Rhys was staring back at me with utter shock, like he couldn’t believe I had just slapped him in front of a thousand people. But the surprise on his face vanished within the next second when he saw the look in my eyes.

Almost immediately, he seemed to understand what I was planning. A slight smirk flashed across his face for a split second before lines were carved into his forehead.

He reached for my arm again, his fingers wrapped tightly around my wrist as we locked eyes. "You have to trust me, I won’t betray you, I won’t do this to you."

This time, I didn’t pull away immediately. Instead, I let his touch linger and forced my eyes to water.

"The evidence is right in front of your face!" Lucas snarled. "How could you deny it?"

Lucas took the bait as I expected. After all, he wasn’t exactly the brightest spark.

"You are caught red handed. What more do you have to say for yourself?" He added, still not realising he had walked right into our trap.

I almost cracked a smile. But instead, I welcomed the hot tears that pricked at my eyes as I looked up at Rhys, putting on my best betrayed expression.

"I trusted you...you told me I was the only one you love. You told me you would never do me wrong." I pulled away from his clutch. "But now you are caught with another woman at the hotel? How can you explain it?" I questioned, letting my voice tremble.

I let a stray tear roll down my flushed cheeks as I stepped back to create space between us. But just as I turned to leave, cool finger tips grazed my arm, before wrapping around my wrist.

Within the next second, I was pulled back, colliding into his chest. I was aware of how his fingers were still holding onto my wrist, while the other arm held my waist firmly. My pulse fluttered in my chest, my breaths heavy as I looked up to meet his eyes.

"Please," his deep voice rumbled in his throat. "Let me explain. Don’t leave me," his voice cracked towards the end of the sentence.

The people seemed convinced by our act. Heck, even I was convinced. This felt all too real. Maybe if he held me like this seven years ago, I wouldn’t have left him in the rain alone. But alas, it was too late.

I pushed him away from me, wiping the tears off my face before turning around, running down the steps and out of the ballroom.

"Evelyn!" I heard my name left his mouth, but I didn’t look back.

I kept my eyes ahead, and kept running. I should have been satisfied. Whatever that had just unfolded earlier proved we were in love, that the relationship was far from fake. But why do I feel worse?

I hid behind a large tree, looking up at the stars that were winking back at me. I gathered myself and shove away any ridiculous thoughts that were creeping up on me.

The crunch of a fallen leaf on the grass pierced through the silence of the night, snapping me back to reality.

"Evelyn?" The familiar voice drifted to my ears soon after. I recognised that voice immediately. Of course, I did.

I looked up to see Rhys carefully approaching me. His lips tugged into a smile when his gaze landed on me. "I finally found you."

"The reporters didn’t chase after you?"

"I managed to outrun them."

Silence wrapped around us for a brief moment , neither of us saying a word. We were only looking into one another’s eyes.

"I just want to say—"

"I’m sorry for slapping you."

A low chuckle left his lips. "It was a brilliant idea though, they bought it....though, did you have to slap me that hard?"

I bit back a laugh as I shrugged. "What? I had to make it convincing."

He narrowed his eyes at me playfully. "Right."

We were quiet for a while before I finally said something to break the silence. "So, who was the woman in the picture?" I asked before I could stop myself.

I immediately regretted it the moment the words spilled past my lips. It didn’t matter if Rhys wanted to see another woman when he wasn’t with me, we weren’t even together. I had no right feeling whatever I was feeling.

He stepped closer towards me, forcing me to move away until my back was pressed against the tree behind me. My heart skipped a beat. His head tilted slightly to the side, his dark gaze never leaving mine as a smirk tugged at the corners of his lips.

"Why? Jealous?"

I stared up at him, my heart still drumming in my chest from how close he was standing to me, and how he might be right as much as I hated to admit it.

Heat crept up from my neck, spreading across my cheeks and painting them red. Only the glow of the moonlight lit of the place, and I had never been so grateful of the dark.

I scoffed loudly, jutting my chin. "Why—why would I be jealous? It’s not as if we are actually a couple. It’s all fake, remember?"

An unreadable expression flashed past his face for a split second. He leaned back, his eyes still on mine as a muscle tic in his jaw. "Of course. How could I forget?"

I ignored the strange feeling that settled in my chest. "So who is she?"

"She’s an overseas client. I met her to discuss some terms of our contract. She wanted to meet at the hotel because her daughter was sick. And she didn’t want to leave her alone. That’s all. Nothing happened."

Hearing the truth from him made me feel better, that I couldn’t deny. But before I could say anything, a crack of a branch echoed in the night.

Someone’s here.

Before I knew it, Rhys was right in front of me, and I was backed up to the same tree behind me.

One hand caressed my cheek and the other slid around my waist. He leaned in closer, our faces mere inches apart as his thumb brushed over my lips.

Then without a single warning, he closed the gap between us.