All Chapters of What We Pretended To Be : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

The first lie I ever told about Daniel Rothfield was that I loved him. At the time, it didn’t feel like much of a lie. More like a convenient sentence. Something simple enough to say out loud without anyone asking too many questions. I already had a boyfriend. Daniel needed a girlfriend. And pretending, at least in theory, sounded easier than surviving our families’ expectations. That night began with my mother reminding me—three separate times—that the Walker name used to matter in this city. Not in an angry way. My mother rarely raised her voice. She had perfected that soft, careful tone that made everything sound polite and slightly disappointed at the same time. The Rothfield Foundation gala was being held in a ballroom so bright it almost hurt to look directly at the chandeliers. Crystal. Marble. Waiters moving through the crowd like they’d rehearsed every step. Somewhere near the stage, a jazz band played something slow and expensive sounding. People laughed the way we

It got worse.I knew it before I even reached for my phone. Something about the quiet felt… off. Too still. Like the day had already moved without me and left something behind.Then I saw the screen.Six missed calls.My mother.Six.I sat there for a second, just looking at it, like the number might change if I gave it time.It didn’t.I pushed the covers off and went straight to the kitchen, not bothering with anything else. My reflection caught in the microwave door—hair everywhere, face drawn, like I’d slept through something important. Maybe I had.Three messages.One link.I didn’t open the messages. I already knew the tone—urgent, dramatic, probably all caps by the third line.The link felt worse.I tapped it.Regret was immediate.A society blog. One of those ones that pretends it’s reporting but really just… feeds on people.Photos loaded slowly, like they wanted to give me time to brace.Daniel and me on the balcony.Too close.Or maybe not. Maybe it was normal. It hadn’t fe

“Maria, aren’t you getting ready?”My mother’s voice reached me before she did.I was still on the edge of my bed, half-dressed, doing absolutely nothing productive. Jeans. Sweater. Closet wide open like it was waiting for me to make a decision I clearly wasn’t making.The auction started in less than two hours.I hadn’t even touched a dress.“I don’t think I’m going,” I said.She appeared in the doorway a second later, already put together in a way that felt… intentional. Like she’d been ready long before tonight.“Why?”I shrugged, eyes drifting back to the closet.“Just not in the mood.”She didn’t say anything immediately. Just watched me for a second.Then—“Is this about that boy?”There it was.I didn’t look at her right away.“You mean Noah.”She stepped into the room, slow, measured.“Maria, darling, you know that’s not what I meant.”I turned then.“Yes. It is.”She exhaled softly, like this was familiar. Like I was repeating something she’d already decided wasn’t worth argu

The rumors were louder in the morning.I knew that before I even unlocked my phone. It kept vibrating against the nightstand in short, irritated bursts like it had something personal against me.When I finally picked it up, the screen lit up with notifications.Lily: six messages. Two missed calls from my mother. A handful of gossip alerts I definitely never subscribed to.I opened one of the links.A photo filled the screen—Daniel stepping out of the car at the charity auction, my arm hooked through his. His hand rested lightly against my back, guiding me forward like we’d done that a thousand times before.The camera had captured the moment perfectly.Too perfectly.The headline underneath read:Walker Heiress and Rothfield CEO — A New Couple or Something More Strategic?I stared at the picture a few seconds longer than necessary.It didn’t look fake.That was the problem.I dropped the phone back onto the bed.“Well,” I muttered to the empty room. “That escalated quickly.”A kn

“You didn’t deny it.” I didn’t mean to repeat myself, but the words came out anyway. They’d been sitting there since last night, unfinished. Daniel didn’t turn immediately. “I don’t understand why I should.” I shifted in my seat, angling toward him. “You don’t understand why you should deny something that isn’t real?” He glanced at me then, briefly, like I’d asked something obvious. “Isn’t that the point?” “The point,” I said, slower now, trying to keep my voice even, “was control. Not… that.” “That was control.” I let out a small breath, something between a laugh and not. “Right. Because letting the entire city think we’re in love is very controlled.” He didn’t respond. Just kept driving. And that silence… it didn’t feel empty. It felt like he’d said enough and I was the only one still talking. So I stopped. Turned toward the window instead. The rest of the ride passed like that. The hum of the engine, streetlights slipping by, something unspoken sitting between us,