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Chapter 2: Enemies Make Terrible Fiancés

Auteur: Elena Thorne
last update Date de publication: 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 58: Too late Jared.

    Mia hadn’t planned on going to the gala.She was standing in her bedroom, halfway out of her dress, staring at herself in the mirror with a kind of detached exhaustion. The swelling of her belly was unmistakable now. Her body felt heavier, slower, like it belonged to someone else.After the photoshoot she had told Ava she’d stay home. She had told herself she didn’t have the strength for bright lights and fake smiles.Then her phone rang.Jared.She frowned, answering slowly. “Hey.”His voice came through tense, urgent, stripped of its usual calm. “Mia, I need you to come to the gala.”She straightened. “What? Jared, I’m not feeling great”“It’s important,” he cut in. “Really important. There’s something I have to tell you. You and Liam. In person.”Her pulse skipped. “Tell me what?”“I can’t say it over the phone.”That alone was enough to make her uneasy. “What is this about, Rose?”There was a pause. Just a fraction too long.“Yes,” he said carefully. “And Victor Grant.”Her stomac

  • An Almost Honest Affair    Chapter 57 — Leverage

    Rose hated Victor’s house at night.In the daylight, it was all power and polish glass walls, marble floors, art that cost more than most people’s lives. But at night, when the lights dimmed and the city glittered below like a kingdom he believed he owned, the place felt like a cage.She stood near the window of his study, fingers curled around the edge of the desk, breathing carefully. Slowly. Steadily. As if one wrong breath might set him off.Victor Grant stood by the bar, his back to her, pouring himself a drink. The clink of ice against crystal sounded too loud in the silence.“You’re late,” he said calmly.“I had to be careful,” Rose replied. “I can’t be seen coming here too often.”Victor laughed softly. It wasn’t warm. It never was.“You live in the enemies house,” he said. “Don’t insult me by pretending discretion suddenly matters to you.”She didn’t answer.He turned then, glass in hand, eyes sharp and assessing as they dragged over her face, her body lingering, calculating.

  • An Almost Honest Affair    Chapter 56 — The Space Between

    Mia realized it one morning when she reached across the bed and touched cold sheets.Liam hadn’t come back.She lay there for a long time, staring at the ceiling, listening to the quiet hum of the city outside. Her body felt heavy, her limbs slow, like grief had finally settled into her bones instead of hovering over her head.She pushed herself up and padded into the hallway.The guest room door was ajar.Inside, Rose lay propped against pillows, a glass of water on the nightstand. Liam sat beside the bed, sleeves rolled up, rubbing slow circles into her back while she retched softly into a bowl.“I’m sorry,” Rose whispered weakly. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”“It’s fine,” Liam murmured. “Breathe.”Mia stood there, unseen, watching.This wasn't just care.It was worse.It was romance.The kind of care that used to belong to her.Her stomach tightened not with jealousy, but with something quieter and more devastating: recognition.She turned away before they noticed her.Later that af

  • An Almost Honest Affair    Chapter 55 — The Quiet Shift

    The change didn’t happen all at once.It came in small decisions Liam didn’t even remember making.He started waking earlier, slipping out of bed carefully so he wouldn’t disturb Mia. He told himself it was kindness. She needed rest. The pregnancy had been hard on her. Some mornings she barely slept at all.But Rose was already awake.She would be sitting at the kitchen counter, wrapped in a cardigan, tea untouched in front of her, eyes shadowed with fatigue.“You should be sleeping,” Liam would say.She’d smile faintly. “I tried.”Then she’d press a hand to her stomach not dramatically, just enough to be noticed.“I don’t know why I feel so weak lately,” she’d murmur. “The doctor said the first trimester can be… delicate.”Delicate.The word lodged itself somewhere deep in Liam’s mind.At first, he stayed only a few minutes. Asked if she needed anything. Made sure she ate. Told himself it was responsibility, nothing more.But minutes stretched.Rose spoke quietly, as if afraid of tak

  • An Almost Honest Affair    Chapter 54: Difficult to get rid of a Stray

    Liam had always believed guilt was loud.He’d imagined it as something that screamed sleepless nights, shaking hands, obvious tells. But this guilt was quieter. Heavier. It sat in his chest and pressed down every time Mia smiled at him like she still trusted him.Like she still belonged to him.He watched her from the doorway as she slept, her breathing soft, one hand curled protectively over her stomach. The moonlight traced her face gently the woman he loved, the life he had sworn to protect.And yet.He turned away before the thought could finish itself.At the office the next morning, Liam moved on autopilot. Meetings blurred together. Numbers meant nothing. Every email felt like a static. He hadn’t realized how bad it was until Jared stopped talking mid-sentence.“Okay,” Jared said slowly. “That’s the third time you’ve stared through me today. Want to tell me what’s actually going on?”Liam blinked. “Sorry. Just didn’t sleep well.”Jared didn’t buy it. He leaned back in his chair

  • An Almost Honest Affair    Chapter 53 — Quiet Corners

    The city looked different at night when you weren’t running from it.Mia sat in Ethan’s parked car, engine off, the streetlight above them flickering like it couldn’t decide whether to stay alive. Rain misted the windshield, soft and patient, as if even the storm was tired of being dramatic.Neither of them spoke for a while.Ethan leaned back in his seat, arms folded, eyes fixed on the dark outline of the building across the street. Mia sat with her hands clasped in her lap, thumb rubbing slow circles into her knuckle a nervous habit she hadn’t noticed herself developing.“Say it,” he finally said.She exhaled. “I’m scared.”He turned to her, fully this time. “Of what?”“Of being right,” she said quietly. “And of being wrong.”He didn’t interrupt.“If Victor is behind all of this,” she continued, voice low, “then my life didn’t fall apart by accident. It was dismantled. Carefully. And if I’m wrong…” Her lips trembled. “Then I’ve destroyed my own marriage by suspecting shadows.”Ethan

  • 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 T

  • An Almost Honest Affair    Chapter 37 – Foreshadowing

    Sleep didn’t come that night.It hovered at the edges, teasing, cruel.Every time Mia closed her eyes, all she saw were faces Liam’s cold expression, Rosemary’s syrupy smile, Victor Grant’s calculating eyes.By morning, she’d given up trying.She dressed slow, . Gray skirt, white blouse, hair slick

  • An Almost Honest Affair    Chapter 35: Man behind the curtains

    The call came when Mia was still trying to make coffee taste like it belonged in her mouth again. Her hands trembled as she picked up the phone, Daniel’s name showing on the display. She didn’t even realize she’d been biting the inside of her cheek until she tasted blood.“Dani?” she said when he p

  • An Almost Honest Affair    Chapter 34: ChangesChapter 34: Changes

    The clock ticked past midnight before the house finally went still.No shouting, no movement, just silence the kind that fills every corner and suffocates what’s left of peace.Liam hadn’t left the dining room.The plates were still there, cold, untouched, half-finished.He sat with his elbows on t

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