Prologue

"You need to listen to me carefully, what happened is a disaster upon your career and mine too." Her voice was steady even though her soul was broken and her heart was shattered into a million pieces. She did not know why he did that and why he would say those things about her. She could not help but wonder, did he really see her in that way?

"Listen to me, please. I..." He wanted to justify his doings so bad, but she did not let him finish his sentence. His voice was not the same to her ears. His voice was like daggers slicing her already wounded heart. His words killed her. He was not hers, he was just a friend; a close friend maybe. She was not sure what she should label themselves, but it did not matter at that moment. Was he a player? A liar? A great actor like he had always been in front of the cameras? She was lost, yet she wanted to appear strong and in control of the situation. She was not going to let him walk over her heart again just like he did a few hours ago. She put on a façade and it was believable enough to make him nervous. His feelings were all over the place, he did not know how to fix what he had ruined.

"Trust me, I don't care at all about what you have to say. What's done is done, you can't take it back and you can't turn back time," she told him as she took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a few seconds to prevent the tears that were threatening to roll down her cheeks. She did not want to cry in front of him. She wanted to look as strong as possible; she did not want him to take advantage of her again. "You will say that it was a social experiment to see the reactions of everyone, especially the media and it turned out just like the way we thought."

"How did you think of that?" She never failed to amaze him, she was always ready with solutions for every single problem he had ever confronted. She owned a fascinating mind that never failed to shock him. She was a gem and he was stupid enough to lose her. He did not even get the chance to own her before losing her.

"I don't know and I don't care, " she snapped at him and sighed heavily, "I already talked to your managers and they liked the idea. We will say that we did it to prove that the media could be really bad and untrustworthy and it didn't waste time and snatched the opportunity to gossip and make stories about us. I'll start to get closer to you and your family more to show everyone that we're okay, I may even sleepover once or twice every couple of weeks with your sister to make the lie believable."

"You really have it all planned..." he trailed off, not knowing what else to say. He broke her, he lost her, but it was all unintentional. He just wished that she could listen to him; he only needed a chance. Even the idea of being granted that chance terrified him. He feared that he might ruin the chance and be unable to express how sorry he was along with his true intentions.

"After three or four months I will eventually pull myself away from your life and we will cut everything between us, okay?" Her voice was a little shaky, she thought that he did not notice, but he did. He wanted to hurt himself for hurting her. He wanted to feel the pain he caused her, but he did not know that he was already feeling it. He had not realized that yet. He thought that he was a heartless monster, but he was not. He was just numb.

"Okay." She could barely hear the weak sound that came out of his mouth. "You need to let me talk please, just hear me out. Maybe I can make you forgive me," he pleaded, but she shook her head. She wanted to erase him from her memory forever. He made her the happiest person and now... he shattered her.

"Nothing can make me change my mind... so, what will you say about what happened?" she asked him.

"It was a social experiment," he answered her, trying to avoid looking into her eyes. She was stubborn and persistent; she was never going to let him explain himself.

"Why did we do that?" she questioned, wanting to make sure that no mistake would be made. She wanted to get out of this crisis with the least amount of casualties. She was new to the industry and she wanted to maintain a good reputation.

"To prove that the media is untrustworthy and is ready to gossip about anything," he repeated her words. He took a liking in hearing her talk; he would always listen to her carefully because she always had something nice to say. She could attract anyone and she attracted him, turning his life upside down without noticing. However, she was going to walk out of it sooner or later and it was never her fault. Had it not been for what he said and what the whole world heard, he would have been able to get close to her and maybe make her his.

"Good... I need to go, we will start the act tomorrow, bye," she said and got up from her seat, taking her phone in her hand and walked out of his apartment not even letting him say 'bye' back.

When he heard her say 'bye', fear built up inside of him. She had never said 'bye' to him. She would say 'see you later' or if she was in a good mood she would say 'see ya'. She had constantly believed that 'bye' or 'goodbye' were meant to be said to a person whom you would never see again and she even considered them bad luck. He knew that about her, she told him herself. When she said 'bye' to him, he knew that the end was near and she was completely serious about what she had just told him.

"I didn't even get to admit my love to you..." he murmured to himself. His eyes were locked on the door, silently hoping that she would come back. He wanted to hear her knock on the door, he wanted to take her in his embrace. He just wanted her to know what he truly meant. He wanted her to know how much he valued her.  Only then did the numbness fade away and pain dawned on him. Only then did he allow himself to break down just like how his heart broke into a million pieces.