The Celebrity Copycat - A Heartthrob Tale

Chapter 28

Chapter 28:

Hours Earlier

Three years. It had been three years since she'd been taken. Three years, four months, and seven or maybe eight days if her calculations were correct.

She'd celebrated Christmas with him. She went on trips with him, albeit short trips where he could drive her around. She'd even gone with him when he had to film movies. Not to set or anything. But she stayed in whatever house the studio rented for him to use.

His mother died about two years after he'd taken her. She had to comfort him, some days she was even left to take care of him. It was pretty hard to take care of him when she couldn't leave the house. Thankfully he'd given her a cell phone. It was so janky. It called two numbers -- his and Nico's. She couldn't even get it to call 911. It was useless. But Nico was at least able to bring him food when he was too depressed to go shopping himself.

She celebrated three years of birthdays. Heck, in a few more weeks it would be a fourth birthday with Jackson Danvers. She'd be turning 28. And she was certain that the only guests in attendance would be Nico and Marie. Though, these days Marie was called Donna. She was still getting used to it. Nico had just gone public in his relationship with "Donna." They were even engaged as far as the media was concerned.

And despite doing practically nothing to hide her appearance, no one recognized Marie. Then again, she looked quite different once her hair was grown out and she had a stable weight. Years without yo-yo dieting made Marie look like a whole new person. And she still had no desires to go back to her old life.

And now, it was her turn to reenter the world. For the last six months she'd merely been the mystery girl on Jackson Danvers's arm. They eat dinner at very private restaurants or they'd walk around together. All the while he was careful never to let anyone get too close.

She had a very good wig and some brown contact lenses. Those, plus not wearing heavy make up changed her look a lot. Jackson even took her into the sun to bring out her freckles as much as he could. She had definitely been a daily make up kinda girl before all this. And now, she only wore light eye make up and some lip gloss.

But tonight . . . Tonight was a big night. It was the night that she'd be reintroduced to society. She'd get to go to this big fancy gala with Jackson as his plus one. He finally trusted that she wouldn't go running off telling anyone what happened.

Who would believe her anyway? Mikayla Walsh was dead. Now there was only Mina Stewart.

Call it Stockholm Syndrome or operant conditioning or learned helplessness or even love. It didn't matter. All of it boiled down to the same thing. She was unwilling to fight back. That and she was happy. 

She remembered the moment it all changed. He's saved her life. He didn't punish her or yell at her or lock her up. He just asked her why. After that she saw him in a different light. She knew it was messed up. But at least she wasn't dead.

Mina had several hours till she had to leave. But she decided to start getting ready early. She carefully glued down her wig, checking from every angle to ensure that none of her red hair was showing. 

It was a process. But when the wig was fully in place it changed everything. The shape of her face seemed totally different with a curly bob. Her hair was naturally wavy, but the length made it seem straight. The short wig made her chin look pointier and her cheeks looked thinner. Then again, that could have simply been the diet she was eating. Mina had always been healthy. She exercised regularly and ate well. But now there were few nights out drinking or eating a bigger meal with friends and she'd lost about fifteen pounds. And on someone as small as her it showed a lot.