Page 54 of Faking It with my Bestie's Billionaire Brother

"Obviously, she would have a problem with it, and where would that leave us?"

"Right," I said in a resigned voice, and I could see that it pained him. I wished that I could take any amount of satisfaction out of the fact that seemed to hurt him to say as much as it hurt me to hear, but the whole situation was just sad.

"We both agreed going into this that the most important person was Penny," I continued, "and that's not going to change now, regardless of how we feel about one another. If us being together hurts her, we can't afford to do that."

"I'm sorry Ava," he whispered, ducking his face down. I put my hand up to his jaw for him to look at me, and I hated the tears I saw swimming in his eyes. He was trying to be strong, but I knew this had to be hard.

"What do we do now?" I asked him, at a loss for what was next.

He sniffed, running a finger over my cheek. "We go out there, finish what we started, and then, we move on from there and hope that she'll forgive us."

I choked back a sob. It sounded so simple, but by the look on Spencer's face, I knew he felt hurt just as deeply as I did.

I was proud of myself for not bursting into tears, but I almost lost it when I told him, "Duke, I know this is probably the end of the road for us, but I just want you to know, you've been the greatest surprise of my life." Giving him a watery smile, I resisted the urge to kiss him again because I wasn't sure I'd be able to let him go afterward.

He huffed out a shaky laugh. "Oh, I assure you, Miss Moretti, there has been no greater surprise than discovering what you've meant to me. Thank you," he added quietly.

I smiled at him and questioned, "For what?"

"Making me feel alive again. I was pretty sure I had forgotten how that felt for a while."

Ralph appeared then, clearing his throat awkwardly. "The guests are beginning to question where you are, sir," he said pointedly, looking sheepish as he looked between the two of us.

Spencer nodded, not meeting Ralph's gaze. "Right. We'll be out shortly, don't worry."

He looked at me, then reached down to squeeze my hand, "Now, Miss Moretti, it's showtime. Let's go knock 'em dead with just how amazing you are."

I choked on my tears, grasping his hand tightly, unable to force anything to come out.

Once we made our way through the curtain, I managed to paste a shaky smile on my face and blink back the tears. If anybody told me that walking out in a fancy dress with all these fancy people would end up being the hardest moment of my life, I would've laughed my ass off.

But knowing that after this, Spencer and I would be parting ways, the pain stabbed at me. What made it worse was the fact that I knew that it was the only way forward.

Chapter twenty-two

Spencer

I felt like a walking heartache, faking my smiles for the cameras and making small talk with people I could care less about.

I just wanted to talk to Ava, though having her arm in arm with me just made me hurt more. Her perfume swallowed me, and I reveled in it, all the while dreading the moment when we would have to part for good.

Penny was supposed to make a speech that evening about how Ashbury Corporation had been progressively moving towards charitable contributions in the last couple of decades. At this point, I highly doubted she would make that speech. I supposed I couldn't blame her. I told Ralph that we might want to come up with a suitable substitution, and he said he was on it.

For her part, Ava worked that crowd beautifully, even though I could see the pain in her eyes, but she masked it well with others. I could see how charming they found her, and she was like a breath of fresh air amongst all the arrogant, snobbish people.

I tried not to think about our future together that we would never have. There would be no more chances for me to her getting dressed up in beautiful dresses or times where I could take her out on the town.

But more than that, I would miss seeing her with her bandana tied around her curly hair, clay-splattered overalls on over a messy T-shirt as she sculpted a piece, a wrinkle in her brow from concentration as she worked or how she tucked her tongue in between her lips.

Ralph tapped me on the shoulder, whispering in my ear, "You look like a sad dog again, rein it in."

I nodded curtly, but my attention was jerked towards the stage when somebody tapped the microphone.

I was surprised to see Penny up there. Ava and I looked at one another furtively as Penny began to talk. She gave her prepared remarks about how Ashbury Corporation had changed in the last couple of decades and how she saw a bright future because of what the corporation helped create through her students. It was a touching speech, and I was grateful to her for making it. She truly was the best representation of our family, the one member of our family who wasn't completely scarred and jaded. Hopefully, after what she had witnessed tonight, I could still say that.

Penny continued, "Thanks to the leadership of my big brother, Spencer Ashbury, we've seen a much more altruistic version of the company in recent years. At the time, some expressed surprise that such a big corporation would start turning so aggressively towards more community-minded initiatives, but I wasn't surprised because I know my brother." She stopped for a minute, swallowing hard, before continuing, "I know his heart, even though sometimes he can come across as aloof and arrogant, I know how much he truly cares for people, and just what great lengths he will go to fight for somebody he loves."

"More like what great lengths he'll go to for more money," a voice sounded from the crowd, and Penny stilled along with everybody else.

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