Chapter 9 - 10 Fake Engagement
‘Fake, of course.’ I caught the faintest trace of a smile as he answered. ‘And arranged partnerships for mutual benefit happen more often than you think. We’re just skipping the dinner dates and going straight to the paperwork.’
And then he gestured for me to sit down, pulled out a sleek black notebook, and began listing terms. Like this was a bloody client meeting.
I sat through the whole thing in a fog, nodding along as we discussed timelines, appearances, and what counted as acceptable hand-holding.
At one point, he used the phrase ‘public intimacy quotient’, and I had to fight the urge to check if this was all some elaborate prank being livestreamed on TikTok.
Even after we’d shaken on it, I still felt like I’d slipped into an alternate reality where men said yes to fake marriages without blinking and I somehow wasn’t being scammed.
‘There’s a party in three days,’ he said casually, like it was no big deal. ‘I’ll need you there. It’s time to announce our engagement.’
He paused, looking at me with that predator calm again.
‘And I’ll do the same for you, with your family. Let’s give them a show they won’t forget.’
***
I left his apartment in a daze, drifted back to mine like I’d just been abducted by aliens and deposited back on Earth without the instruction manual.
Even when I slid into a booth across from Yvaine at our usual dinner spot, I still felt like I’d accidentally wandered out of my own body and into someone else’s wildly overdramatic Netflix show.
‘Hello? Earth to Mira.’ Yvaine waved her hand in front of my face. ‘You look like someone just told you your flat’s been repossessed by a cult.’