Chapter 3

The elevator stopped on the first floor.

Evan still had a tight grip on my wrist.

“Tessa, after seven years together, are you really going to break up with me over this misunderstanding?”

I looked into his red-rimmed eyes. I was about to answer when the apartment door suddenly flew open.

Maya came running out barefoot, clutching her phone tightly in one hand. She was crying so hard she could barely breathe.

“Mr. Carter... Mr. Carter!”

Evan instinctively turned around.

“What happened?”

Maya sobbed between gasps.

“The hospital just called... Grandma was declared critically ill.

“The doctor said her organs are failing. She might not make it through the month...”

She covered her face and slowly slid down the wall until she was sitting on the floor.

“She woke up for a moment and told me that her greatest wish was to see me in a wedding dress before she closed her eyes for good...

“But where am I supposed to find a groom for her?”

Evan’s grip on my wrist immediately loosened when he heard the words critically ill.

He turned toward Maya, who was crying so hard she looked like she might faint, his eyes filled with sympathy.

I stood there, staring at the red marks his fingers had left on my wrist.

The man who had just sworn he would make Maya move out and keep his distance from her had now shifted all his attention to another woman.

Evan was silent for a long time before finally turning back to me.

“Tessa, her grandmother’s dying wish is to see her granddaughter settled down before she goes.

“I promised Maya that I’d have a fake wedding with her this weekend. It’s just to fulfill her grandmother’s final wish.”

I stared at him in disbelief.

“Could you help me lie to your parents? Just keep it from them for now.

“Once the weekend is over, I’ll apologize to them myself and formally ask for their blessing. Please?”

He wanted me to lie for him and cover for him while he held a wedding with another woman?!

I stared at the man in front of me, but I couldn’t even cry anymore.

Seven years ago, I had been bullied and left out at school. I was hiding in a corner of the playground, crying.

Evan had been the one to hand me a tissue and tell me, “Don’t be afraid. I’ll protect you from now on.”

The boy who had pulled me out of the darkness had apparently died somewhere during those seven years.

“Evan, do you think I’m a fool?”

Evan’s face went pale.

“Tessa, it’s only an act. The wedding isn’t real!

“Why can’t you be a little more understanding?

“You can keep playing your part.”

I took a step back, putting more distance between us.

“I’m done.”

I turned and walked out of the apartment building.

Evan chased after me again.

Just as his hand was about to reach me—

Screech!

A silver Aston Martin suddenly swerved and came to a hard stop at the curb.

The door opened.

A tall man in a black trench coat stepped out, his long legs carrying him toward us.

It was Julian Morgan, my adoptive brother and the Morgan family’s true heir.

He had always been cold and distant toward me. Even when he called my name, there had always been a hint of indifference in his voice.

I’d always thought he hated me for taking the place of his biological sister.

But this time, he stepped in front of me and slapped Evan’s hand away.

He was half a head taller than Evan, his height alone creating an intimidating sense of pressure.

“You’re using my sister’s relationship to play the devoted boyfriend for another woman? Who the hell do you think you are?”

Evan froze. He clearly didn’t know Julian.

He frowned.

“Who are you? This is between Tessa and me.”

Julian let out a cold laugh.

“You don’t even know who I am, yet you think you’re worthy of marrying her?”