LE

y from the hospital. Julian moved ahead of me. He looked around the ro

te. He looked calm-too calm-nothing like me, whose hear

he asked as soon as a waitr

aten since the night before. But hunger felt irrelevant now, trivial compared to the knowledge that my sister was l

get the coffee he'd ordered. Unlocking it, he swiped a few ti

reen at first. Then my breath ca

mouth. The same cheekbones, the same jawline. The nose I'd

s like looking into a mirror-except the woman in the photo looked elegant,

n stung by the picture. Julian watched me closely, his

pered, my voice barely

s. She's my cousin's fiancée. Nathan Blackwood-CEO of Blackwood Industries." He reached

e man was always in the news. His face was plastered all over the business magazines I loved to read. He was t

. I swiped back to her picture with trembling finge

Julian. My mind was still spinni

Julian waited until she placed it down

stand something here.

ed, thrown off

sure ab

r siblings apart from my sister, Sofia. Thi

"Then that leaves only one logical e

en that didn't seem enough to explain it. How could

he went on. "Which is why you're pe

rept down

acing now. I already knew whatever he

ng is in two weeks. I need y

d sounded so calm and casua

ying my

razy, I thought. "That's insane.

illion

h my protest like a

steady, like he was discussing something completel

ectly. I stared at him, shocked to my core, un

ccount upfront. That is-if you agree to this. You could use that money to pay for your sister's surgery and other ex

. Why do you need me to impersonate your cousin's fiancée? You just said

e steady, as though measuring how much of the truth I could handle. H

getting married

rew togeth

gs," he said si

hey didn't fully sink i

folded envelope and placed it on the table. H

dn't go through with the wedding. That she wasn't in l

must have been devast

t know any

nfused. "I don't understand. H

y on a business trip. I found the lett

im?" I asked, disbelief

es

r than I intended. "That's his

f I'd told him, shown him the lett

heartbroken all the t

s head once

it made me pause. Like there was

ing to him. He loved her... Loved her with every fiber of his being. He planned his entire future around that woman. Bu

eath

cause he couldn't even step into the office for weeks. It took him months," he said quietly, "months of therapy to get over the pain

what c

d him to try again, to love again. Sh

ence settle

s heart too," I whisp

stand where I'

ie to him-to pretend

Even if anyone could pu

on. And it's going to destroy him even m

te finds out now, he doesn't just lose his fiancée. He c

rowned, no

onal company," he explained. "I can't tell you exactly the magnitude

ned as the weig

de-temporarily, or even permanently. Nate has enemies in the company, people waiting

ill ran through me.

vival, Lena-Nate's

g me to lie to a man who's already been destroyed

aid firmly. "Not if

"What if she comes back? Wha

t," he sa

are you

s a slig

," he replied calmly. "She wouldn

confusio

e space, but his next words were quiet and deliberate. "All you shoul

minder. Julian glanced at h

" he said softly. "