Lahat ng Kabanata ng Fake Fiancée, Real Boss: Kabanata 11 - Kabanata 20

Asia’s POVBy day three, I was beginning to understand something deeply unfortunate.Secrets were exhausting.Not just emotionally, but.Logistically, physically and mentally.Keeping one lie alive apparently required the scheduling precision of a military operation.And unfortunately for me, my current lie came with multiple moving parts.I stepped out of the elevator balancing a coffee tray in one hand, laptop bag digging into my shoulder, and what remained of my patience hanging on by a thread.Sleep had once again failed me.At this point, insomnia and I were in a committed relationship.Mara glanced up from her desk as I approached.“You’re late.”I checked my watch.8:01.My head tilted as I stated at her. “Just one minute?”“One minute becomes two. Two becomes carelessness.”Now she was sounding like she gave me the job.I handed her one of the coffee. “Good morning to you too.”She accepted it without visible gratitude.Much expected.“Mr. Gregory is already asking for you.”O

Asia’s POVBy eleven-thirty, I had reread the same email four times without absorbing a single word.The spreadsheet open on my screen might as well have been written in another language, because no matter how hard I tried to focus, my thoughts kept circling back to the same thing. The image on my phone, the deadline hanging over my head, and the suffocating realization that time was moving far too fast.I pressed my fingers lightly against my temple and stared harder at the laptop screen, as if effort alone could force my brain back into functioning mode. Around me, the office moved with its usual rhythn. Phones ringing, keyboards clicking, distant voices drifting through the hallways. but it all felt strangely far away, like I was watching the day happen from behind glass.This was ridiculous.I was at work, dressed in tailored trousers and a blazer that cost more than I usually spent on clothes in a month, pretending to care about investor itineraries while my mother was being held

Asia’s POVI pushed open Eden’s office door without knocking, which was either career suicide or a sign that my life had officially spiraled beyond the point of etiquette.He looked up from his laptop immediately, one hand resting against the keyboard, the other loosely holding a pen. His expression didn’t change much, but there was the faintest pause in his movement, like even he had registered that I was not usually the type to storm into executive offices uninvited.I placed the Paris file on his desk with more force than necessary.“What is this?”His gaze dropped to the open page, then back to me.“A file.”My brows furrowed.There was something deeply offensive about how calm he always managed to be.“You booked one suite.”His eyes flicked briefly to the accommodation details, entirely unbothered.“Yes.”Just yes.No explanation.No shame.No awareness that this was a deeply inappropriate abuse of oxygen.I blinked at him, certain I had to be missing something.“There’s one bed

Eden's POVAsia had gone unusually quiet.Not the normal kind of quiet either.Not her sharp, mildly hostile silence that usually came with an eye roll or an expression that suggested she found my existence professionally inconvenient.This was different.Heavier.More internal.Ever since the receptionist’s comment downstairs, she had barely said three words.Not that I was counting.I wasn’t.Probably.The elevator doors slid shut, enclosing us in polished steel and expensive silence.Asia stood beside me, shoulders slightly stiff, one hand wrapped around the handle of her carry-on while the other clutched her phone with an unnecessary amount of tension.Her jaw was tight.Eyes forward.Entire posture radiating the energy of someone trying very hard not to think.Which, based on recent observations, was becoming a pattern.Interesting.The receptionist’s comment replayed in my mind.Same executive suite.Requested during your last stay.I could practically hear the assumptions formi

Eden's POV“We may have a problem.”Asia’s face changed instantly.Not panic.Recognition.Fast. Sharp. Gone almost immediately.But I caught it.Interesting.She set her wine glass down carefully. Too carefully.“What kind of problem?” She said, trying to sound too composed, but her eyes had shifted, a glimpse of fear.I glanced at the message Mara had sent me.‘Investor dinner tomorrow moved to tonight. Delacroix insists. Private attendance only.’Annoying, but hardly catastrophic.“One of the investors moved tomorrow’s meeting.”Asia blinked, then let out the breath she has been fighting to release.I leaned back slightly in my chair, watching her over the rim of my glass.“You thought I meant something else.” “No, I didn’t.”She said too quickly, trying to cover up, but I already clocked that moments ago.I wonder if it's always going to be like this, she is a bad liar.Her attention shifted quickly toward the center of the table, pretending sudden interest in whatever the French