Semua Bab Fake Fiancé Turned Real: Bab 1 - Bab 9

I went back to our rented apartment. One by one, I tore down the photos covering the wall and fed them into the paper shredder.At eleven o’clock that night, the door clicked open. Jacob pushed the door open, bringing with him a faint woody scent. It was the exact perfume Ruby always wore. He loosened his tie, his brow furrowing slightly as he put on a show of exhaustion.“Nat, get me a glass of water.”In the past, I would’ve rushed over to him out of worry and handed him a glass of water. Now, I just sat on the sofa, completely still.“Get it yourself,” I said, my voice flat.Jacob paused, a look of impatience crossing his eyes. However, he quickly suppressed it, walking over to ruffle my hair.“What’s wrong? Are you mad because I had too much work today and forgot your birthday?” he said dotingly, but his eyes were lifeless. He was simply going through the motions.“No,” I said, tilting my head to avoid his hand. “I forgot too.”Jacob’s hand froze in midair before he slo

Jacob’s mind games were becoming increasingly blatant. To speed up the process of breaking my heart, he began stepping on my boundaries at every single turn.I was running a fever of 102 degrees Fahrenheit, shivering all by myself in my rented apartment. I called him, and the call rang six times before he finally picked up.“Jacob, I have a high fever. Can you please take me to the hospital?”My voice sounded incredibly weak. Half of it was from being genuinely sick, and the other half was just me playing along with the script.The background on his end was loud, and Ruby’s laughter came through the speaker as clear as day.“Just take some painkillers. You’re a grown-up. How are you still so needy?” Jacob said impatiently. “Ruby is moving into her new place today, and I can’t leave. Figure it out yourself.”With a click, he hung up on me.I tossed the phone aside and poured myself a glass of water, my face expressionless.Ten minutes later, the doorbell rang. Thinking it was th

That evening, Louis took me back to his penthouse in the city center.Right after we stepped through the door, he pulled a brand-new pair of women’s house slippers from the shoe cabinet. He even bent down to place them right by my feet. The size was perfect.I looked around the place. On the coffee table in the living room, there was a glass of water and a charcuterie board. Up on the bathroom shelf sat a complete, unopened set of top-tier luxury skincare products. Even the accent pillows on the couch were in my favorite Morandi color palette.“Do you keep these things ready in every property under your name, Mr. Lane?” I asked as I slid my feet into the slippers and looked at him with a half-smile.Louis was just pulling off his tie, but he froze at my words.“Only this place has them,” he said, casually draping his tie over the couch while avoiding my gaze. “And they were only ever prepared for you.”I walked up to him and looked at him. “You’ve known me for a long time, haven’

My father’s secretary sent another update. Jacob had gone to my father, demanding to see the original copy of the employment contract. My father had refused to hand it over, but Jacob managed to get his hands on a backup copy from my father’s personal attorney.The terms of the contract were spelled out in hard print. “During the term of this agreement, the Contractor shall, through emotional manipulation, instil in the Client’s daughter a profound distaste for romantic relationships, so that she will willingly accept a marriage arranged by the family. Under no circumstances shall the Contractor develop genuine feelings for the subject of the contract.“Any breach of this clause shall require the Contractor to refund the entire eight-figure retainer and compensate the Client for all associated damages.”Word had it that the day Jacob read that contract, he smashed a glass right in my father’s office.He had demanded, “A subject? Is that all she is to you? Just a subject?”My f