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My Fiancée’s Secret Boyfriend
My Fiancée’s Secret Boyfriend
Author: Autumn Ember

Chapter 1

Author: Autumn Ember
"Ian, the water's perfect. Go ahead and get in. I'll be out after I dry my hair."

Natalie Fisher called out from the bathroom, her voice soft and affectionate.

I stood frozen beside the coffee table. My eyes were fixed on the profile picture glowing on her phone. It belonged to the account I had been using for the past three years.

[We shouldn't talk anymore. It's over.]

Those were the exact words I had just sent.

The bathroom door opened, and Natalie stepped out in a robe. The moment she saw me standing there, she stopped.

"What's wrong? You look terrible."

She walked over and reached for the collar of my pajamas, trying to straighten it the way she always did.

I recoiled so fast that my lower back struck the arm of the couch. A sharp pain shot through me as the hard edge dug into bone.

Her hand froze in midair.

"Ian?"

Her eyes followed my stare to the phone glowing on the table. Then her expression went completely still.

The phone vibrated again, playing the custom notification sound she had assigned to that account.

She lunged for it, snatched it off the table, and opened the message with shaking fingers. She read the short message three times.

"No..." Her voice came out barely above a whisper. "He wouldn't..."

She started typing, then deleted the message. She tried again, only to erase that one, too. No matter how many times she started, she couldn't bring herself to send anything.

Then she called, again and again.

Scott Hawkins's old phone stayed silent in my pocket.

I always kept it on mute. I was afraid Natalie might see it and realize I had spent years pretending to be someone else online.

"Pick up... Please, just pick up..."

Her voice trembled, and beads of sweat formed along her forehead.

I had never seen her like this before.

No. That wasn't true. I had seen this side of her in the messages she sent to "Scott."

Whenever her depression got bad, she begged him the same way, pleading with "him" not to leave.

But the Natalie I knew in real life was always calm, thoughtful, and seemingly flawless.

"Natalie," I said.

She didn't respond. She just kept calling.

"Natalie!"

Her head snapped up. Her eyes were red, and anger twisted across her face.

"Shut up!"

The words hit me like a slap. I stared at her for a moment, then let out a short laugh.

She seemed to realize what she had said and quickly apologized, her voice returning to its usual calm, polished tone.

"I'm sorry. Something came up, and I need to deal with it."

She hurried into the bedroom and started pulling clothes from the closet.

"What happened?"

She dressed so quickly that she fastened her blouse wrong and didn't even notice.

"It's urgent." She refused to look at me.

"What could be so urgent? We're supposed to try on our wedding clothes tomorrow."

Natalie paused and finally looked at me. There was no guilt in her eyes, only irritation that I was holding her up.

"Go get your suit fitted without me. Pick out whatever wedding dress you like. I'll cover it."

"You'll cover it?" I repeated. "What could possibly be more important than our wedding?"

Her expression went cold. She looked at me as though I were a complete stranger.

"Ian, you've always been so easygoing. Why are you suddenly making such a big deal out of this?"

Before I could answer, she grabbed her car keys, slammed the door behind her, and left.

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  • My Fiancée’s Secret Boyfriend   Chapter 10

    One year later…My private studio officially opened its doors.The grand opening drew a huge crowd. Congratulatory flower arrangements lined the sidewalk all the way to the corner.Chloe stood beside me in a fitted pantsuit. Now my business partner, she gracefully declined one toast after another on my behalf.Out of sight beneath the table, she slipped her hand into mine and held on.Warmth spread through my palm. I turned to her with a smile. She smiled back, just as brightly as she had the day we first met.The sun shone overhead, and it felt like everything was only beginning.At the edge of the crowd, Valerie stood watching me from a distance, her expression impossible to read.Beside her, a caregiver pushed a wheelchair. Natalie sat motionless in it.Her recovery had not gone well. The fire had left her face badly scarred and caused permanent damage to one of her legs.The confident, accomplished woman who had once commanded every room she entered now depended on a whee

  • My Fiancée’s Secret Boyfriend   Chapter 9

    In the end, I went to the hospital.Not because I had softened, and not because Paul had begged me through tears over the phone.I only wanted to see Natalie with my own eyes and close that chapter of my life for good.Natalie had a private art room where she kept every painting I had given her over the years. After we broke up, she left them exactly where they were and refused to let anyone touch them.Three days earlier, faulty wiring had sparked a fire in the room.The moment Natalie realized what was happening, she ignored everyone trying to stop her and ran straight into the flames.By the time firefighters pulled her out, most of her body had been badly burned. Her face was unrecognizable.But she had something clutched in her hand, and she refused to let it go.It was a ring, warped by the heat and blackened with soot.It was the engagement ring I had left on the coffee table.I stood outside the ICU and looked through the window at Natalie lying in bed, her entire bod

  • My Fiancée’s Secret Boyfriend   Chapter 8

    I never saw Natalie again.The game Chloe and I had worked on became a massive hit. My character designs were shared tens of thousands of times across social media. Almost overnight, job offers began pouring in.I expanded the studio and hired a team.Three months later, I held my first solo exhibition. I called it Rebirth.A huge crowd came to the opening, including industry professionals, reporters, and fans who had traveled just to see my work.Chloe pushed through the crowd carrying an enormous bouquet of sunflowers."Congratulations!"I took the flowers and was about to answer when a commotion broke out at the back of the room.People were being pushed aside, and someone asked, "Who is that?"It was Valerie.When she finally pushed her way through the crowd, I got a clear look at her. Her clothes were rumpled, her hair was greasy and unkempt, and she barely resembled the polished woman I had seen three months earlier."Ian!" She squeezed past the last few people and s

  • My Fiancée’s Secret Boyfriend   Chapter 7

    I thought Natalie would come looking for me.But she didn't.For two full days, my phone was strangely quiet. There were no calls, no messages. Valerie didn't even show up to plead her case.On the third night, I worked until almost midnight. When I opened the studio door, rain was pouring down.That was when I saw Natalie again.She stood beneath a streetlight, her blouse and fitted blazer soaked through and clinging to her body. Rainwater streamed from the ends of her hair.She had lost weight. Her face looked thinner, her features drawn.The moment she saw me, she started toward me. Her heels splashed through the puddles, but she did not seem to notice."Ian..."Her voice was raw, the name barely making it past her throat.I stood beneath my umbrella without moving.She stopped a step away, rain running down her forehead and mingling with the tears on her face."Ian, it was you all along..." Her voice broke. "Why? Why didn't you tell me?"I didn't step aside, but I didn

  • My Fiancée’s Secret Boyfriend   Chapter 6

    Natalie didn't come back.Even so, she was far from idle.She was searching for "Scott" like a woman possessed, using every connection and resource she had to track down someone who didn't even exist.Valerie was the one who told me. She somehow got my studio address and showed up unannounced one day."Are you and Natalie really over?"I kept working on the colors without looking up. "What do you want?""You need to go back and talk some sense into her." Valerie looked annoyed. "She's so obsessed with tracking down that guy she met online that she can't even focus on work anymore. She's completely losing it. I heard she hired one of the best hackers in the business to trace the account's IP addresses and login history."My hand went still. A drop of paint fell from my brush and spread across the paper."Did they find anything?""I don't know." Valerie ran a hand through her hair. "But take my advice and stop pushing your luck. Natalie's only acting like this because she's angr

  • My Fiancée’s Secret Boyfriend   Chapter 5

    I dragged my suitcase out of the apartment building. It was still raining, but I didn't bother opening an umbrella.I moved into a small studio apartment I had rented a long time ago. It wasn't much, but the windows faced south, and sunlight poured in every afternoon.After Scott died, I had barely touched a paintbrush. Now, I picked one up again.I shut myself inside the studio and worked day and night.A week later, I landed an illustration project with a game company. The pay wasn't great, but it was the best opportunity I could get at the time.The project manager's name was Chloe Ingram. She looked a few years younger than I was."Ian, our art director took one look at your portfolio and approved you on the spot. I'm looking forward to working with you."She held out her hand. I hesitated before shaking it."Same here."Natalie probably thought I wouldn't last three days. She was always convinced I couldn't survive without her.A week later, her Rolls-Royce pulled up out

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