Noah's Pov
"What if I told you… I don't know the answer yet?"
Luca's voice was quieter than the music around us, but the weight of it sank into me.
For a man who built empires, he suddenly looked… unsure. Not weak, not fragile, but human. And I hated how that flicker of honesty pulled something in me I didn't want to feel.
I straightened, pushing the thought away. "Then you better figure it out fast," I muttered. "Because my company doesn't have the luxury of waiting for you to decide which side you're on."
I left him standing there in the ballroom, his perfect tux catching the soft light, while I escaped to the nearest balcony. The cool night air hit my face, sharper than I expected. I gripped the railing, willing myself to breathe.
I wasn't here for him. I wasn't here for the way his eyes softened when he let his guard down, or the way his words sometimes carried cracks no one else seemed to hear.
I was here for Chen Bioworks. For my sister. Always her.
****************
The gala stretched on, a swirl of polished shoes and clinking glasses. I played the role: smiled when people asked about our "partnership," nodded when they congratulated us, let myself be photographed with Luca's arm brushing mine like it meant something.
But under the performance, I could feel Ethan Vaughn's eyes on us. Watching.
When the night ended, Luca and I slipped into the waiting car, silent until the driver pulled away from the hotel.
"You were reckless in there," I said finally, staring out the window.
"I was defending us," he replied.
"Don't say us like this is something real."
His silence stung more than I wanted it to.
Over the next week, the "fake relationship" became our full-time job. My days were split between frantic calls with my research team and carefully staged appearances with Luca.
At a charity luncheon, he leaned in close to whisper jokes that made me laugh despite myself. At a press conference, he brushed his hand against mine when the cameras flashed. Every move was choreographed. Every smile is calculated.
And yet, sometimes, it didn't feel fake.
One night, after too many hours in the lab, I returned to find him waiting outside my office.
"You need to eat," he said, holding out takeout boxes.
"I don't have time," I muttered.
"You'll collapse before you cure anything if you don't start treating yourself like a human being."
I should've snapped at him. Instead, I sat down, opened the box, and realized how long it had been since I'd had a meal that wasn't coffee and vending machine snacks.
He didn't push. He just sat across from me, eating in silence, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
************
Halfway through the second week, my CFO stormed into my office, his face pale. "We have a problem."
I set down my pen. "What kind of problem?"
"Funding. The investors we were negotiating with… they pulled out."
I froze. "Why?"
He hesitated. "They heard rumors that our partnership with Marquez Media is a publicity stunt. They don't think it's stable enough to trust."
The room spun. This was exactly what I feared, that pretending with Luca would backfire.
I didn't even wait to think. I grabbed my jacket and headed straight for his office.
He was in the middle of a meeting when I barged in, his board members staring at me in surprise. I didn't care.
"We need to talk," I snapped.
Something flickered in his eyes, but he stood quickly, excusing himself from the room. He led me into the hallway, his voice low. "What the hell are you doing?"
"You promised this would help my company," I hissed. "Instead, it's killing it. Investors think this whole thing is a scam, and they're pulling out."
He blinked, caught off guard. "That doesn't make sense. The press coverage has been nothing but positive."
"Except for Ethan," I spat. "He's been whispering to people. Poisoning the deal. And you…." I jabbed a finger at him "....you're giving him the ammunition."
Luca's jaw tightened. "Then we'll fix it."
"How?"
He didn't answer right away. Then, with that infuriating calm of his, he said, "We go bigger. We make this so convincing no one can deny it."
My stomach twisted. "What do you mean?"
"I mean we stop looking like a couple in photos… and start acting like one everywhere else."
For a moment, I thought he was joking. But his eyes told me otherwise.
"You want me to, what? Pretend to be in love with you twenty-four-seven?"
"Yes," he said simply.
I stared at him, anger and something I refused to name burning in my chest. "You're insane."
"Maybe," he admitted. "But it's the only way we both survive."
I hated him for being right.
The next week was a blur of "dates." Coffee shops. Art galleries. Even a disastrous cooking class where he nearly set an apron on fire. Everywhere we went, cameras followed. And everywhere we went, I had to act like I wanted to be there.
But somewhere between the laughter at his terrible knife skills and the way his hand steadied me when I slipped on the gallery stairs, I stopped knowing what was real and what wasn't and that terrified me.
The real breaking point came at a charity auction.
We were seated side by side, the spotlight fixed on us, when one of the reporters asked, "So, Luca, when will we hear about a wedding date?"
The room erupted in polite laughter. I froze. This wasn't part of the plan.
Luca smiled easily. "Well, that depends on Noah, doesn't it?"
Dozens of eyes turned to me. Cameras clicked.
I forced a smile, my heart racing. "We'll… see what the future holds."
The crowd cheered, satisfied with the tease. But when we were finally alone backstage, I rounded on him.
"What the hell was that?" I hissed.
"It kept the narrative alive," he said coolly.
"You can't just throw out marriage jokes like that!"
"Why not? It worked."
I stared at him, chest heaving. "You're playing with fire, Luca. And if you're not careful, you're going to burn us both."
His expression softened, just for a second. "Maybe that's worth the risk."
I didn't know if he meant the business… or me.
And I didn't know which one scared me more.
That night, I sat in my office long after everyone else left, staring at the photo of my sister on my desk.
She would've told me to keep fighting. To do whatever it took.
But she also would've told me not to lose myself along the way and I couldn't shake Luca's words, circling in my head like a warning I didn't understand.
Maybe that's worth the risk.
I didn't reali
ze I wasn't alone until I heard his voice in the doorway.
"Noah," he said quietly, "what if I told you… I'm not sure this is pretend anymore?"