Page 22 of The Substitute Fiancée

“And concretely, what does that mean?”

“Public appearances. Photos. Gestures… and maybe…”

I hesitate.

“Kisses.”

A beat.

“Kisses?”

My throat tightens.

“Yes,” I whisper, my voice rough.

8. The Agreement

Samantha

I can’t believe I’m seriously considering helping him. This plan is completely insane. And yet…

When I look at him, I see everything he isn’t saying.

He’s a man on the verge of breaking.

I feel his distress as if it were my own.

He’s just discovered that the woman he loved was cheating on him, and that the company he’s poured his heart and soul into could be destroyed. Out of sheer revenge.

And my heart breaks for him.

How could it be otherwise? I’ve loved him for as long as I’ve been old enough to understand what that word means.

Could I have stopped all this from happening? Hard to say.

I suspected she never really loved him.

All she wanted was to prove she was better than me. That she could have the man I loved.

All that… just to cheat on him. And with that flashy show-off Grégoire, of all people.

Anger rises inside me.

And now she wants to destroy his company?

My chest tightens. He wants me to become his temporary fiancée—just long enough to stabilize the IPO.

I want to help him. But can I really do this?

Can I pretend without putting my heart in even greater danger—knowing that, for him, none of this is real?

I’m terrified of the choice I’m about to make.

Because I already know I’m going to say yes.

Because it’s him.

How will my family react? They’ll never speak to me again after a betrayal like this.