A LOVE TOO REAL TO FAKE

Chapter 1:

The rain had just stopped, but Eden Blake's sneakers were already soaked through. She weaved between cabs on Lexington Avenue, gripping the soggy brown paper bag like it contained gold instead of spicy miso ramen and under-tipped hope. It was her third delivery of the hour, her twelfth of the day, and she hadn’t eaten anything but leftover toast since last night. Her shoulders ached. Her phone buzzed with another decline from the hospital’s billing department. She didn’t bother opening it.

The address glowed up at her from the screen: The Arcadia Grand Hotel, 110th floor.

"Holy fuck," she muttered. "What kind of human eats ramen on the 110th floor?"

She didn't realize she said that aloud until the door man looked at her eyebrow

"Delivery entrance's around back, sweetheart."

Eden fake a smile she didn’t mean and nodded. She knew her place. She always did.

The service elevator creaked and groaned as it climbed. Her reflection in the scratched metal walls mocked her: tangled hair in a half-fallen bun, oversized hoodie over paint-stained leggings, shoes with a sole peeling halfway off. A ghost of the art student she'd once been.

Eden Blake. Artist. Hustler. Broke. Invisible.

When the elevator doors opened, she stepped out into what she expected to be a hallway. Instead, she landed in a sea of chandeliers and champagne.

Her eyes widened.

she said fuck No way.

This wasn’t a regular hotel floor. It was a ballroom. Massive. Gold-trimmed. People glided through the space in designer gowns and tuxedos, wine flutes in hand, conversation as sparkling as the diamond necklaces around their necks. A quartet played soft jazz in the background.

She walked into a world that nobody didn’t just ignore her, they didn’t even know she existed.

"Hey get the fuck out " You can't be in here!" one of them shouted.

Eden turned, panicked, scanning for a sign of where she was supposed to go. Before she could escape, a voice cut through the air—low, commanding, rich with unbothered arrogance.

one of them said to the dude that shouted at her

"please Let her stay."

They shifted. Heads turned. Eyes locked.

she sat down

And that’s when she saw him.

Cassian Wolfe.

He stood like he owned gravity. Tall. Suit tailored to a body that looked sculpted, not starved. Jet-black hair combed back, a shadow of stubble along his jaw, and a mouth that didn’t smile so much as curve into calculated menace. Eyes dark as obsidian. Cold. Curious.

He wasn’t just a man. He was a warning wrapped in wealth

And he was looking straight at her.

he stood up from where he sat

"You're in the wrong place," he said as he walked toward her.

Eden's mind skip and her throat went dry. She instinctively held up the delivery bag. "I-I have ramen. For... a Mr. Levingston? I think I got off on the wrong floor."

He stopped a foot away. The air between them crackled. "You just saved my night."

"With noodles?"

"With timing."

Before she could ask what he meant, he stepped aside and gestured. "Come with me."

"Sorry, what? No. I need to deliver this, then head to my second job. I can’t—"

"he said to her How much do you make in a night?"

She frowned. "Excuse me?"

"Your rate. Give me a number." said he

"she said That’s not your business."

He arched a brow. " and said I'm giving Five thousand dollars. for one hour to pretend to be my date."

Eden short, disbelieving."Is this a joke? Is there a hidden camera?"

"I assure you, I'm not joking. And I don't waste money unless it matters. Right now, it matters."

" Why me?" she said

He studied her with surgical precision. "Because you look like someone no one expects. And right now, I need someone unpredictable."

She should have walked away .

But then she remembered her mother's latest hospital bill. The call from the landlord. The way her bank app had flashed red.

"do have it Cash?"said her

"he said yes Of course."

Her heart pounded as she followed him through the crowd. He slid an arm around her waist, warm and steady. His cologne was expensive—clean, smoky, and dark.

People stared. Whispers began. Eden kept her chin up.

At least, she thought, the ramen was still warm.

He led her into a private suite upstairs with a panoramic view of Manhattan. The skyline burned in gold and crimson.

"What now?" she asked, suddenly aware of how ridiculous she must look next to him.

Cassian turned toward her. and said to her here is the plan"We talk. We sip champagne. You laugh at my terrible jokes. And you act like you've been in love with me for years."

"You have exes watching, don't you?"

"One in particular. She won’t believe this. And that’s why I want her to."

Eden folded her arms. "So I’m your decoy."

"You’re my illusion."

"And what if I say something wrong?"

He leaned in, lips close to her ear. "Then improvise. Convince me."

The door burst open.

A statuesque blonde in a crimson gown stormed in, her heels clicking like a threat.

Verena Sterling.

Eden recognized her instantly—heiress to a cosmetics empire. Tabloid queen. Once engaged to Cassian Wolfe.

"Cass," Verena purred, though it came out like venom. "Who is this?"

Cassian didn’t flinch. "Eden Blake. My fiancée."

Time slowed.

Eden choked on her champagne. Verena narrowed her eyes, a slow smile curling.

"Oh? Funny. I never saw the announcement."

Eden smiled sweetly. "He proposed last week. On a rooftop. Rose petals. Fireworks."

Cassian added without missing a beat, "She said yes before I finished the sentence."

Verena’s smile didn’t reach her eyes. "Well. Congratulations. I hope she knows what she’s getting into."

She sauntered out, leaving perfume and poison in her wake.

Eden turned to Cassian, breathless. "Are you insane?"

"She’ll dig now. Try to destroy you. We let her."

"Why?"

"Because she destroyed someone else. And it’s time she learns what that feels like."

Cassian opened a drawer, pulled out a velvet pouch, and dropped it into Eden's palm. A diamond ring the size of a marble sparkled up at her.

"Put it on."

"You said one hour."

"I changed my mind. One month."

She stared at him. "You can’t just buy someone’s life."

He stepped closer, gaze locked to hers. "No. But I can rent it. And you need me more than you’ll admit."

"This is insane."

"No. This is a deal. And I always honor mine."

"What do you get out of this?"

He smiled faintly. "Closure."

As Eden left the hotel that night with five thousand in cash, her mind raced.

She should walk away.

But a month’s worth of pretending could pay off her mother’s entire medical debt. Could buy time. Could give her a way out.

But Cassian Wolfe wasn’t just offering a deal.

He was offering her a cage wrapped in silk.

And she’d just agreed to step inside.