Page 15 of The Enemy of My Enemy Is… My Fake Boyfriend?

My eyes landed on the kitchen counter where my phone sat, mostly unused and untouched for the last week. I'd turned off all notifications, only using it to answer Annalise's calls and texts or to order food. Normally, I was addicted to it, but the last seven days had been like a cleanse, and I'd solely focused on my new addictions... watching TV, eating, and napping.

"No," I answered, studying the cautious look on her face. "Why? What's happening? Are we in the middle of world war three or something?"

"Not exactly."

"Well, what is it then?"

Her eyes went to the ceiling as she inhaled deeply and squared her shoulders. "I really, really hate telling you this. Like really hate it."

I sat up, all the brownies I'd eaten for breakfast making me want to hurl. "Oh, my God, what, what, what?"

"So, um, apparently Chase took it upon himself to get the word out about your breakup."

"Oh." Shit. I'd really messed that up, hadn't I? I should have been on that from the beginning, thinking of how to get it out there.

"And he's, uh, really taken control of the narrative."

Leaning forward, I threw off the blanket. "What do you mean exactly?" Dread, fear, nerves all swirled together in my mid-section while she thought.

"He's making himself out to be the victim."

"What?" I gasped, exploding from my perch on the couch. "Are you kidding me?"

"I wish I was."

I looked at Astrid who seemed on the verge of tears, pure empathy shining in her eyes. "There's a picture of him sleeping in your doorway that's circulating on social media," she said.

"And he's saying that you've always treated him terribly," Annalise went on, "making him give up his cats to move in with you—"

"That's not true!" I argued from halfway across the living room where I paced. "He willingly gave them to his friend because of my allergies. I never asked him to give them up.Never."

"And he's also saying that you've always looked down on him, that you said you wouldn't marry him unless he took elocution classes and that you always made fun of him for picking up the wrong fork and such."

"What? Are you serious? I never did that!"

"And the worst thing..." Annalise began, her voice so low and ominous that I crossed the room and stood in front of her.

With a sinking heart, I had an inkling of it, a terrible premonition of what she was about to say. "Oh, God. What?"

"He says thatyoucheated onhim."

There it was. Somehow, I'd known it was coming.

"And that he still loved you despite it all, despite you treating him like crap."

"Oh, please. Come on. Is anyone really buying all this?"

Glancing back and forth between the two of them, I took their silence as a yes.

That was it. I crossed the room once more and grabbed my phone from the counter, adrenaline coursing through my veins.

There was a bunch of missed calls—from my mom, from unknown numbers, even from my dad. A hundred unanswered texts.

"When did all this come out?" I asked, my tone shaky.

"This morning."

What a fucking nightmare. He couldn't have just waited? Or made a simple statement that we'd grown apart and amicably parted ways?

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