“Hello Spencer, Toby.” Annabella, one of the producers, said coldly and emotionlessly as the couple walked into the tiny room. They greeted her with well-mannered, but anxious words, taking a seat in the leather couch directly across from the chair that Annabella was in.

                Spencer hesitantly reached out for Toby’s hand, which he held gently but firmly. His simple action seemed to calm her nerves; they hadn’t been asked to speak with the producers since they were brought to the airport in the limo. “It’s awfully late,” Toby said graciously. “Is this urgent?”

                “Yes,” Annabella replied sternly, his silicone lips in a firm smile. “We need you both to leave the show.”

                Spencer’s eyes widened more than they should have, and her posture particularly shifted. She furrowed her brows. “Excuse me?”

                Annabella sighed, “You are disqualified from the show. I’m sorry.”

                Toby’s grip on Spencer’s hand stiffened, his gaze confusedly fixated on the producers across from him. “Would you care to explain why?”

                Crossing her legs, Annabella let out a deep breath and reached into her bag, mumbling, “I should have listened to Eddie.” Finally, she pulled out a little leather book with the letter “S” elegantly written on the top corner. “Is this yours?” she asked.

                With a furious gasp, Spencer glared. “How did you get this?”

                Annabella didn’t reply, but simply changed the subject. “Is it true that you came into the completion for money, and that you were not in love at all?” Her voice was polite, but Toby couldn’t help but recognize her slight bitterness.

                “We were in love,” Toby corrected calmly. “We just didn’t know it.”

                Spencer greatly admired Toby’s words, and his calm boldness. Gently, she touched the back of his back with her thumb. “First off, even if someone did show that to you, or however you got my diary, you should NOT have read it! Second, we were, are, best friends. But you see, I’ve always viewed Toby as more, and he always viewed me as more. We just didn’t realize until a few weeks ago,” she tried to explain.

                The answer did not seem to please Annabella, for she glared slightly and looked between them. “So you were not in love when you came into this competition? You do realize you signed a contract about this…”

                “It doesn’t matter!” Spencer snapped furiously. “We are now!”

                Annabella eyed them both again, making them feel like animals in a zoo under her intense stare. “I had a good impression when I first met you two. You truly fooled our viewers too. Congratulations,” she hissed, her attitude clear now. “You do realize this makes the show look bad.”

                Toby bit his lip. “No one has to know. We can keep participating without anyone finding out. Does it really matter what happened when we first came, or as long as things are alright now?” he offered.

                “There’s no way I can tell you’re lying now,” she said in reply. “You broke your contract. I don’t know if we can overlook this. Do you really love him, Spencer?”

                “I do.” She nodded; there was unconditionally no hesitation. “I’m in love with him.”

                Annabella shifted her gaze to Toby, who was currently staring at Spencer, frozen in shock. She loved him? “Are you in love with Spencer, Toby?”

                He jumped and quickly turned his attention back to Annabella. “I…,” he trailed off, moving his eyes to the ground. Did you love Spencer? Unquestionably. Did he want to announce this right in front of Annabella in a moment like this?

                Annabella’s huge lips turned to a scowl. “See? We don’t need these kind of games on our show. We’re going to politely ask you to leave. If you are given any interviews, we’d recommend that you don’t speak about the reason that you were disqualified, for it would make the show look bad.”

                Toby exhaled sharply and deeply, refusing to look at Spencer who was clearly staring at him with a look full of pain. “What if we do?”

                “Then I suppose we’ll have to put you in court for breaking your contract. If you two stay silent about it, then you don’t have to worry. Just announce that you’ve broken up.”

                “What!” they both shouted at the same time.

                Annabella brushed something off her skirt. “We’d like it if you could leave tonight. The limo is waiting outside.”