Maskfall

Not long after Josh Stewart proposed to me, the Stewart family went bankrupt. He took on three jobs, pouring everything he had into taking care of me. Every morning, he handed me the first cup of coffee, and the only fresh bagel on the table was always mine.

He would pull me into his arms and promise, softly but firmly, that once he had saved his first 100,000 dollars, he would marry me.

I believed every word.

Until the day I stepped into an exclusive private club and saw him with his childhood sweetheart, their fingers intertwined, as he ordered a bottle of Lafite without a second thought.

"If Yvette still hasn't realized in three days that Donald's been pretending to be you, then you win," she said with a smile.

"Her eyesight isn't great," Josh replied, a hint of amusement in his voice. "And Donald avoids women. She won't notice. If I win, you're coming abroad with me for the wedding."

I stood there, just out of sight, listening. A small smile tugged at my lips. Perhaps… it was time to find myself a different groom.

When Donald Brooks started messing with me, Josh Stewart was calmly cracking open an outrageously expensive lobster for Whitney Yates. Just one cost over 100,000 dollars.

Every time he broke a piece of shell, one of my cheap clothes was taken off.

In the shadowy booth, Donald Brooks slid up behind me and hooked an arm around my waist, pressing close.

I had no choice but to endure it, biting down on my lower lip. He was known for hating women, but in moments like that, he never held back. Low, reckless laughter leaked through his earpiece.

"Looks like Josh has this bet in the bag. Whitney had better get ready to be Mrs. Stewart."

"But if you marry Whitney, what about Yvette? If she finds out you've been lying to her, she won't let it go."

Josh took a casual sip of his drink. "Before her mom died, she told her to hold on tight to me. A gold digger like her… letting her suffer a little is already going easy on her. Besides, with her bad eyesight, she can't even tell Donald and me apart. What right does she have to be Mrs. Stewart?"

His friends laughed and agreed. Then, someone muttered under their breath, "Even if she hasn't noticed, she was willing to stick with you through hard times. That's got to mean something. If I were Donald, I'd have a hard time not falling for a girl that pretty."

The smug look on Josh's face froze, and his expression darkened. He shifted uncomfortably and tapped his earpiece.

"Donald, why the sudden silence?"

Behind me, the man moved faster. I could not stop a soft sound from slipping out.

Josh's tone sharpened instantly.

"Donald, who's with you?"

The man behind me cursed under his breath, pulled my clothes back over my shoulders, then grabbed his phone and hurried out into