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“Where are you going?”
“To tell the director your treatment should be longer than three months.”
Lucy’s footsteps thud behind me. She throws herself in front of the door like a soldier on a grenade. “Don’t you dare.” Her eyes widen in terror. “In three days, I’m free of this place.”
“Three days?”
“They’re letting me out early.” She wiggles her eyebrows.
“Did you pay them off?”
“How could I when you froze my card?” From the way she scowls, I’ll never be forgiven for that.
“So this is legit?”
“I told you I’ve been going to therapy.”
I smile. “That’s good, sis.”
“I’m determined tonotfall off the wagon this time. I never want to end up back here again. Going without alcohol is one thing, but going without my phone for this long? I thought I’d die.”
“Glad you didn’t.” I return to the couch.
Lucy sits on the edge of the sofa and crosses her legs. Letting the left one dangle back and forth, she sings, “So back to you and your breakup…”
“Shouldn’t you be asking how Talia’s been doing lately?”
“The Williams came out clean in my background check, and she said she had a great time—minus the chores and the getting up early. Now, tell me about Yaya. The relationship drama in this place is so boring. Everyone signed a prenup. The amateurs.” She rolls her eyes. “I need some good gossip.”
“Glad my life is entertaining to you,” I say dryly.
“Come on, Dare. You have to know how crazy your situation is.” She leaks a mischievous smile. “It’s not every day you fall in love with your fake girlfriend.”
A shock of surprise slaps me clean across the face and I sit up straighter. “What?”
“You think I didn’t know?” Lucy preens. “‘I met her online’.” She does a bad impression of my voice and laughs. “You? You, the most suspicious guy on the planet. The guy who doubles and triple checks every contract even after his lawyers have already approved it, blindly fell in love with a girl you met online? For real?”
“Since when did you know?”
“That you didn’t meet her online or that you hired her to be your girlfriend?”
I squirm. “Both.”
“Since the beginning.”
“But how? I thought Yaya passed your test. She told you something about me that only a girlfriend would know.”
“And thatdidmanage to confuse me for a bit,” Lucy says. “How did she know that? Mom hid all those pictures of you in your emo outfits because you were going around burning them.”
“To hide the evidence fromyou. I knew you’d torture me with them.”
“Oh, 100%.” She checks her nails and grimaces. “I’d kill for a mani pedi, right now.”
“Luce, focus.”
“Right. What was I saying again? Oh, you and Yaya being fake.”
I frown. Considering that my sister could see right through us, was I kidding myself all this time? Has it always been a ruse for Yaya, even when it got more serious for me? Was this her plan all along? To bide her time until she could run off and be with Henry?