"Is this your decision?" Keira's voice cut the moonlit study.
"No," her mother said, voice thin. "You don't have to—"
"Tell me what you want me to do," Keira said. "Tell me the exact words."
Denise's eyes were wide, glossy with the rehearsed innocence that had won her sponsors and followers. "Keira, please. Just—just say you'll stand in. You'll protect me. It's temporary. You know how the Nguyens are. They take care of their own."
"Temporary," Keira repeated, tasting the word. She folded her hands around the pen as if it were a needle. "Write it down."
Her mother pushed a paper across the table. The lamp made the letters practical and ugly: Substitute Bride Agreement. Compensation clause. Non-disclosure. No family claims. Keira scanned three lines and raised her head.
"You meant 'no family claims' for them," she said. "Not for me."
Denise laughed, a small sharp sound. "You think we want you to have rights? We want you invisible. Just show up, smile, keep your mouth shut. That's all."
"Sign it," her mother urged. "Keira—think of Denise. You swore you'd protect her when she came to us."
"Protect her?" Keira's voice stayed flat. "Denise sold me to her silence a month ago. She kept the ledger of favors and traded me for a dress."
"You don't know what you're saying," Denise snapped. "I've given you everything—home, food—"
"You sold my name for a
