FAKE—DATING MY CHILDHOOD RIVAL.

SUMMER’S POINT OF VIEW.

“Marry Cohen Alessandro Rossi, or face the consequences.”

Cohen Alessandro Rossi.

I fucking hated that name, the man— everything that had to do with him.

But, Father wouldn’t listen to me. And that was always his problem, all he had ever done was make choices that were in his favor.

And not mine.

He didn’t care about me or my feelings.

So, I found myself standing in front of that door, flowers and a gift bag in both hands.

It was the door to Alessandro’s apartment— the one I’d shared with him whenever we were in LA.

The doorbell rang repeatedly, but there wasn’t any response.

I sighed tiredly, the stilettos killing my feet. I’d gotten out of work and without resting, had picked up the flowers and gifts like Father had bidden.

He’d ordered me to apologize to Alessandro, and also ask him to marry me.

Bizarre, right?

But that was my life.

Stupid. Awkward. Weird.

I couldn’t even begin to start narrating the whole ordeal.

After what felt like minutes, I decided to go in unannounced. It wasn’t like I hadn’t notified with the doorbell— he hadn’t responded.

The familiar aroma of baked cookies and chocolate musk embraced my nostrils when I stepped into the house.

I caught sight of two glasses of wine on the table in the living room. One was half empty, and the other was completely empty with no sign of being used.

My eyebrows arched. Did he have a guest over?

Was that the reason he hadn’t responded?

Who was it?

With the items still clutched in my hands, I walked over the littered space filled with books and bottles.

There seemed to have been a party there. I mean, with all the empty bottles I had to step over.

A bra— pink, lacy with a little bow in front of it. I’d stepped on it just a few feet away from the bedroom.

I couldn’t help but open my mouth in awe, and wondered who owned it and what it was doing there.

Cohen had no sisters.

And it wasn’t mine— I hadn’t been in the apartment for the past two weeks.

So?

Moans.

Soft moans and whispers came from the master bedroom.

My heart did a flip like it was on a hot pan. I grasped the items in my hands tightly, taking slow steps to confirm the suspicions and curiosity brewing within me.

It couldn’t be.

But it was.

His butt cheeks were exposed, and I saw her bent over the bed, her head between his legs while he grunted.

She was sucking his dick, and he kept raking his fingers through his hair, grunting and enjoying the pleasures of her mouth.

My heart sank into my chest, and I found my lips quivering when I saw her face— that familiar oval-shaped face with her sandy blonde hair.

“Clarissa?”

The flowers and gift bag dropped from my hands with a loud thud to the floor, and my chest began to heave uncontrollably with the tension surging through my veins.

Cohen was the first to turn around, before my two-timing cousin did.

“Summer…”

He didn’t even sound… remorseful. Or even tried to feign surprise. Clarissa sizzled loudly, a look of disdain creeping out from her face.

And the way her lips twisted into a snarl when she stared at me.

Hatred and jealousy was etched on her expression.

“Wh— what’s going on here?”

Why had that stupid question slipped out?

Of course, I was fucking seeing what they were doing.

“Baby,” he had the effrontery to call me that, his hands snatching his pants from the floor while he wore them over his waist after slipping off the bed. “You came.”

Duh. Yes, I came.

To apologize, and also make amends for something that wasn’t even my fault!

He deliberately ignored my inquiry, sounding nonchalant and tossing my feelings like I was a clown.

And I felt like one right there on the spot.

His eyes flickered to the flowers on the floor and the gift bag that had spilled its contents. I watched him scoff like he was mocking me.

And my gifts.

“You brought him flowers?” Clarissa scorned, chuckling like she’d gone insane after wrapping her body with the bedsheets. “What’s this? A proposal?”

Unbelievably, she was right.

And now that she’d said it, the embarrassment I’d ignored found a way to swallow me up completely after resurfacing.

I glanced at Alessandro’s figure, tears already blinding my vision. He'd turned blurry, and my breaths were becoming unstable.

Adhering to her words, he walked over to the bouquet on the floor, picked it up, and stared at it with his lips curling into a smirk.

“You were really going to ask me to marry you?”

I stiffened and turned my face away in embarrassment. I hadn’t checked the bouquet after Father had given it to me.

If I’d done so, I would have seen the stupid note that popped the question.

“Are you that desperate?”

“I can’t believe she actually thought about that.”

They were taunting me after they’d both betrayed me in the worst way possible.

At that moment, I couldn’t find my dignity, and my tears were already flowing.

I hoped Father was happy now.

He’d put me through such humiliation.

“Why are you fucking my cousin behind my back?” I'd slowly found my voice again, but it was already cracking. “And how long has this… been going on?”

“Six months,” she responded without hesitation, obviously glad that I'd found out so she could spite me, and wave the truth of their affair in my face. “If you weren’t so buried in your work, then maybe he wouldn’t have to come to me.”

I swallowed the heavy lump in my throat.

So that was the excuse? Work.

I stared into his eyes, my cheeks stinging like they'd been placed on a hot surface that had peeled off the sensitive skin.

He stood with his shoulders straightened, holding my gaze with a wily smile plastered over his face.

“How could you do this to me, Cohen?”

“The reason is simple— you’re never making time for us,” he went closer to Clarissa on the bed, pressing a kiss into her forehead while she kept her sly gaze on me. “All you do is work—‘’

“— You know how much I take my work seriously!”

“Which is why I went for your cousin,” he shrugged his shoulders, his tone turning cold. “You can take these flowers to your work. Maybe they’ll marry you.”

This was… heartbreaking.

Yes, I never made time but… He didn’t have to do this to me.

I didn’t deserve it.

And for the record, that was the fifth time he’d cheated on me in the space of two months.

“Cohen—‘’

“— You better not say a word of this to anybody, not even your father,” he flashed the warning on my face, his hands reaching for my neck to hold firmly. “I’m going to do you a favor by marrying you. But Clarissa will forever be my main woman.”

“I will not get married—‘’

“— You know better than to pull up that stunt,” his hold on my neck was getting stronger, and I could almost feel life slipping out of me. “Nobody wants to marry you after the last incident. Don’t forget that.”

He was right.

I’d ruined my reputation three years ago and had automatically become the ‘unwanted spinster’ no man wanted.

This was the only man who could marry me. The only man my parents had found as a bid to cover the shame I’d brought upon them.

The pain was too much to handle.

I could literally feel my heart hammering against my chest.

How could I put up with this? This man?

His arrogance and disloyalty?

Our families needed us to be married to form an alliance. I couldn’t blow this up.

Father would kill me, and… I might never be able to save my reputation or my family’s… Again.

I could already picture the headlines:

‘Heiress and unwanted spinster of the Fosters turns down the rival mafia heir—now she’s back to being worthless.’

It was horrific just thinking about it. And I couldn’t imagine having to relive the experience again.

It was only going to be twice as bad.

I couldn’t relive the same experience, I didn’t want to fail my parents, but— I didn’t want to marry Alessandro.

This felt like the deep red sea, and I was in between— torn between two choices that could either ruin or change my life completely.