Page 21 of The Substitute Fiancée

I have no right to drag her into this. Her soul is too pure to be pulled into my darkness.

“You want to tell me what’s bothering you?” she asks gently.

“I… I don’t know if this is a good idea anymore,” I admit.

She frowns.

“You brought me all the way here. The least you can do is explain, don’t you think?”

Put that way, I don’t really have a choice.

“The engagement thing… it was Kristel’s idea. A strategy for the IPO.”

I explain the rumors. The investors. The need for stability.

“So there’s no engagement anymore,” she says.

“No. But Kristel is threatening to talk.”

Sam freezes.

“She wouldn’t dare…”

“Look me in the eyes, Sam, and tell me she wouldn’t.”

A long silence stretches between us. She holds my gaze. I see the conflict inside her—the desire to give her sister the benefit of the doubt fighting against the truth.

She looks away.

“What do you want to do?” she asks, her voice uncertain.

I take a deep breath.

“I want to announce my engagement to someone else. Beat her to it.”

The silence that follows is deafening.

“What?”

“I’m going to make it official. Photos. Press release. The whole thing. After that, anything she says loses credibility. But for that…”

I hesitate.

“I need you.”

She stares at me, confused at first. Then I see the exact moment she understands. Her eyes widen. Her lips part.

“No. Absolutely not. That’s completely twisted!”

“I know. But if I let her do this, I could lose everything. I need you, Sam. You’re the only person I trust.”

She doesn’t answer. Her gaze searches mine, trying to reach the core of who I am. My heart starts beating erratically. The waiting becomes unbearable. Every second stretches into eternity.

“How long?” she finally asks.

My heart jolts violently in my chest.

“A few months. Until the IPO stabilizes.”