Page 131 of Merry Fake Bride

I’ve managed to ruin the only good thing I had going for me.

I need to get out of here. I need to get out.

Diving for the couch, I rummage through my purse and locate my phone.

Scrolling through my contacts, I’m about to call my dad when the screen lights up with an unknown number.

My heart jumps as I cautiously answer. “Hello?”

“You used to pick up faster,” Axel replies. “You’re getting sloppy.”

My legs wobble and I sink down onto the couch. “Haven’t you done enough?”

“Oh, baby, I’m just getting started.” His cold voice snakes through my mind, unlocking every suppressed memory I buried as deeply as I could.

“I’m not yourbaby.”

“Are you sure? I don’t think your fancy rich boy toy is going to be yours much longer now that the truth is out. Have you looked online recently?”

Switching to speaker, I tap my news app and the first story is a headline about Kairo and Silver Canopy.

How Many Companies Have Fallen Due to Kairo Sycamore’s Insatiable Sex Drive?

Like Father, Like Son? Did Bernard Sycamore Also Sleep his Way to the Top?

Kairo Sycamore Assaults the Industry Like he Assaults Unsuspecting Business Owners.

The Ethical Implications of Trading Sex for Land.

Headline after headline pours at me as the gossiping news sites run with whatever rumors Axel has given them, and my heart sinks.

They make it sound like Kairo intentionally pursued me to take control of the bakery, but that wasn’t the case.

They have it all wrong.

“You see?” Axel’s bitter voice breaks through my thoughts. “I made one phone call, by the way. Just one. Those leeches are always eager for a titan to fall. Who knew it would get so big?”

“What do you want, Axel?” I choke out, staring at the constant churning headlines until my eyes blur. “He doesn’t deserve this. He hasn’t done anything wrong!”

“I don’t know the ins and outs of this whole thing, but something tells me he has. Look at you, my poor darling wife caught up in the clutches of a brilliant monster that only cares about security property, manipulating you and putting our marriage on the rocks. Can you imagine the insane ethical panic that’s just woken up in the heart of every businessman who’s everflirtedduring a deal?”

“I’m not your wife,” I snarl.

“You’re not his either, bitch,” Axel snaps back, and then a request comes through to FaceTime.

I reject it, fighting the tears flooding my eyes.

“Answer the call, cunt,” Axel snaps. “Or do you really want to push me over the fucking edge?”

The invitation comes through again and my trembling thumb acts on its own, pressing the accept button before I’m finished thinking.

Instead of Axel’s face filling the screen, though, it’s my parents’ house.

A bone-deep chill suddenly floods through my body from head to toe as I stare at the neatly decorated house framed with the night sky.

“Axel… where are you?” Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe it’s just a similar house.

“Can’t you tell?” he sneers. “Or has it really been that long since you came home?”