."

"What?"

"Does your brother know how incredibly stupid you are?"

Her face twisted in anger.

With a sharp crack, she slammed the EpiPen onto the floor.

The blue plastic casing shattered, and the liquid medicine seeped out onto the concrete.

In that exact moment, the final string of hope inside me snapped.

Zoe looked at the spilled medicine and lifted her chin proudly.

"Don't look at me like that."

"My brother hates it when you make that face."

"As if the whole world owes you something."

I stared at the shattered EpiPen and whispered, "There are only three hundred of those custom-formulated pens in the world."

"Who are you trying to scare?"

"It's a custom-made prescription. The serial number is printed on the inside of the casing."

I looked up at her.

"What you just destroyed wasn't just a pen. It was evidence."

Zoe froze for a moment, then laughed contemptuously.

"Evidence?"

"You're just an orphaned, penniless designer. You think you can sue the Sterling family?"

"Has my brother spoiled you so much that you forgot your own place?"

I didn't bother to explain.

Because explaining was useless.

A massive cheer suddenly erupted from upstairs.

The wedding was reaching its finale.

Zoe checked her phone, her smile returning.

"Sienna is about to toss the bouquet."

"Guess who she's going to throw it to?"

I said nothing.

She answered her own question.

"Me, obviously."

She stood up and walked toward the door.

The bodyguard hesitated.

"What about her...?"

"Keep her locked in."

The door slammed shut.

I dragged myself toward the shattered EpiPen, dipping my finger into the tiny puddle of remaining liquid, and pressed it against my outer thigh.

The dosage was nowhere near enough.

The precious little air left in my lungs was still slipping away.

I reached into the hidden pocket of my wedding dress.

Sewn inside was a thin, metallic signal transmitter.

Before my grandmother passed away, she had slipped it into my hand.

She had said, Chloe, you don't have to return to the Lockwood family. But you must keep yourself alive.

I had laughed back then, thinking she was being dramatic.

Zoe's voice drifted in through the crack under the door.

She was on the phone.

"Ethan, she's still putting on a show. She's complaining that I broke her little rescue pen."

Ethan's background was incredibly noisypeople clinking glasses, shouting "congratulations!"

He asked, "How is she?"

"She can talk, she can crawl, she's full of energy."

Zoe laughed.

"I think she just wants to steal Sienna's spotlight."

Ethan was silent for two seconds.

"Don't rile her up."

"I'll come down as soon as I take Sienna back to her room."

I used every ounce of my remaining strength to bang on the door.

The sound was incredibly faint, like fingernails scratching against wood.

"Ethan..."

The hallway went quiet for a second. Zoe brought the phone closer to the door.

"Chloe is calling for you."

Ethan's voice softened.

"Chloe, I'm listening."

I pressed my forehead against the cold door.

"Tell them... to open the door."

"I can't... breathe."

"I really can't... hold on much longer."

Ethan sounded thoroughly exhausted and annoyed.

"Chloe, today is our wedding day."

"Do you have to force my hand today?"

"Force your hand?"

"Do you have any idea how many people are upstairs right now?"

His words came faster.

"The press, our relatives, our business partners."

"If you crash the reception now, what happens to Sienna?"

"She's carrying my brother's baby."

"My brother's last wish was for me to take care of her."

"So I should just die in the basement?"

My voice was so faint it was almost non-existent.

The other end of the line went completely silent.

A few seconds later, he said, "No one is asking you to die."

"I'm just asking you to wait."

"Why can't you ever put yourself in my shoes, just this once?"

Leaning against the door, I suddenly found it hilarious.

When his stomach ulcer flared up, I drove across the city in the middle of the night right before a major design deadline to get his medicine.

When his mother looked down on my background, I swallowed my pride at the dinner table, pretending not to understand her sharp barbs.

After Sienna returned, he abandoned me at movie theaters, restaurants, and anniversary hotel rooms over and over again.

I had always put myself in his shoes.

But in the end, he wanted me to give up my very life.

"Ethan."

"Yeah?"

"I regret it."

He paused.

"Regret what?"

"Regret marrying you."

The other side of the phone felt like it had been abruptly muted.

Zoe was the first to explode.

"Chloe, are you insane? My brother marrying you is the best thing that ever happened to your pathetic life!"

Ethan suppressed his anger.

"Chloe, don't say things in anger."

"I'm not angry."

I pulled the signal transmitter out of my wedding dress.

"I also regret saving your life."

Ethan's voice instantly turned freezing cold.

"What did you say?"

Zoe burst into laughter.

"Oh, here we go. The 'life-saver' drama again."

"Are you going to claim Sienna stole your entire life next?"

I ignored her. The transmitter had only one button.

My fingers were shaking violently. It took me three tries to finally press it down.

Ethan's voice was still coming through the speaker.

"Chloe, Sienna is the one who saved me."

"Everyone in the Sterling family knows that."

"Don't insult her with these desperate lies."

I smiled faintly.

"Fine."

"Then I hope you and your savior grow old and gray together..."

Ethan's breathing grew heavy.

"You're becoming completely unreasonable."

I could barely hear him anymore.

My ears were filled with the rushing sound of blood pounding against my eardrums.

Outside, Zoe murmured impatiently.

"Just hang up, Ethan. Sienna is looking for you."

The call was cut off. The bodyguard kicked the door from the outside and tossed my phone back in through the gap.

"Stop acting."

"When Mr. Sterling comes down, you can explain yourself to him."

I didn't have the strength to reply.

I picked up the phone and dialed a number.

A number I had deleted but remembered for years.

On the third ring, the call connected.