Chapter 26 Fake Fiancé
FAKE FIANCé
PAIGE
I waited, my heart thudding in my chest.
I was excited and scared.
Derek’s hand on my back felt calming yet overwhelming. My brain was still hazy with the orgasm, and I wanted to make sure that I wasn’t overthinking our—
“For the divorce,” he finally said, his eyes not meeting mine. “We can show them how serious we are and the case—”
“Okay,” I said, my hand tightening on the velvet box. “From fake dating to… fake engagement. I understand.”
I stood up from his lap, feeling cold and empty. I kept the box on the desk and excused myself to his office washroom. I felt naked and vulnerable.
Was it all a lie? No, if it was, Charlotte wouldn’t let him continue this knowing we could get hurt.
But this felt like it… hurt. My heart ached, and I didn’t know why tears were streaming down my face.
“Paige?” Derek’s worried voice was muffled through the door. “Are you okay?”
No.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
I stared at myself in the mirror and wondered what the hell I was thinking? That he would end the contract and make it real? He’s a lawyer! Why would he do that?
I exhaled and calmed myself.
If we pretend to get engaged, finalize the divorce, then no one has to get hurt. We will end the fake engagement and then…
Then what?
I work with him. He’s my friend… my best friend. What am I gonna do without him?
Maybe I’ll move back home with my parents. They miss Lily anyway.
Won’t Lily miss him?
I shook my head and took a deep breath.
I’ll figure it out. I always do.
The engagement photos went live at noon.
Derek, my fake fiancé, had hired a professional photographer, and the shots were perfect. Too perfect with him down on one knee at sunset in his penthouse, the city skyline gleaming behind us. Me with my hand over my mouth, tears in my eyes that felt real for all the wrong reasons.
Within an hour, we were trending with hashtags like #PetersonEngaged then #SheLandedHim and also, #PowerCouple.
I rolled my eyes at the comments. None of them knew how fake and staged it was. No one should trust social media.
At work, it felt far worse than being judged on the internet for landing Derek. I didn’t know most of the people online, but at work, I knew their pet dog’s name, their wedding anniversary, so it hurt more.
I felt the stares when I walked through the office on Monday morning and heard the whispers that cut off the moment I passed.
I kept my head down, focused on my work, and tried to be a professional assistant. But everything feels different now. Like I had crossed some invisible line and could never go back.
Maybe that’s why Derek had suggested I resign. Take a leave of absence, at least, until after the divorce was finalized. I had refused because I needed to feel like I was still me and not just Derek’s fake fiancée.
But now I wondered if he had been trying to protect me or protect himself.
I was in the break room making coffee when I heard them.
Two paralegals from the third floor, Sara and Maya, were talking in low voices by the vending machines. They didn’t see me behind the coffee station, partially hidden by the industrial-sized machine.
“I mean, the timing is convenient, right?” Sara’s voice dripped with disbelief. “She ‘discovers’ the affair and immediately moves in with the hottest bachelor in the city?”
“Right?” Maya giggled. “It’s almost like she was looking for an excuse. Maybe the affair gave her an excuse to go after who she really wanted.”
My hand froze on the coffeepot.
What the hell?
“And now she’s engaged? After what… just a month?” Sara’s voice lowered, but I could still hear every word. “I’m not saying she trapped him with the baby, but…”
My throat tightened.
“You’re totally saying that.”
“Okay, yes. I am saying that. What single mother wouldn’t want to lock down Derek Peterson? He’s rich, gorgeous, and apparently a total pushover for damsels in distress.”
Monica snorted. “Think she’s using the divorce as an excuse to climb the social ladder? Because that’s a hell of an upgrade from a middle-management husband to a billionaire lawyer.”
Their words stung as I stood there, coffeepot in hand, frozen and mortified as they continued gossiping about my life and commenting about how he could do better.
Finally, they grabbed their snacks and left, still laughing. I waited until their footsteps faded before setting down the coffeepot with shaking hands.
Is that what everyone thinks? That I orchestrated this? That I was using Derek?
I made it back to my desk before the tears started, and I blinked them back furiously. I wouldn’t cry at work.
But I couldn’t shake the comments. I couldn’t stop wondering whether they were right. If I was damaging Derek’s reputation, making him look like a fool who had fallen for his assistant’s sob story.
I caught glimpses of him throughout the day. In meetings, on phone calls, moving through the office with that confident stride that made everyone step aside. I saw the tension in his jaw when he passed by a cluster of gossiping associates. The way his concerned eyes would find mine across the room.
Am I a liability to him? Was his reputation being damaged by our relationship?
The thought sat heavy in my stomach for the rest of the day.
That evening, after Lily was asleep and the penthouse was quiet, I found Derek in his study. He looked up when I entered, and his expression immediately shifted to worry.
“Hey. Are you okay? You’ve seemed off all day.”
I closed the door behind me and leaned against it. “They are saying I trapped you and using you.”
His expression darkened. “Who’s saying that?”
“Everyone,” I said, hugging myself. “The paralegals, the associates, probably half the office.”
“Who cares what they say?” He asked, standing up and moving around his desk toward me.
“The judge will care, Derek,” I said, my voice cracking.
“Jack’s lawyer is already painting me as a gold-digger who abandoned her marriage for her rich boss.
And now I’m engaged to you? Now we’re posting pictures all over social media?
” I shook my head. “It looks exactly like what they’re saying as if I planned this. ”
“We have evidence Jack cheated first,” he said, his voice gentle. “We have documentation going back to your second trimester. We have witnesses. This won’t stick.”
“But what if it does?” I asked. “What if I lose Lily because of this… because of us? Because I was stupid enough to think I could fake date my boss and there wouldn’t be consequences?”
“That won’t happen,” he promised, his hands settling on my shoulders. “We have been friends… best-friends before you worked for me. We have history, and I won’t let it happen, Paige.”
I looked up at him, and all I could hear was the gossiping.
Maybe the affair gave her an excuse to go after who she really wanted.
“Can you promise me that?” I whispered. “Can you promise that our fake relationship won’t cost me my daughter?”
Derek’s hands tightened on my shoulders as his jaw worked as if he were physically restraining himself from saying something. When he finally spoke, his voice was rough with barely controlled emotion.
“I can promise that I will do everything in my power to make sure Jack doesn’t take Lily from you.
I will use every resource, every connection, every legal maneuver I know to protect you both.
” His eyes were intense, pinning me to the spot.
“And I can promise that anyone who tries to hurt you, in court or out of it… will have to go through me first.”
“Maybe we should end this,” I said, pulling away from his touch, wrapping my arms around myself. “I mean, the fake engagement and tell people that we moved too fast and how we’re better as friends. Get ahead of the narrative before Jack’s lawyer can use it against me.”
“No,” he said, his tone sharp.
I was shocked because he had never used that tone with me before.
He ran a hand through his hair. “I-If we end it now, it looks exactly like what Jack will claim. That you were using me. That you got caught and bailed. It makes you look worse, not better,” he finished, swallowing the lump in his throat.
“So, what do we do?” I asked, feeling helpless. “Just keep pretending while people tear me apart? While Jack builds his case that I’m an unfit mother?”
“We stick to the plan,” Derek said. “We show everyone that this is real. That you’re not using me, that I’m not a fool, that we’re two people who found each other at the right time. And we let the evidence speak for itself when it matters. In court.”
I wanted to believe him and wanted to trust his confidence. Trust him.
But standing there in his study, with the fear of losing Lily, I knew someone was going to get hurt.
Would it be me, Derek, or both of us together?