The Heir's Masquerade

Chapter 2: Not My Face

Jackson kept looking at the mirror and what it was showing him didn’t change. It was Blake's face staring back at him.”What…How..Why do I have Blake’s face?” Jackson thought.

 The nurse and thought were starting to worry about him, he hadn’t said a word and just kept staring into the mirror. “Mr Starkwood I know you don’t look exactly as you did before, but try to understand this type of surgery is quite complex and we had to use past photos as a reference. In fact, you look younger which is a good thing”, The Doctor said.

 Jackson turned his gaze to the doctor and the nurse showing a look of horror. “I ..”, Jackson was about to speak but was interrupted by the door sliding open. Coming in was the family butter, he had long grey hair, a full-grown beard, and looked close to the late Daniel Starwood’s age. 

“We called him during the accident. He's hardly left your side. He stayed here during the entire operation and refused to leave until you had woken up, quite a loyal servant you got Mr Starkwood” " the Doctor said.

“Nonsense I was just fulfilling my duty, nothing more”, the butler said. He had a British accent because why not? “You can’t be rich without hiring a British servant that’s just basic knowledge”, was a quote the late Daniel Starkwood once said.

“Do you mind giving us the room, I wish to discuss with the young master privately”, the butler requested. The Doctor and the nurse left, leaving Jackson and the butler alone.

The butler took a seat right next to Jackson. “How are you feeling?” the butler asked. Jackson knew he was. His name was Adrian, he’d been with the Starkwoods for over a decade, and every other servant seemed to respect him greatly during Jackson’s time in the Starkwood mansion.

Should he tell him the truth, If he did what would happen to Jackson If what the doctor said was true then he cared deeply about Blake. 

Jackson remained silent for a few minutes then spoke. “Adrian I’m not Blake It’s me Jackson the Doctor must have made a mistake when they brought me here”, Jackson said

The butler hearing this didn’t have a change in his facial expression. “Oh dear it seems you’ve been traumatized by everything I’m sorry young master No one should have to go through what you have been through, but rest assured you will heal”, the butler said.

The butler left the room leaving Jackson with a puzzling look on his face.

What the hell was that, denial? Jackson thought. Jackson took a look into the mirror once more to see the changes done to his face. The first notable change was his hair, previously he had short dark hair but now he had long blonde hair going down to his neck, his dark eyes had been replaced with crystal blue eyes, his nose formation was different, and he even had a different set of teeth.

“Damn they really did a hell of a job with my face, this type of work would cost millions something I’d never be able to pay.”, Jackson thought. Jackson being alone in the room for a moment had a crazy thought, what if he didn’t say anything and just let this play out, it wasn’t like he had anyone who would miss him, it’s not that he was a bad person, he just had no friends or family who would mourn his death and If he did manage to convince the hospital of the truth, what then? They weren’t just going to say “Oh our bad”, they might ask him to pay for the entire operation which would be impossible he could take them to court but it’d be unlikely he’d win the case.

“No that’s crazy I’m thinking of living Blake’s life that’s Identity theft”, Jackson thought. Identity theft yes, but it would be the identity of the heir to one of the richest families in the world, he could have everything he ever wanted and so much more. The temptation was too much.

“Okay If I decide to do this I need a plan”, “What am I going to say to people who remember Blake especially his douchebag friends, hmm memory loss?”, “That's the simplest way I can pull this off although complete memory loss is something that rarely happens with the type of accident and how badly I was hurt it shouldn’t be too unbelievable”, Jackson thought.

“Oh wait Adrian he knows what I said, okay I’ll just say I remember bits and pieces and I got confused it’s not a good lie but it’s something he didn’t believe what I told him in the first place, maybe this lie will make more sense maybe”, Jackson thought

The doctor and nurse came back after a few hours of Jackson formulating his plan. “So are you feeling better Mr Starkwood? ”, the Doctor asked. “Actually ..uh I’m having a bit of a problem I can’t seem to remember who I am I mean I remember my name my parents' name and others but apart from that I’m a Blank slate”, Jackson said.

He had done it, he decided to go through the plan of pretending to be Blake but having memory. Now the question was would it work would the doctor believe him or instantly know he was lying and something was up?

“I’m sorry to hear that. In addition to your burns, you also had blunt force trauma to your skull, I suspected brain damage but I wasn’t sure until right now, It could have been much worse than this”, the Doctor said

“I can’t believe it worked!”, Jackson thought. Adrian the butler entered quickly after, the Doctor told him what Jackson had said. “I see, well that’s worrying not just for the young master but for the entire company, if anyone finds out about this, board members, competitors, or reporters they will think him incompetent to inherit the company he will lose everything. So I ask you to keep your mouth shut about this dear doctor”, Adrian said.

“Of course, doctor-patient confidentiality still exists, and there’s a chance his memories will come back one day he’ll just need some time to remember”, the doctor said

“You’ll need to stay here for a couple of days before we discharge you. Your body is healed physically but we'd still like to run some tests”, the doctor said

“And this time spent here will help me teach you about what to do and what not to do when you leave the hospital in order to maintain the illusion that you still have your memories and we also need to discuss your parents' funeral. I know you don’t remember them but it’s been months since the accident and I think it best to have it after you get back to the mansion”,  Adrian said

“Oh .. Alright”, Jackson said trying to act confused. The next few days Adrian taught Jackson how to behave in front of those who knew Blake. It wasn’t proper behavior for anyone, Blake treated everyone he knew like they were beneath him. Jackson was disgusted as Adrian explained all the things Blake would do on a daily basis, he didn’t plan to keep up the behavior forever just a while after the Funeral of the Starkwoods a sudden change of attitude coming from him would caused suspicion.

“Remember what I thought you, you need to seem like your regular self”, Adrian said. Jackson nodded they were in a car driving back to the mansion. Jackson was in a black suit with Adrian right next to him, they had just left the hospital.

“This is really happening, I can't believe it there’s no going back now”, Jackson thought. A part of him was nervous about the whole situation the other part was excited about it. He could finally have an easy life with no worries, and all the money on man couldn’t ever finish in his lifetime.

“We have arrived”, the driver said. The driver was the same one who fell ill during the day he was supposed to drive the Starkwoods to the party, maybe he didn’t get sick he would be in Jackson's position right now. “No that’s unlikely, I bet the reason they confused me for Blake was because of how close we were in age and in height”, Jackson thought. The driver looked to be in his fifties and was quite a short fellow

The driver got out of the car and opened Jackson’s door. He sighed not getting out yet and seemed to be deep in thought. “Are you alright sir?”, the driver asked.

He looked at Adrian who gave him a nod, this was the single to start the act. “I’m fine and mind your damn business”, Jackson said. He got out of the car pushing the driver aside, it was a strange experience for him he got no pleasure in it, and he couldn’t understand why Blake did.

Looking ahead he could see the Starkwood mansion, it was as grand and glorious as every time he looked at it but this time he was going in as a mere servant he was going in as the heir.