MasukZariah’s pov.If anyone had told me this morning that I would leave a wedding engaged to a man I met on a site and he would be my ex-boyfriend's stepbrother, I would have asked them what they had been smoking.Yet here I was. Engaged to Leo Sanders.The man was either the best actor in Chicago or insane. It was hard to decide which one frightened me more.“Sweetheart, let me see your hand again!" My mother grabbed my left hand and lifted it towards the light, before I could react.“Mom, keep it down.”"Look at that diamond!" she exclaimed, ignoring me. "Leo, darling, where did you find such a beautiful ring?"Leo appeared by my side and slipped one arm around my waist, he was getting very comfortable with that. "I have my sources, Mom."My mother laughed out loud. “You're funny! I like that."I looked at the sky, wishing someone could rescue me. My mother never laughed at my jokes, but here she was, doing it all for a stranger she just met."Anna, you raised a wonderful daughter," Leo
Leo's pov.I had never been fond of weddings, because it had many people, noise and fake smiles.Today's wedding had all three and now, thanks to my little stunt, it had something else. Pure chaos.I glanced at Zariah, who was still staring at the ring on her finger as if she expected it to disappear.She looked beautiful, but I was not going to tell her that. It might come off as cheesy. Her wide brown eyes moved from the diamond to me, and I caught the exact moment she remembered she was supposed to be angry.I smiled as Zariah tried to put on an upset face, she looked even more beautiful when she was annoyed."You're enjoying yourself," she muttered."Trust me, you have no idea what level of enjoyment I'm on right now.""I hope you understand that I'm going to kill you."The fact that I found her threats cute, made me deepen my gaze on her eyes. "Will you at least let me enjoy our honeymoon first?"Her mouth hung open at how bold I was, making me laugh out in content. She was the
I stared at the man kneeling in front of me, wondering if I had somehow wandered into a dream.A very expensive, public dream because there was no way Leo Sanders was actually proposing to me.We had agreed on a simple arrangement—he would attend the wedding with me, pretend to be my boyfriend, and help me make my cheating ex regret the day he ever laid eyes on me.Now, the man was kneeling in front of hundreds of people, holding a diamond ring and asking me to marry him.“Say yes! Say yes! Say yes!” The guest started chanting, but my mom's voice was the loudest.I bent over and whispered to him. “What's the meaning of this?”"I'm only proposing to my girlfriend.""Your girlfriend?" I repeated under my breath.He smiled and somehow I found myself lost in it. "Would you prefer I call you my future wife?"I suddenly felt the urge to slap him and drag him to a corner and ask if he suffered a head injury on his way here, but neither option was available to me because everyone was watching
"Your brother?" I repeated before I could stop myself.Leo's arm remained around my waist, as he rested his fingers on the fabric of my green dress. "Something wrong, princess?" I stared at him like he was a lunatic. The man I had hired to accompany me to my ex-boyfriend's wedding had just turned out to be my ex's brother, yet he had the nerve to ask me if something was wrong."Leo," Savvy snapped, drawing our attention back to him. "I'm talking to you.""I can hear you." Leo's expression remained carefree. "You don't have to shout."A few guests exchanged glances, causing Savvy's frown to deepen. "What the hell are you doing here?""Attending a wedding. Do I need your permission to do that now?""Don't play games with me!"My hands reached for the champagne flutes but I almost choked when I heard Leo's comeback."Then stop asking ridiculous questions."Oh, this man is going to get me killed."Wait a minute." Ciara spoke, breaking the silence the two men were keeping. "Savvy, you kno
My hands were shaking as I held the phone close to my ears, still trying to process what Leo had just said."What do you mean something came up Leo?” My voice came out cracking in a way I hated."I know princess, I'm so sorry. Something very important came up and I can't help it."He ended the call before I could respond and for a minute, I was too stunned to react. I moved close to my window, just in time to see Savvy retreating to his car.“God, what was I expecting from a stranger?” I whispered under my breath as I fell to the floor.Thinking he might be pulling a prank on me, I called him back. Fifty times. It went straight to voicemail every single time.“This can't be happening,” I muttered to myself.It was only a few hours before the wedding and he canceled on me, so when Estelle called, panic was evident in my voice.“I hate this feeling.”“Whoa, whoa, slow down. What's wrong?” Estelle asked.“He's not coming.”She went quiet for sometime, before asking another question that
“What do I say now?” I showed the message.“Tell him how you feel about the wedding,” she responded without thinking. “He's being paid, so it's his job to make you satisfied now.”I bit my lower lip for two seconds, before letting it go. “Okay.”Estelle kept staring at me with curious eyes, as I continued texting my match on the site. He said his name was Leo and asked me to fill him in on what I wanted. My nosy friend had included that, I needed a man who was capable of making my ex feel like trash in my profile.“Leo seems very nice,” I blurted out.The crazy lady in the room with me, blinked fast as she drew closer. “Is that his name?”“Who else would I be talking about?” “You've gotten that sharp edge in your tone again, I missed that.”I stared at her and smiled. “Thank you for everything, Estelle. He agreed to do it.”“I'm so happy for you dear,” she said , before turning to her phone. “Go on, talk to your man.”“Haha! Funny, I'm sure that's not his position in my life.”“Yeah







