She Died With My Name on Her Lips novel Chapter 17

“Ha.” Louise let out a bitter laugh, the sound sharp in the quiet room. But even now, she couldn’t let go. “Stephen, after all these years, was there ever a single moment you actually cared about me? Not this face that looks like Louisa’s—me.”

“No.” Stephen didn’t hesitate. He never did.

Louise almost had to laugh at herself. All these years, how ridiculous she’d been.

She’d fallen in love—not just with Stephen’s money, but with Stephen himself. The real him. He was everything: smart, charming, the kind of man every girl dreamed about. If only there hadn’t been a Louisa, maybe he would’ve been hers.

Back then, she never pictured happiness coming her way. Then Stephen—perfect, unattainable Stephen—walked into her life and handed her a contract.

For a split second, she’d believed she was living out some fairytale: the ordinary girl swept up in a whirlwind romance, signing a marriage contract with the prince, starting a love story everyone else would envy.

But reality hit her hard.

She wasn’t Cinderella. She was just a stand-in—a joke, really. Not even a real lover. Her whole job was to pretend to be Louisa, to go out of her way to irritate her.

But Louise wasn’t willing to accept that. How could she? They had almost the same face, almost the same name, so why were their lives so different?

If she’d grown up with Stephen, maybe there wouldn’t have been a Louisa at all. She would’ve loved him forever, no matter what happened to her parents. As long as they could be together, she could survive anything.

Sometimes, though, she was almost glad she wasn’t Louisa. At least she didn’t have to be the one Stephen tormented.

Still, Louise had done everything she could to win him over. She’d spiked his drinks, gotten him drunk more times than she could count. Anything for a chance.

Eventually, she got what she wanted—even if Stephen thought she was Louisa. One time turned into two, then more. Then Louisa died, and Louise had Stephen’s child. Everything was finally turning around. They would get married, have a family, be happy.

So why was Stephen treating her like this?

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