Flipping the Cheating Game

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Shes a total stage-five clinger. Annoying as hell. If it werent for my mother, I wouldve dumped her ages ago.

My fianc, Roman, was always bitching about me to his best friend. So, Caspian decided to do him a solid and fix the problem.

Ill seduce her for you, Caspian offered. Once you have the evidence that she's cheating, you can officially drop her guilt-free.

Roman scoffed. "Her? Shed practically die for me. Shed never step out on me. Try it if you don't believe me."

Taking the bet, Caspian fired up a burner account and slid into my DMs with a headless mirror selfie of his shredded abs, captioning it: guess who.

I replied in three seconds flat: "Baby, I have no idea who you are, but you're giving off this really mysterious, aloof vibe ugh, whatever, I can't even keep up this act. Let's just cut to the chase: are you packing?"

Chapter 1

I stared at the screen for a solid ten minutes. Nothing. Then, my phone buzzed. Not the mysterious abs guy, but my fianc, Roman.

I picked up on the first ring, forcing my voice into a sickly-sweet pitch. "Baby! You actually called me? Does this mean you finally have time for me this weekend?"

Silence stretched over the line. When he spoke, his tone was pure ice. "Yeah. You've been whining about meeting my friends. I'm taking you this weekend."

"Oh my god!" I squealed, dialing up the desperation. "Are you finally claiming me in public? Does this mean you're actually starting to like me? Are we finally talking about the wedding?"

The silence on his end dragged out even longer this time. "Right. Sure. Just be ready." The line went dead before I could even take another breath.

I tossed my phone onto the bed, not even slightly fazed. What a total tool. Lets see how arrogant he acts once I drain his bank accounts dry. My engagement to Roman was nothing more than an accessory to a multimillion-dollar corporate merger between our families.

I knew damn well he was never going to actually marry me. First of all, before I moved back to the States, we hadn't even met face-to-face. There was zero chemistry between us.

Secondly, my family was bankrupt. The only reason I still held the title of his fiance was because Romans mother didn't want to ruin the pristine image and social standing she and my mom had built back in their Ivy League sorority days.

The entire arrangement was just about saving face. They were just waiting for me to take the hint and break off the engagement myself. Honestly? I was fully prepared to play the good little socialite and walk away quietly.

But the very first time we met, Roman dropped into his chair, pulled out his phone, and texted someone else, ignoring me. Five excruciating minutes ticked by before he finally bothered to look up at me.

He leaned back, smirking. "I know Im gorgeous, but you don't have to stare quite so hard. It's giving obsessed stalker."

I dug my manicured nails so hard into my palms they almost bled.

Any thought of a polite, amicable breakup evaporated instantly. Fine. If he wanted to play the arrogant billionaire prick, I was going to be his absolute worst nightmare. A highly profitable nightmare.

From that day on, I carpet-bombed his phone with texts. My strategy had two main angles. Angle one: Hubby, you there? You looked so hot today, love you!

Angle two: Hubby? Why are you ignoring me? My chest physically hurts when you give me the cold shoulder. Why are you so mean to your future wife?

Roman, of course, wanted absolutely nothing to do with me. I was driving him insane. He knew my bank accounts were bleeding dry. Whenever I pushed him far enough, hed wire me cash to buy my silence.

What was a girl supposed to do? Naturally, I acted utterly heartbroken, humiliated, and crushed by his toxic masculinity. And then I clicked 'accept transfer' in point-five seconds flat.

So, Roman was taking me to meet his inner circle. I knew exactly what his game was. He wanted to ice me out in front of his billionaire frat-bro friends, humiliate me, and force me to finally snap and call off the wedding.

Honestly, I was ready to pull the plug anyway. Id milked this arrangement for almost enough to get back on my feet. One last massive payday from him, and I was out of there.

But the second I walked into the restaurant and saw his best friend, Caspian, all my warning sirens went off.

Caspians vibe was totally off. Word on the street was that his little sister had been obsessed with Roman for years. She supposedly complained about me constantly, meaning Caspian was hardwired to despise my very existence. But tonight?

The second we sat down, Caspian started turning on the charm.

He spent the entire dinner hovering over me, practically catering to my every need. Then, right as we were finishing our entrees, he accidentally knocked a full glass of iced water straight into my lap.

Caspian shot up, looking frantically apologetic.

"Shit, I am so sorry. That is entirely on me. Look, there are high-end boutiques right next door. Let me buy you a new dress to make up for it."

Roman, who had ignored me all night, spoke up. "I despise shopping. I'll wait in the car. Keep it quick."

He stood up and walked out without a backward glance.

I grabbed a napkin, dabbing at my soaked dress, telling Caspian it was really no big deal. But as he reached across the table to hand me more napkins, his cuff slid up.

My eyes locked onto his exposed forearm. It was thick and muscular, bearing the obvious heavy-lifting marks of an American gym rat, with highly visible, insanely hot veins popping along the skin.

Wait a damn minute. I had a photographic memory when it came to men's bodies. There was zero chance I was misidentifying this one.

That was the exact same heavily-veined arm from the burner accountthe guy who had just sent me the headless ab selfie trying to bait me into a cheating scandal.

The gears in my brain spun at warp speed. These two bastards were trying to set me up.

First, the bait with the ab picture to see if I was thirsty enough to bite. Now, the in-person ambush. The second they got hard proof of me stepping out on Roman, they'd hand it straight to his family, and my social standing would be executed.

I only wanted to squeeze a little cash out of Roman because he had been such an arrogant prick on day one. Honestly, everything Id taken so far wouldn't even cover the tax on one of his watches. But they wanted to destroy my reputation and play with my life.

Toxic. Unbelievably toxic.

I plastered on a sweet look and tilted my head up to look at Caspian. He flashed me another blinding smile. The guy had the face of an A-list celebrity, practically glowing under the crystal chandelier of the restaurant.

"Shall we go?" he asked.

What a touching display of bro-code. Truly heartwarming. Lets see just how long this little frat-boy friendship actually lasts.

Ill give Caspian credit where it's duehe was definitely willing to fund his own setup. He took me straight next door and literally bought out the entire high-end designer boutique. He had a personal stylist immediately swap my ruined clothes for a twenty-thousand-dollar limited-edition little black dress.

"See anything else you like?" he asked smoothly. "Consider it a welcome gift. That bag would pair perfectly with the dress. Why don't you try it?"

The stylist brought over a handbag. It was the exact new-season release I had been drooling over for months but couldn't justify buying.

Caspian stood to the side, watching me with a calculated smirk, dropping compliments at all the right moments. "You like the bag? Take it. It's yours."

I glanced back at him, pretending to be overwhelmed. "This is literally the first time we've ever met."

"Roman is my best friend. You're his fiance, which makes you family. What's wrong with buying my future sister-in-law a little welcome gift?"

He closed the distance between us, gently taking the heavy bag from my hands.

"Roman is completely clueless when it comes to treating women right. Let me guess, he hasn't taken you shopping once, has he? If you ever get bored, just call me. I'm always around."

Rich, insanely handsome, laying on the emotional support thick, and dripping with sexual tension. I had to admit, the guy knew exactly how to run game. He stared down at me, his gaze softening into this perfectly manufactured tender look. He was waiting for me to blush and get flustered so he could play his push-and-pull game.

But I just held his gaze for a few seconds. Then, I took a deep breath. I forced the tears to stubbornly pool in my eyes, biting down hard on my lower lip until I tasted the metallic tang of blood, before letting my voice tremble.

Caspian clearly hadn't accounted for this plot twist. He panicked, immediately shoving a tissue into my hand. "Hey, hey, what's wrong?"

"You don't have to waste your time playing these games," I choked out, stepping back. "Whatever you need to finish this, I'll just cooperate. You can go straight back to Roman and tell him I'm just a gold-digging slut."

Caspian froze. He stared at me for three solid seconds. "Cleo, what the hell are you talking about? I'm just getting you a gift as his friend, you"

I cut him off.

"Caspian. I know you sent me that picture yesterday. I know exactly what you two are trying to do. You want hard proof that I'm cheating."

I let a tear finally spill over my lashes.

"Wasn't my reply yesterday enough for you? What else do you need? A picture of us kissing? A sex tape?"

Caspian's jaw practically unhinged. He clearly hadn't expected me to blow his cover straight to his face. Out of his depth, he stammered a weak defense, telling me I was overthinking things.

"I know exactly how he talks about me behind my back," I continued, my voice cracking perfectly on cue. "I'm a stage-five clinger. I annoy the hell out of him. But I honestly don't understand why he hates me so much."

I looked up at him, letting the devastation bleed into my voice.

"He's my fianc. I like him. I just wanted to talk to him, so I sent him a few extra texts. Is that really a crime?"

I swiped fiercely at my eyes, staring right into his soul.

"I don't even know what I did wrong. He despises me. His friends despise me. Just to get out of this engagement, he's willing to completely ruin my life."

"I used to be so confident, Caspian. But this this is literally driving me insane."

I took a shuddering breath. "Am I really that repulsive? Is loving someone really such an unforgivable sin?"

Caspian just stood there. Not a single word left his mouth. He probably never expected that a casual, impulsive favor for his best bro would result in this level of psychological torture.

My acting was Oscar-worthy. I looked like I was on the absolute brink of a breakdown, my fingers gripping his forearm tight enough to leave crescent-moon indentations in his skin.

"Caspian, you're a guy. You're his best friend. You have to know how his mind works. Just tell me why, please?"

I let my voice crack perfectly. "Is it really just me? Am I really that annoying? Or is it because my family filed for bankruptcy?"

"My parents are already settling the debts!"

"I have an Ivy League degree, Caspian. I have my own side hustle. I can make my own money and support myself. I swear I wouldn't drag him down!"

My gaze must have looked utterly shattered. Caspians face fell, panic and guilt twisting his features.

Is there a difference between a pathetic, obsessive stalker and a tragically devoted heroine? Yeah. The tragically devoted heroine is usually drop-dead gorgeous. Ergo, I was currently a tragic heroine.

"Cleo, hey, look at me," Caspian stammered. "Please stop crying. Just listen to me, okay?"

I stared up at him with wide, desperate eyes, acting like his next words held the power to shatter my entire world. Caspian opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

The tears I had just managed to hold back spilled over my lashes again. I squeezed my eyes shut, letting out a silent, hitched sob, my shoulders shaking pitifully.

I was absolutely positive I looked stunning right nowthe perfect picture of broken vulnerability.

Thank God for industrial-strength waterproof mascara; I could stand in a Category 5 hurricane and my face would still be flawless. I had spent hours practicing this exact expression in the mirror. A normal, emotionally stable woman could never cry with this precise ratio of devastation and aesthetic perfection.

Oh my god, poor fragile Cleo, someone please just hold her!

Caspians grip on my wrists tightened. I could feel the slight clamminess of sweat on his palms.

"You're overthinking this, Cleo. What picture? I have no idea what you're talking about. This is a misunderstanding."

"Please, don't cry anymore."

I let out a few more pathetic whimpers before gently pushing his hands away. "I'm sorry, Caspian. I didn't mean to put you in a weird position. I'm sorry."

I fiercely wiped the tears from my cheeks, taking a shuddering breath. "You're right. I'm just spiraling. Let's go."

The stylist, who had been hovering discreetly nearby, stepped forward with a polite smile. "Ma'am, the dress and the handbag?"

"I'll take them." I forced a weak, brave little smile. "And ring up those other two bags, too. I'll take it all."

I looked back at Caspian, keeping my voice soft and defeated. "If I take all this, you and Roman will be happy, right? He finally has his excuse to dump me. I'm just a tacky, gold-digging piece of trash who doesn't belong in his world."

"Now he doesn't even have to waste time faking evidence of me cheating."

Caspian looked physically pained. "Cleo, stop. Don't say that."

Hehe. Say it or not, it didn't change the fact that I was a ruthless, money-grubbing queen. Hand over the plastic, pretty boy.

Caspian stayed dead silent all the way to the register. He swiped his black card without a single complaint and trailed after me, hands full of my designer shopping bags.

We walked in silence for a block until he suddenly turned to me. "Cleo, actually"

I immediately reached up and pressed my palm flat against his mouth. The soft skin of my hand pressed flush against his lips. A shock of heat flared against my skin, and I snatched my hand back as if Id just touched a live wire, letting out a soft, ragged gasp.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to do that. I just panicked." I curled my right hand into a fist, nervously rubbing my thumb over my knuckles.

"Caspian, I don't even know what you were about to say, but I'm terrified. Can we just pretend none of this happened? Please? You can't tell Roman about any of this."

Caspian stared down at me for two long seconds. "Do you really love him that much?"

I nodded without a single second of hesitation. "Yes!"

"What is it you even like about him?"

I couldn't stop the corners of my lips from curving up into a small, wistful smile. "I don't even know. I just do. Whenever I see him, I just feel this rush of happiness."

"I want to be glued to his side every second of the day. Even when he barely gives me the time of day, just a single text back keeps me happy for hours."

I looked up at Caspian, leaning just a fraction of an inch closer, letting my voice drop to a whisper. "Caspian what do you think of me? Do you hate me too?"

Caspian answered instantly, his voice suddenly rough. "How could I ever hate you?"

Chapter 4

"Then can you put in a good word for me with Roman?" I flashed him a pleading, eager-to-please smile. "Just tell him Cleo is actually pretty great, and not that annoying at all. Tell him to pay a little more attention to me, okay?"

Caspian just stared at me.

I looked up at him with wide, expectant eyes. They were still red, but I knew the light brown, rimless colored contacts made them look huge, glossy, and innocent.

He broke eye contact, looking almost panicked. "Yeah. Okay."

My face instantly lit up. "Thank you! Wait, are you hot? You're sweating."

I pointed toward a nearby stand. "Let me buy you some ice cream to say thank you."

I hurried over to the counter and ordered two scoops. Sweating bullets. Guilt ate at him, tangled with dirty thoughts he shouldn't be having about his best friend's girl.

When I got back, Caspian was standing exactly where I left him, his hands completely full of my shopping bags. He shifted the weight, trying to free up a hand to take the cup.

I deliberately scooped up a small bite of the ice cream and popped it into my own mouth. Then, without breaking eye contact, I pressed the little spoonnow carrying a slight sheen of moisture and a faint imprint of my lipstickdirectly against his bottom lip. "Try it. It's really sweet."

Caspian's Adam's apple bobbed. "Cleo, you don't have to do that."

"But I don't want you to get mad at me," I murmured, tilting my head. "If you get mad, you won't put in a good word for me."

I slipped the spoon past his parted lips, flashing him a smile dripping with saccharine sweetness, keeping my eyes locked dead on his. Innocent, totally devoted, pretty, and hopelessly obsessed. Taking a closer look, the pity factor just skyrocketed. I was honestly giving an Oscar-worthy performance today.

And obviously, Caspian was buying every single second of it.

After the ice cream incident, Caspian seemed in no rush to take me back to Roman. Instead, he steered us into a quiet coffee shop and sat down right across from me.

He leaned forward. "Cleo, I swear I have no idea what photo you're talking about, but it is definitely a misunderstanding. As for Roman have you ever considered that maybe you two just aren't right for each other?"

The smile froze on my face. Tears instantly welled up. "Why? What did I do wrong? I can change, I promise!"

Caspian reached across the table. For a second, it looked like he was going to wipe away my tears, but he pulled his hand back at the last second. I was not going to let that happen.

I lunged forward and grabbed his hand, gripping it like a lifeline.

"Caspian, you promised!" I gasped, my voice trembling. "You promised you would put in a good word for me. You can't go back on your word now!"

The muscles in his hand went rigid, but he didn't pull away. He just let me hold onto him.

"No, no, that's not what I meant," he said quickly, his voice dropping low. "You didn't do anything wrong. It's it's Roman who doesn't deserve you."

That was the end of his little breakup intervention. Caspian was absolutely terrified of seeing me cry. He spent the next three hours dragging me through the entire high-end district, completely ignoring my strict refusals and buying me a mountain of designer stuff.

He played the perfect pack mule, swiping his card and telling me how gorgeous I looked.

I acted super shy and embarrassed, but on the inside? I was absolutely thriving.

If he was willing to drop this kind of cash, it just meant he thought the chase was worth it. Money is just a tool to buy a feeling, after all. He got to spend a little cash to satisfy his own twisted, secret thrill of spoiling his best friend's girl, plus buy himself some moral absolution. Honestly, he should be thanking me.

So much for the sacred bro-code. Their unbreakable frat-boy friendship didn't even survive one designer shopping spree.

Caspian conveniently forgot that Roman was still waiting for us in his car. When we were done, he just drove me straight back to my apartment.

I stood at my door, surrounded by a fortress of luxury shopping bags, looking up at him with a tired, nervous expression. "Caspian you can't forget what you promised me."

I bit my lip. "Put in a good word. Tell him my personality is great, that I'm cute, and that he'll be really happy if he stays with me."

A slow smile spread across his face. He nodded. "You don't have to coach me on that. I already think you're incredibly cute."

Then, as if realizing he had crossed a major line, he cleared his throat and looked away.

What was a girl to do? Naturally, I let out a delayed little gasp, acting like the compliment had just registered, and forced a furious blush to my cheeks.

The innocent, hopelessly devoted, easily flustered sweetheart. It was such a clich, tacky persona. But clearly, the billionaire best friend was eating it right out of the palm of my hand.

Chapter 5

I could hear his heart pounding. He was thriving on this, his Adam's apple bobbing with every swallow. What an absolute tease.

To break the tension, I shifted gears. I started asking him for advice on what to get Roman for his upcoming birthday. Judging by his face, he was seconds away from suggesting a coffin.

We were halfway through our painfully awkward small talk when Roman started pounding on my door. Earlier, he had shot me this incredibly arrogant question mark text, and I casually let slip that Caspian had driven me home. Naturally, Roman rushed straight over, buzzing with the thrill of tag-teaming with his best bro to catch me red-handed.

"Cleo, you really are something else!" Roman grabbed my wrist, yanking me roughly into the hallway. "Playing the innocent little virgin, but you hook my best friend the second you meet him? You really are just a desperate, gold-digging slut, aren't you?"

"Couldn't wait to drag him back to your place?"

My eyes widened in manufactured terror, but mentally, I was dancing on his grave.

"Roman!" Caspian snapped, stepping forward. "Stop talking out of your ass. Let's take this inside."

Roman still thought Caspian was just sticking to the script. He got even more hyped. "Take it inside? Bullshit. I'm airing this out right here, right now."

"Cleo, did you or did you not try to hook up with my brother behind my back? Youfuck!"

Panic flaring, Caspian shoved Roman in the chest. "I told you to shut the hell up! Nothing happened! Cleo and I were just standing here figuring out what to get you for your birthday!"

Roman stumbled, slamming into the wall to catch his balance. His face darkened as he locked eyes with Caspian. "Are you serious right now? You're actually doing this, Caspian?"

Roman pointed sharply at the fortress of designer shopping bags just inside my doorway. "What the fuck is all this?"

"I'm sorry!" I cut in frantically, throwing myself between them before Caspian could get a word out. "It's my fault! I'm completely broke right now, and when Caspian offered me a welcome gift, I took advantage and made him buy me all these things!"

"He just didn't know how to say no without disrespecting you, so he bought it all!"

I grabbed Caspian's arm, practically shoving him toward the elevator. "Just go, Caspian! Please, I'll explain everything to him!"

Roman's jaw tightened. He locked his hand around my arm like a steel vise and yanked me backward. "You stay exactly where you are!"

My heels slipped. I lost my balance and crashed hard onto the floor.

Roman clearly hadn't meant to throw me down. He froze for a split second.

That was all it took. Caspian lunged, driving a right hook into Romans gut.

Roman folded in half with a choked groan, clutching his stomach.

One punch for the bros! That frat-boy friendship was officially resting at the bottom of the ocean. Hell yes.

"Don't push it, Roman," Caspian spat, hauling Roman back up by his expensive collar. "Fine. You want to know why I bought Cleo all this?"

"Because I couldn't stomach watching you treat her like trash for one more second! What is your actual problem with her? She just wanted a normal relationship with you, and you shred her to pieces!"

"And on top of thatyou know exactly what the fuck you did!"

A dead silence fell over the hallway.

I leaned against the wall, staring up at Caspian, letting my eyes fill with sheer, shattered devastation.

Why did he have to say it out loud? Why did he have to crush my delusions? Why did he have to make this situation so completely unsalvageable? Why couldn't he have just hit him a few more times?

So, I let the tears fall.

With trembling hands, I pulled out my phone, opened the burner account DM with the headless ab photo, and held the glowing screen up to Roman's face. "Roman do you want to know how I figured out you were the one who set this up?"

Roman stared at the screen, struck dumb.

Honestly, I had just shot back a thirsty reply as a joke. Who knew it would lead to this absolute masterpiece of a scene? But I was a master at spinning narratives. It was easyjust deflect, omit the inconvenient truths, and zoom in entirely on my own victimhood.

"Maybe because, deep down in my subconscious, I always knew you were trying to find a way to get rid of me," I choked out, my chest heaving. "Caspian didn't say a word. I pieced it together myself. But since were all here I just want to ask you to your face."

"Did you actually try to set me up? Did you try to completely ruin my reputation just so you could dump me?"

Roman stood there, short-circuiting.

Acting as if his silence was the final, fatal blow I couldn't bear to accept, I let all the color drain from my face, the tears streaming silently down my cheeks in endless, broken lines.

Chapter 6

The man I loved had conspired to destroy mewho could survive that psychological blow? I gripped my phone so hard the veins on the back of my hand bulged violently against the skin. I was the absolute picture of a shattered, broken woman.

"I kept telling myself that if I just tried a little harder, maybe youd actually start to care about me," I choked out, my voice thick with tears. "But I get it now. I was completely wrong. Ive just been a massive burden to you this whole time, haven't I?"

"I'm sorry. I won't ever bother you again."

Without another word, I deleted his number and blocked his socials right in front of him.

I turned to look at Caspian.

I held his gaze for a few heavy seconds, gave a slow, tear-soaked nod, and then turned away, dragging my feet toward my apartment like I was utterly exhausted down to my bones.

I stepped inside. Click. The door locked shut between us.

Romans face froze in shock.

One of them kept pounding aggressively on my door for a while, but I completely ignored it. Half an hour later, the hallway went dead quiet. I peeked through the peephole to confirm the coast was clear, then cracked the door open and stealthily dragged all my luxury loot inside.

I kept the pieces I actually liked, and immediately listed the rest on a high-end designer resale site for a massive pile of cold, hard cash.

Honestly, I was ready to just call it a day right there. Knowing I had successfully nuked their precious frat-boy bromance was satisfying enough. After all, I was hustling non-stop just to survive. Between breathing toxic fumes at the nail salon during the day, doing tarot readings at night, and running my TikTok account documenting my "Bankrupt Ivy League Heiress Surviving the Slums" vlog, I didnt have time to play jealous mind games with these two pricks.

But Roman had shoved me to the floor earlier. And I am an extremely vindictive bitch.

With that thought in mind, I swiped to accept the incoming call from Caspian.

"Are you okay?" Caspian's voice was tight, terrified I might do something drastic.

I sniffled, letting a heavy, suffocating silence stretch out over the line before I finally spoke. "I'm just so tired. I want to sleep, but my chest hurts so badly today. I don't want to take any more sleeping pills Caspian?"

"Can you just stay on the phone with me? Just for a little while? I'm so sorry, I'm just causing you more trouble."

Caspian was probably still riding the absolute high of watching his rival's relationship implodethere was zero chance he thought I was being a burden.

Just before I drifted off, I murmured groggily into the receiver, "I'm going to sleep now, Caspian. Goodnight."

A low, raspy "goodnight" came through the speaker, followed by a faint, almost imperceptible sigh. I had the guy completely twisted in knots.

From that night on, Caspian started initiating contact constantly. As for me? I played the absolute classic game: never initiate, never reject, never commit.

A week later, Roman called me from a completely new number. His tone was stiff, telling me he still had some of my things and needed to hand them over in person.

I didnt even know which direction his damn front door facedwhat the hell could he possibly have of mine? It was the most pathetic, transparent excuse to just see my face.

Honestly, his psychology was laughably easy to dissect. Men are just inherently masochistic. I had gone from being the obsessed, stage-five clinger bombing his phone with eight hundred texts a day, to completely dropping off the face of the earth. He was going through severe withdrawal.

If he had been the one to dump me, he would've walked away just fine. But instead, I had exposed his toxic little scheme, shattered his reality, dumped him while playing the devastated victim, and then iced him out for seven straight days.

He couldn't handle the loss of control. He needed to gauge where I stood.

I didn't say a single word. I just hung up and blocked the new number too.

Sure enough, twenty minutes later, Roman was pounding on my front door.

"Cleo, open the door," Roman demanded, his voice slightly muffled through the heavy wood. "We need to talk."

I yanked the door open. He was wearing a perfectly tailored casual suit, his hair was flawlessly styled, and the faint, incredibly expensive scent of his designer cologne drifted into the hallway. On a purely superficial level, the guy was devastatingly hot. No wonder he was arrogant enough to think I had fallen in love with him at first sight.

He looked at me, immediately broke eye contact, and shifted his weight, looking entirely out of his element. "Here's your stuff."

He held out a gift box. It was a pair of aggressively expensive designer sunglasses I had given him a while back. Back before my family went under, my younger brother used to buy ridiculous amounts of luxury crap. I had swiped them from his place one day, never actually wore them, and ended up casually tossing them to Roman as a gift.

I grabbed the box out of his hand and casually pitched it straight into the trash can by the door. Then, I grabbed the handle and shoved the door to slam it shut in his face.

"Wait!" Roman lunged forward, wedging his muscular forearm into the doorframe to physically block it from closing. "Cleo, seriously? You have absolutely nothing to say to me?"

Chapter 7

What the fuck are you talking about, you absolute prick? I thought to myself.

When I didn't answer, Roman shifted his weight and cleared his throat, out of his element. "You're just going to cut me off like that? You're not even going to give our parents an explanation? My mom brought you up just the other day."

"Don't you think you're acting a little immature?"

Finding his excuse to stand on my doormat, he puffed out his chest, arrogance returning. "Come to my parents' estate for dinner tomorrow. We'll clear the air face-to-face."

I tilted my head, raising a perfectly arched brow. "Are you absolutely sure you want to do this face-to-face?"

Roman choked on his words for a second. Then, as if finalizing some twisted plan in his head, his jaw tightened. "Yeah. Face-to-face."

I gave a slow nod. "Sure." Without giving him a chance to say another word, I slammed the heavy door right in his face.

The Roman family's sprawling estate was tucked away in an ultra-exclusive, gated neighborhood. I expected a stiff family dinner. Instead, the massive dining room was buzzing. Over a dozen people were mingling with champagne flutes, a curated mix of their elite inner circle.

And right in the middle of it all? Caspian and his family.

The second I walked in, Romans mother practically sprinted over. She grabbed my hands, her face plastered with a warm, overly eager smile, asking me a million questions about my well-being. It was a stark contrast to her usual socially-distanced politeness. I pasted on a sweet smile and played along.

Roman caught the exchange and shot a ridiculously smug, triumphant look straight at Caspian.

Caspians knuckles turned white as he gripped the back of a dining chair. He took a step forward, looking like he desperately wanted to pull me aside. But Roman cut him off.

"Before we sit down," Roman announced loudly, raising his glass to quiet the room. "I'd like to share some incredible news. Cleo and I will be officially holding our engagement party in exactly two months. I expect to see all of you there."

I just stared at him