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Chapter 2: Enemies Make Terrible Fiancés

ผู้เขียน: Elena Thorne
last update วันที่เผยแพร่: 2026-03-09 21:25:41

By Monday morning, my "brilliant" lie was starting to feel less like quick thinking and more like social suicide.

Work was my sanctuary, my territory. Here, I didn't have to dodge questions about my personal life or pretend to be someone I wasn't. Here, I could bury myself in spreadsheets and contracts and be safely, blissfully single.

At least, that was the plan.

"Morning, Mia," called Jared from marketing, waving a coffee at me. "Did you see the WolfeTech press release?"

I kept walking toward my glass-walled office. "Nope. Not interested."

He jogged to keep up. "They're presenting at the National Expansion Summit. Guess who's leading the pitch?"

"I don't care."

"Liam Wolfe."

I stopped mid-stride. "Of course he is."

The man was everywhere lately business blogs, industry panels, even on the cover of Tech Innovators Monthly. And every time I saw his stupidly perfect jawline and confident smirk, I remembered the way he'd smiled at me the day he poached my client, like he'd just won a championship.

I'd sworn then that I'd never speak to him unless it was to tell him I'd beaten him.

But now...

I stared at the photo on Jared's tablet. Liam in a perfectly tailored suit, shaking hands with some investor. He looked like the kind of man who could sell air to a drowning person and he was exactly the sort of guy my family would believe I was dating.

If only he didn't make my blood boil.

By lunchtime, I was at my desk, staring at an email draft I'd typed and deleted five times.

Subject: A mutually beneficial proposal.

I hated that I was even considering this. But the reunion was in five days. I had two options: show up with a random hired actor who might forget the story we agreed on or... rope in someone who was smart, quick, and could keep up the act without breaking a sweat.

Someone like Liam.

I typed faster before I could talk myself out of it.

Liam,

We both have... situations that could be improved with the right arrangement. I have a family event that requires a convincing partner. You have a business image to maintain for your upcoming pitch. Let's discuss a short-term... collaboration.

Mia Cross

I hit send and immediately regretted every life choice that had led me here.

An hour later, my phone buzzed. Unknown number.

"Mia Cross," I answered.

"Collaboration?" The voice was deep, amused, and irritatingly familiar. "I almost thought it was a joke."

"Liam Wolfe," I said flatly.

"To what do I owe the honor?"

"I already told you. I need a... temporary husband."

A pause. Then, laughter. "You're serious."

"Dead serious. It's just for a weekend. You pretend to adore me in front of my family, I pretend to think you're a decent human being in front of your investors."

"You do know I have options, right?"

"So do I," I lied.

Another pause. Then: "Dinner tonight. We'll discuss terms."

Before I could argue, he hung up.

I stared at my phone.

What had I just done?

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  • An Almost Honest Affair    CHAPTER 44 — THE TASTE OF SILENCE

    The merger changed everything.At least, that’s what everyone said.CrossTech’s name now shared space with Wolfe Dynamics across billboards and sleek glass doors Wolfecross Technologies, a “strategic alliance to restore innovation and trust.”It sounded perfect.Looked perfect.And for a while, Mia almost let herself believe it.The chaos quieted. The media lost interest. The online storms that once ripped her apart now moved on to newer scandals, fresher prey.Her name still lingered in the air sometimes, whispered in boardrooms , pressrooms and socialite circles but not as sharp, not as cruel.And with Liam managing most of the day to day, she finally had room to breathe.When he offered her fifty percent of the shares, she refused.“I don’t want it,” she’d said softly, hands resting on the small swell of her stomach.Liam frowned. “Mia, you built that company.”“I built it,” she said, voice trembling, “but I don’t have the strength to rebuild it right now. You handle it… until the

  • An Almost Honest Affair    CHAPTER 43 – QUIET AS ASH

    The house didn’t feel like home anymore.Mia sat by the window, legs pulled to her chest, staring at nothing. The city lights shimmered outside like a world she no longer belonged to. Somewhere beneath the hum of traffic and the faint ticking of the clock, the silence pulsed loud, suffocating, endless.It had been weeks since the verdict.Weeks since her father was taken away.Weeks since her mother’s eyes had gone glassy with madness.The world kept spinning, but for Mia, everything had slowed to all color draining out of every day until everything looked gray.The papers were still on the table old headlines, statements, reminders of everything she’d lost. Her company’s name was still being dragged through the mud, but she had stopped checking. There were no more explanations left to give, no more apologies that mattered.Even her reflection felt like a stranger.She didn’t notice Liam at first when he entered the room. He stood in the doorway for a moment, just watching her his wif

  • An Almost Honest Affair    CHAPTER 42 – THE VERDICT

    The courtroom was too cold.Mia sat in the front row, fingers clenched in her lap so tightly they’d gone numb.Every sound echoed the shuffle of papers, the dull murmur of voices, the sharp tap of the judge’s gavel.Her father sat beside his lawyer, looking smaller than she’d ever seen him.Robert Cross had once been the man who built skyscrapers out of willpower. Now, he just looked… tired. His gray suit hung loose on his frame, his eyes sunken, but there was still a trace of pride in how he straightened his shoulders every time someone looked at him.Beside Mia, Daniel sat rigid, jaw locked, his hand covering hers under the table. It was the only thing keeping her steady.“Relax,” he whispered. “We’ll win this.”She didn’t answer. She’d seen the way Mr. Clarke had avoided her eyes that morning. The way he barely spoke during preparation.The way he’d said, Don’t get your hopes up.Something had already been decided.The judge’s voice sliced through the air.“Court is now in session.

  • An Almost Honest Affair    CHAPTER 41 – THE COST OF BLOOD AND NAME

    Hospitals always looked like too much of everything.Too clean. Too white. Too loud in the quiet.Mia sat beside her mother’s bed, one hand resting on the blanket that covered Sophia Cross’s frail frame. The older woman looked nothing like the graceful matriarch the city once admired. Her hair had gone gray at the edges, her eyes heavy even in sleep.The fall from wealth to wreckage and her father's arrest had stripped more than their name it had stolen Sophia’s mind piece by fragile piece.Some days she was herself. Some days she screamed at shadows.And some days, like this one, she just slept.Mia ran her fingers gently through her mother’s hair, her own eyes tired and red. “Hey, Mom,” she whispered. “You’d probably scold me for crying if you were awake.”Her lips trembled as she tried to smile.“I still remember how you used to make us hot cocoa after school. Dad would be at work, Daniel would hog the marshmallows, and you’d sit with me at the piano while I pretended I could play.

  • An Almost Honest Affair    Chapter 40 – The Fall of the Crosses

    The storm didn’t arrive slowly.It hit all at once loud, merciless, and public.By morning, CrossTech was trending for all the wrong reasons.Every news station, every gossip site, every blog carried the same headline:“CROSSINDUSTRY UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR MASS DATA BREACH — CEO MIA CROSS LINKED TO FAMILY MONEY LAUNDERING SCHEME.”Mia’s photo flooded every screen her poised smile from the launch now framed beside words like fraud, scandal, and spyware.She stood in the center of her office as the PR manager rambled, “We’re working on a statement, but investors are panicking. The stock dropped sixty percent overnight”Mia didn’t answer. Her gaze was fixed on the city skyline beautiful, cold, and indifferent.“Ma’am,” the woman whispered, “the police are outside. They’re requesting your financial records.”Mia blinked. “What?”“They said it’s for verification. But… it’s serious.”Her throat tightened. “Tell them I’ll cooperate. Get Daniel on the line.”When the door shut, she gripped t

  • An Almost Honest Affair    Chapter 39: Rekindle.

    The air in the penthouse had changed.For weeks, it had been tense and sharp the kind of silence that bruised.But that morning, sunlight found its way through the glass walls, soft and warm, spilling over the table where Liam sat with two mugs of coffee waiting.When Mia walked in, her hair loose and eyes tired, he looked up.For once, there was no argument in his gaze. Just… something softer.“I made coffee,” he said quietly.She hesitated, then sat. “Trying to bribe me?”He smiled small, careful. “Maybe just peace offering.”For a while, neither spoke. The clink of the spoon against ceramic was the only sound between them. Then Liam exhaled, his voice low.“Mia, I hate what we’ve become , I know I've apologized and we're good now She looked up and raised an eyebrow. "Sort of"Okay sort of, he corrected. But I want something more for us , he took a deep breath and looked at her as if searching for a reaction on her face before he continued.Remember what I told you last time"Mmm r

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