Page 45 of Her Billion Dollar Groom

Tears prick my eyes as the realization dawns on me: this marriage that we’re in, this fake love that we’ve been pretending to have, it’s not fake to me. Jason is the kindest man I’ve ever known, the greatest friend, the sweetest lover.

But to him, this is just a game.

I’ve been pretending that it’s not real. We both have. But somewhere along the way, for me, this love has become a fact. I don’t bother him for the optics. I bother him because I want to spend my time with him. I want to see him.

What I’m hearing here is that he doesn’t want to see me.

A wave of nausea rushes over me, crashing down like bricks, like rubble, like I’m crumbling to pieces. Like these false foundations I’ve built these months on are doing what they were always meant to do. Collapsing.

And then I hear the sound of a chair scraping back. Damn! That man! I can’t be seen here like this. I can never let Jason know I heard any of this.

I clench my fist around the stems of the flowers, the plastic wrap rustling. I shouldn’t have come here.

I turn on my heel and run.

I’ve only just rounded the corner when I hear the office door open. My running away wasn’t subtle, but right now subtlety is the last thing I care about. I need to get out of here before anyone sees me.

I slam my finger into the elevator button repeatedly, praying for it to open faster than it did earlier. The doors creak slowly open, and as soon as the crack is wide enough, I jump inside, slamming on the button to make them close again. They shudder but obey.

As the elevator descends, I realize that I’m still clutching the flowers in my fist. To walk out to reception with them would be weird, but dumping them outside Jason’s office would have been weirder.

Panicking, I throw them in the corner of the elevator as the doors struggle to open again. Then, holding my head as high as I can, I march out the front door.

The second I’m out of the building and out of view of anyone inside, I burst into tears. How have I let myself get so attached to Jason?

Hands shaking, I call Oskar. “Can you pick me up?” I sob.

Not even ten seconds later, he drives around the corner as if to say,I told you this would happen.I get into the back of the car and sob quietly all the way home.

Jason doesn’t care about me. Well, he probably does in his own way, but he’s not in love with me. He never has been. He never will be. I wasn’t planning on this either. I like our friendship the way it is, but despite everything, I think I’ve fallen for him.

I think I love him.

“I should have known better,” I sob to Oskar as we pull into the driveway. “Love ruins everything.”

“That’s not true, Miss,” he says gently. “Love has done bad things to us all, but it’s always worth it in the end.”

“Is it really? I don’t think anything could be worth this.”

“Why did you do this?” he asks me. “This scheme of yours. Who was it for, really?”

“My parents,” I whisper. It doesn’t matter if I tell the truth now. Oskar knows all my secrets. He’s not going to share them.

“You love them, don’t you?” he asks, not unkindly. I nod. I know exactly what he’s getting at, but it’s not soothing my broken heart. “Always keep your goals in sight,” he says as he turns the car off. “Never forget why you’re doing things. It makes the pain easier to bear.”

With that, he gets out of the car and vanishes without another word.

He’s a weirdly enigmatic guy. I don’t think I’ll ever understand him, but he’s right. I do have a goal. I have a reason to keep going. I need to keep doing this, even if it’s killing me. My pride isn’t more important than my parents’ well-being.

I hate that it has to hurt so much.

CHAPTER 25

JASON

For a change, I knock on Eliza’s door.

“What?” she yells from inside.

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