Page 34 of The Substitute Fiancée

The mask slips. The real Kristel emerges, calculating, threatening. And to think I once admired that in her.

“Don’t worry about me,” I reply. “I’ll handle my company.”

My voice is calm, steady, even though inside me everything is chaos. My free hand trembles. I clench it into a fist.

She laughs. A nervous, incredulous laugh.

“Fine. I can see you don’t want to listen,” she says. “You’re not being rational. I’ll give you a few days to calm down, then we’ll talk and clean things up. I refuse to give up on you.”

“There’s nothing left to save, Kristel. It’s over. Accept it.”

“Alexander—”

“Don’t call me again.”

And I hang up.

I grip my phone so tightly my knuckles turn white.

The woman I loved bears no resemblance to the one I thought I knew. She tried everything: to charm me, to invalidate my feelings, to make me feel guilty.

How could I have been so blind?

My friends look at me, unsure what to do. Then Oliver steps closer.

“You okay?”

“Yes,” I finally answer. “I’m fine.”

I straighten, force down the negativity.

“All right, guys—how about we go grab dinner somewhere in the city?” I announce. “My treat.”

My voice is too cheerful. But no one calls me out.

“Where do you want to go?” David asks.

I smile—this time, a real one—and turn to Sam.

“I don’t know. That’s for my fiancée to decide.”

Sam blushes at my words, and I admit it stirs something in me.

She seems to think for a moment, and in her eyes I see a mischievous spark I know well.

“How about Dans le Noir?”

“What?”

David frowns, confused.

She smiles—a bright smile that transforms her face.

“It’s a restaurant where you eat in complete darkness. No visual cues. Every sensation becomes more intense…”

I laugh. Of course she’d want something like that. Always chasing a unique experience. A different emotion.

“You’re serious?” Mara asks skeptically.