Chapter 1I’m Fluent in Six Languages—Until My Earpiece Crossed Lines and Exposed His Lies

For three years, I’d been his perfect “girlfriend.”

I was fluent in six languages, serving as the chief translator for his multinational corporation.

I meticulously memorized the preferences of all his business partners, smoothing over one social crisis after another for him.

I could even mimic his first love's handwriting, penning letters to his family abroad on her behalf.

Everyone said I, Seraphina, must have won the cosmic lottery in a past life to transform from a simple orphan into the most indispensable woman by Julian Vance, the heir to a powerful dynasty.

I used to believe it too.

He’d cook me soup all night when I lost my voice from simultaneous interpreting.

He’d book an entire island just to watch birthday fireworks with me.

Then came that International Investment Summit in Geneva.

Wearing the simultaneous interpretation headset he’d personally placed on me, I sat by his side, flawlessly translating the impenetrable speeches of German-speaking titans into the crucial business intelligence he needed.

During the break, my headset unexpectedly cross-wired, tuning into a private conversation between him and his close friend.

“Julian, this time, we really owe Seraphina. Those Germans finally agreed.”

Julian’s voice crackled through the earpiece, laced with a casual, almost dismissive chuckle.

“She was born for this. This ‘Eleanor Vance’ stand-in? We’ve groomed her for three years. It finally paid off.”

His trusted associate lowered his voice.

“What about the real Eleanor Vance…?”

“Her? She’s skiing in Switzerland, having a blast. Seraphina, that fool, she’s taking all the heat for her. What does Eleanor have to be unhappy about?”

My fingertips instantly went ice cold.

So, I wasn't Seraphina.

I was “Eleanor Vance.”

A perfectly acceptable, replacement.