Page 33 of Fake Engagement with my Brother's Best Friend

Chapter Nineteen

Grace

I can’t keep doing this.

The words echo in my head, over and over, as I stand there facing Logan. The beautiful setup he arranged for tonight—the candles, the wine, the beach—feels like it’s mocking me now. I should feel flattered, even excited, by the lengths he’s gone to, but all I feel is suffocated. Trapped in a lie that’s spiraling out of control.

“I can’t keep pretending, Logan,” I finally say, my voice low but steady. “I can’t keep lying to my family. It’s all going to blow up in our faces. When it does, what then? What are we left with?”

He stares at me, his face tight with confusion and frustration. “Grace, we’ll deal with it. We don’t have to lie forever.”

I shake my head, unable to believe he still doesn’t see it. “That’s not the point. This whole thing—our fake engagement, the lies, all of it—it’s not sustainable. My family is invested in this. They think I’ve finally found someone to settle down with. Do you really understand what that means?”

I can see the flicker of uncertainty in his eyes, but he doesn’t respond immediately, so I push forward, the words tumbling out faster than I can control.

“They want us to get married, Logan. They expect us to start a life together, have kids. How do we even begin to explain the truth? That we made this all up to avoid awkward questions? That we lied to them? If we keep this up, it’s either we getmarried for real, or we tell them we’ve been deceiving them from the start. What then?”

Logan opens his mouth to respond, but I’m not done.

“Even if youdohave feelings for me, do you really want to marry me?” My voice rises, and I hear the desperation in it. “Is that where this is headed? Because it has to be one or the other, Logan. Either we keep pretending forever, or we come clean and face the fallout.”

His eyes narrow slightly, and I can see the frustration building. “Grace, you were a willing participant in this too,” he says, his tone sharper than before. “You didn’t exactly protest when we came up with this idea. You were all in.”

I wince at his words because, deep down, he’s not wrong. I was a willing participant. I jumped at the chance to avoid my parents’ constant questions about why I wasn’t settling down. I agreed to this ridiculous plan because it was easier than facing their disappointment. What I didn’t expect was for it to spiral out of control like this.

“I know I was a part of it,” I admit, my voice softer now. “I didn’t think it through. I didn’t realize how deep it would go until now. My parents… my family is going to be heartbroken when they find out. They think I’m finally settling down, that I’ve found someone who’s serious about me. How am I supposed to explain to them that it was all a sham?”

Logan runs a hand through his hair, clearly frustrated, but there’s something else in his expression—something vulnerable. “Grace, we don’t have to figure this out right now. Let’s just get through the wedding. We’ll deal with everything afterward.”

I let out a bitter laugh, shaking my head. “I can’t wait until after Joseph and Emily’s wedding. I can’t walk around pretendingeverything is fine, pretending that this is real, when it’s not. I want to call the whole thing off.”

His eyes widen, alarm flashing across his face. “Grace, wait—”

“No, Logan, I’m serious. I can’t keep doing this. It’s all too much.”

He steps closer, his hand reaching out as if to steady me, to calm me down. “Look, I get it. You’re feeling overwhelmed, but calling it off right now would make things worse. It would be a disaster.”

I pull away, the tension inside me snapping. “A disaster? It’s already a disaster! You know what makes it worse? I know why Samantha is doing all of this.”

Logan freezes, his face going pale. “What are you talking about?”

I take a deep breath, the words ready to spill out, the anger I’ve been holding in boiling over. “She told my parents. She told them everything. About your relationship, about how you cheated on her. That’s why she’s going after us. She wants revenge.”

Logan’s face tightens, his jaw clenching as he stares at me. “Grace, that’s not—”

“She told them you had a wandering eye,” I interrupt, my voice trembling with a mixture of anger and sadness. “That she caught you with other women. Now I understand why she’s so determined to ruin this for us. She wants you to feel what she felt.”

His eyes darken, and I can see the struggle in his expression—whether to deny it or admit it. I’m not sure which would hurt more.

“Is it true?” I ask, my voice barely above a whisper. “Did you cheat on her?”

He looks away, the silence between us heavy and suffocating. That tells me everything I need to know.

“I didn’t love her, Grace,” he finally says, his voice strained. “What I had with Samantha was… it was wrong from the start. We both did things we shouldn’t have.”

I feel the weight of his words sinking in, but they don’t bring me any comfort. If anything, they make everything worse. How can I trust him now, knowing that he’s capable of something like this? Knowing that the man I’ve been falling for is the same man who cheated on his ex?

“Grace, you don’t understand,” Logan says, his voice taut with frustration. “Samantha cheated on me first. She slept with one of my friends, and I—” He stops, exhaling sharply as if the memory still stings. “I found out, and I was wrecked. I didn’t know how to deal with it. I was angry, hurt… confused.”

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