I stared at the screen, my fingers frozen over my phone, my heartbeat drumming in my ears. The image on the screen was so surreal that I had to blink several times to make sure I was seeing it correctly. There, in full view, was Keith, standing outside a café, kissing a woman who seemed to be clinging to him. Passionately.

It was all over the tabloids. The image, the headline, the endless comments and speculations and my name was dragged into it, naturally. 

A pang of hurt shot through me, sharp and unexpected. 

How could he do this? 

I was zooming into the picture wanting to make sure my eyes didn't deceive me and it was indeed Keith. 

I squeezed my phone, feeling the familiar anger rise, but it was mixed with something else, a deep, hollow feeling that I couldn't ignore. 

"Vienna? Are you okay?" A voice broke through my dazed thoughts. I looked up, only to find one of my office mates, Lily, standing by my desk, holding her phone out in front of me, the same image of Keith and the woman displayed on her screen.

"Hey, I saw this on the news... is everything alright?" Lily asked, concern etched on her face.

I opened my mouth to say something, anything, but the words were stuck. 

How could I explain? 

How could I put into words the sheer confusion that was swirling inside me? Instead, I forced a smile.

"I'm fine," I said, my voice betraying me. 

Lily looked at me suspiciously, clearly not buying it, but she didn't press. Instead, she frowned, noticing my stiff posture, before she gave me a gentle pat on the shoulder.

"If you need to talk, I'm here."

I nodded, but before I could respond, I felt my phone buzz in my hand again. This time, I didn't even need to look at it to know what it was. I could feel the weight of those endless notifications, the never-ending storm of speculation about me, about Keith, about our so-called relationship.

Without a word, I stood up and walked out of the office, my feet carrying me automatically toward the restroom. I needed to get away, to think, to breathe without all these eyes watching, without all the whispers following me.

I slammed the restroom door behind me, locking it as I leaned back against it, my heart hammering in my chest. The words from the internet, the way people were talking about us, crushed me. They were calling it an arranged marriage, mocking us. 

They were so sure of it. 

So sure that Keith and I weren't in love.

I scrolled through the pictures again, my hands shaking. The more I looked, the worse it became. There it was, Keith and that woman, but now, there was another photo that caught my eye. She's a famous actress, standing next to Keith as he had his arm around her waist, guiding her to his car. The picture was clear, too clear. The smile on her face. The way Keith was looking at her, like he actually cared.

I had to stop. I had to stop looking. But my fingers wouldn't listen. They kept scrolling, and my heart kept breaking with each new image.

I... I couldn't deny it anymore.

The realization hit me like a wave, knocking the breath out of me. 

Jealousy. 

I was jealous. 

Why was I jealous? 

Why did it bother me so much to see Keith with someone else? It wasn't like I was in love with him. I told myself I wasn't. I told myself I didn't care. But here I was, standing in the restroom, shaking, crying over something that shouldn't even matter.

I rushed to the sink, splashing water on my face. My hands gripped the sides of the counter as I stared at my reflection in the mirror, my red eyes staring back at me. My heart pounded. The cool water slipping down my face did nothing to calm me.

Why am I crying over this? Why does it bother me so much?

Tears continued to spill as memories rushed back. The way he looked at me when he saved me from that car crash. The way his eyes softened, just for a moment, when we quarelled. The way he held me when I needed someone. The times we argued, the times we laughed, the moments when we kissed, I thought just for a second that maybe we had something real. 

But then there were the other times, when he was cold, distant, and unfeeling. 

When he made it clear that we were nothing more than a business arrangement.

But in that moment, with the water slipping down my face, I finally understood. 

I had feelings for him. Real feelings. 

And I hated myself for it.

"You are such a loser, Vienna. You fell for that heartless bastard."

The words echoed in my mind as I wiped my face with trembling hands. I took one last look at myself in the mirror, trying to gather whatever was left of my shattered composure.

I couldn't keep doing this. I couldn't keep pretending that none of this mattered. Because it did. It mattered more than I wanted to admit.

But what was I supposed to do about it?

~

I sat outside Mr. Aaron Devlin's office, my fingers tightening around the edge of my seat. The heavy mahogany doors were shut, and I knew for a fact that the room was soundproof, but still, I could hear his angry voice booming from inside.

Keith and I had been summoned here—no, dragged here—by our fathers after the scandal broke.

The ever-elusive, unreadable fiancé I barely knew, was eerily calm after the situation he knowingly created. 

Margaret Howey. The famous actress now plastered all over the internet with her lips pressed against his.

The perfect storm.

I should have been prepared for this. After all, Keith had just revealed to my colleagues yesterday that we had only met seven months ago, and by morning, that confession had taken flight. Now, the media had their proof that our engagement was nothing but a business arrangement.

And Keith? He had just handed them more fuel to the fire.

Inside, Aaron Devlin was livid, his voice shaking the very walls of his office as he grilled his son.

I wasn't allowed in.

Instead, I sat here, forced to listen to muffled arguments while my father paced in front of me, a flustered mess of nerves.

"Does he like that woman?" my father muttered, almost to himself.

I dropped my gaze to my hands, unsure.

"He might," I whispered.

My father spun to glare at me. "Are you telling me that even after your engagement, you two are still not together?"

I let out a sharp huff, crossing my arms. "What's there to be together for? You both forced us into this. We barely know each other, we don't hang out, and we barely talk. If he loves someone else, how is that his fault? Or mine?"

"Vienna, dear, you don't understand, your relationship with Keith is important for our busin—"

"Business," I snapped, standing up. "That's all you ever talk about, Dad! Business, business, business. Do you even care that I've been torn apart online because of this? People are calling me a joke! They know this whole engagement is fake, and now this scandal—" I gestured vaguely at my phone, where the images of Keith and Margaret were still plastered on the screen. 

"How do you expect me to just sit here and be okay with this?"

My father sighed, running a hand through his graying hair. "I care about you, Vienna. This is exactly why I chose Keith for you. He's the best. And it's not like you were dating anyone before this."

My jaw clenched. "That doesn't mean I needed you to pick someone for me."

"Vi—"

The doors to the office suddenly burst open, cutting my father off mid-sentence.

Keith stepped out, his expression dark, his movements rigid with barely contained fury.

He was anything but happy.

His blue eyes flicked to me for a brief second, unreadable, before he turned away, jaw clenched tight.

I had no idea what his father had just said to him, but whatever it was, Keith Devlin looked ready to explode. 

My father looked between us before excusing himself and going into the office room to talk to Mr. Aaron leaving me alone with him.

I stared at him as he stood their silently. There was faint red mark near his lips and I realised he might have brushed his hands over his lips after the kiss with Margaret and was soon dragged here.

I clenched my fists, nails digging into my palms as I stared at Keith. His blue eyes held nothing but indifference, his posture as relaxed as ever, hands shoved in his pockets like this entire situation didn't concern him.

And maybe it didn't.

Maybe, for him, this was nothing more than an inconvenience.

But for me? This was my entire life being dissected and ridiculed online.

"If you had someone in your life, you could have just told them the truth from the beginning," I finally managed to say, trying to keep my voice steady. "We wouldn't be in this place now."

Keith's lips twitched into a sarcastic smirk as he stepped closer. "You started crying in the middle of the road," he said, his voice eerily calm. "It is as burdensome to me as it is to you."

My breath hitched. "What do you mean?"

"I don't have to explain anything to you."

His snide remark cut deeper than I wanted to admit.

"Of course you don't," I bit out, crossing my arms. "Instead, you'd rather put me out there like bait. Let people tear me apart while you stand on the sidelines. Do you even realize that I'm the one getting dragged through the mud while you go off kissing actresses? Could you not, for once, think about discussing things with me first? We could have figured out a way to get out of this together!"

Keith let out a short, humorless chuckle, shaking his head. "Listen, why take it slow when we could speed things up and end this disaster faster?"

My heart dropped.

"Recently, it's been too annoying for me," he continued, as if this was some mild inconvenience. "I can't even focus on my work because of this wedding drama that I absolutely hate. So I did what I felt was right. People will forget. Don't worry about it."

"Keith, it's not about people forgetting! Because of all this, they're digging up my past, my personal life, my worst memories! I'm the one who—"

"Oh yes," he cut me off, his voice dripping with mock amusement. "I saw your yellow polka dot prom dress."

I felt my blood turn ice cold.

"You sure looked ugly," he finished, his words striking like a whip.

Something inside me snapped.

"Go to hell, Mr. Keith Devlin!" I hissed, shoving him back. He barely moved, but his expression darkened, his smirk vanishing.

"You have no right to say that to me," I continued, my voice shaking. "I don't care how much you hate this arrangement, but at least I'm not out there making things worse. You—"

"Enough," Keith interrupted, his voice lower, sharper. His eyes locked onto mine with an intensity that made my breath hitch. "I want to end this, Vienna. You're the one who can't seem to figure out what the hell you want."

His words struck deeper than I expected.

"If you really want this to end, all of these shouldn't bother you. Its not just you but people are digging up my past as well. You know very well, I could care less about it and be happy with at least we are getting what we want."

I opened my mouth to argue, to tell him I did know what I wanted—freedom from all of this, freedom from him—but before I could speak, the office door swung open.

"Enough of this nonsense!" Aaron Devlin's booming voice filled the hallway.

I turned, startled to see both our fathers standing there, grim-faced and deadly serious.

My father cleared his throat, shifting uncomfortably before looking at me. "Both of you, inside. Now."

Keith and I exchanged a wary glance, our argument temporarily forgotten as we stepped into the office. The heavy doors shut behind us, sealing us in.

I barely had time to process the tension in the room before Aaron Devlin dropped the bombshell.

"The wedding will take place in two weeks from now."

Silence.

A thick, suffocating silence.

I froze, my breath caught in my throat, my body turning ice cold.

In two weeks?

Keith, for once, looked just as shocked as I was. His jaw tightened, his hands balling into fists at his sides.

"You can't be serious," he said, his voice low, dangerous.

"Oh, I am," Aaron said, his voice steely. "I'm tired of this ridiculous drama. It's time to put an end to this mess. You two will be married by the end of the next week."

I felt the walls closing in.

I opened my mouth, but no words came out.

This was happening.

Whether I wanted it or not.

I turned to Keith, hoping to see some sort of fight in him, some resistance, but he said nothing.

He simply exhaled sharply, closing his eyes for a brief second, before looking away.

And just like that, my fate was sealed.