Page 83 of Not the Billionaire

Genevieve felt her cheeks warm. She did know.

“About six years ago, he thought he’d met the one. He fell hard and fast, and Serena seemed perfect for him. We all thought so. He even proposed.”

“He proposed?” It came out in a whisper. “He was engaged?”

Skylar nodded. “And that’s when everything started coming to light. She was a very good actress, making us all believe she was in love with him, planning their wedding. She kept asking for money for deposits for this or that, insisting on handling it all herself rather than our family hiring someone to do it for her.”

“Don’t the parents of the bride usually pay for the wedding?” Genevieve cut in.

“She said she was an orphan.” Skylar laughed as if that was ridiculous. “She was not.”

“Oh my gosh.”

“And the deposits weren’t used to book things for the wedding. She needed the money to pay off a debt her boyfriend back in Detroit had racked up with a bookie.”

Genevieve’s mouth fell open.

“Bash was crushed. Serena knew exactly who he was before she came into his life, acting like she’d never heard of him, putting on the sweet and innocent act. And this was on the heels of Macy, another girl he dated, who seemed more interested in his money than him. After that, he put up walls because he thought he couldn’t trust women anymore, and he hasn’t dated anyone since.”

“That’s awful.”

Skylar nodded. “It’s a shame, really, because my brother has the biggest heart of anyone I’ve ever known, and he is so capable of love.”

A tear slipped down Genevieve’s cheek. “How long were he and Serena together?”

“Over a year.”

“A year?”

“Yeah, it was a long con.” Skylar sat forward in the chair and lay her hands on the edge of Genevieve’s desk. “So, when he met you and you seemed to not know who he was—”

“He didn’t want me to know he had money.” She was starting to understand.

“Exactly. He wanted you to get to know him, Genevieve. Without the money or his status getting in the way. And he wanted to make sure you actually didn’t know who he was and weren’t playing him like Serena had. Can you understand that?”

She took in a slow breath and let it out. “Yes, but when we started getting closer, why didn’t he tell me? Why did he keep letting me believe the lie?”

“I’m not sure, but I’m guessing that when he realized you were for real, he didn’t want things to change. And I’m sure he was afraid of how you’d react, and he didn’t want to lose you.”

Genevieve groaned. “This is so frustrating, because he did it to make sure I was being honest with him, but he was lying to me the whole time.”

“If he’d told you sooner, would you have gotten as close as you are?”

“Were,” Genevieve corrected her.

Skylar gave her a disbelieving look. “Would you have?”

“I don’t know. I’m not sure how I would’ve reacted, because he didn’t tell me. I had to find out on the most important day of my career.”

“I know.”

Genevieve didn’t know what else to say. She needed to think about all of this.

“I hope you’ll talk to him. Because I know he wants to talk to you.”

“Why hasn’t he?”

“You told him to leave you alone.”

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