Pretend with me
Jamie's POV
The click of Victoria’s heels faded down the hall, but her presence lingered like smoke.
I stayed by the terrace for a moment longer, gripping the cold stone railing, letting the night air cool the heat simmering under my skin. She wasn’t the first person to remind me I was “replaceable,” and she wouldn’t definitely won’t be the last.
But she didn’t know what I knew.
She didn’t know how Aiden looked at me in the dark, or how he whispered my name like it was the only word he’d ever learned.
I turned to head inside but then, the faint echoes of voices reached me from around the corner. Victoria hadn’t gone far.
“we need a distraction,” one of her team members whispered.
“Yes. The silhouette photo is already trending. We cannot let this breathe for another twenty-four hours,” Victoria said sharply. Her tone had that clipped, lethal vibe that made people jump.
“What’s the strategy?” a younger voice asked.
“Classic misdirection,” she said without hesitation. “We introduce a female companion. Someone believeable, Someone the public already adores. Aiden will be seen out with her, holding hands, smiling for the cameras. Let the public eat the fairy tale. They always do.”
The words hit like a slow, cold drop of water sliding down my spine.
Of course.
A girlfriend. A “perfect” distraction to erase the shadow of me from his world.
I leaned against the wall, my heart thudding, but not from surprise.
I wasn’t shocked they’d go down this route. I wasn’t even shocked Victoria would pull the trigger this fast. What stung—what always stung—was that Aiden hadn’t said a word.
He hadn’t warned me.
He hadn’t told me this was coming.
I swallowed the ache crawling up my chest and gently walked towards a more quieter hall like a man moving through fog. Every step felt heavy, like the carpet was quicksand.
I caught sight of Aiden moving through the crowd. God, he was radiant. Laughing at something an older director said, his hand resting lightly on a socialite’s elbow as he leaned in to listen. Every gesture screamed charm, perfection, control.
Inside, the hall was warm, it was dimly lit by the city glow spilling through the curtains. I gently lowered myself into the chair by the window and stared at the skyline, listening to the faint sound of music coming from the ballroom.
I didn’t cry. I wouldn’t give anyone, not even myself, that image.
But for the first time in a long time, the ground under me felt unsteady.
Hours later, he slipped into the hall where I waited. Apparently he saw when I headed this way.
I didn’t move.
Aiden stepped inside, loosening his tie, his expression softening the moment his eyes found me in the chair. “Jamie…you disappeared ” he said, his voice low as he approached me.
“You knew.” My voice was calm, but the edge was sharp enough to cut.
He froze mid‑air. “What are you talking about? Knew what”
“Don’t lie to me,” I said, turning my head finally to look at him. “They’re planning to put some actress on your arm to clean this up. And you didn’t think I deserved to know?”
Aiden flinched like the words had weight. He crossed the room slowly, crouching in front of me, his hand reaching for mine. “Jamie… I didn’t want to upset you. I didn’t even—”
“You didn’t even fight it,” I said softly, pulling my hand back before his fingers could close over it. “That’s what hurts the most.”
He exhaled hard, guilt flickering across his face. “I’m trapped. You know that. They control everything. If I say no, it just makes the rumors worse—”
I leaned forward, my voice dropping into the space between us like a claim. “I don’t care about their control. I care that you didn’t trust me enough to tell me. I care that the world gets your smile, and I get the scraps of your honesty.”
His eyes burned. “That’s not fair—”
“Life isn’t fair, Aiden,” I whispered, standing and letting my presence hover over him. I wasn’t shouting. I didn’t need to. My vojce was quiet, deliberate, like the pull of gravity. “But you’re mine. And every time you hide me, you’re the one who forgets that.”
He stared up at me like I’d just stripped him bare.
“Jamie…” His voice cracked as he called my name.
I didn’t move for a long moment. Then, finally, I offered him my hand—not as a plea, but as a choice. He took it like a drowning man, and I led him out of the hall.
We didn’t make it far.
The hallway was dark empty, except for the echo of music blasting from the event. Aiden’s fingers tightened around mine, desperate, and I turned, pinning him against the wall with one hand braced beside his head.
His breath hitched.
“Jamie…”
“Don’t say my name like that unless you’re ready to remember who you belong to,” I murmured, my lips brushing the corner of his jaw.
He shivered, his head tipping back slightly, his entire body giving in to my nearness. “I—God, I can’t stand this. You drive me crazy andI hate pretending you’re not—”
“Mine?” I finished for him, letting my hand slide up his chest, feeling the rapid drum of his heart.
“Yes,” he whispered, his voice ragged. “Yours. Always yours.”
The frustration, the ache, the desperation of the last twenty‑four hours poured into the kiss that followed. It wasn’t soft. It wasn’t careful. It was rough and urgent, the kind of kiss that left us both breathless and trembling.
Aiden clutched at my jacket, pulling me closer like he couldn’t get enough, while I kept control of the pace, the pressure, everything.
Between kisses, he gasped against my mouth, “I’m sorry… I should’ve told you…”
“You will next time,” I said against his lips, nipping at the corner of his mouth, savoring his quiet groan. “Because next time I won’t be this forgiving.”
He nodded, a small, helpless sound leaving his throat, and I felt him melt entirely into my hold.
In the shadows, away from cameras and contracts, Aiden Vale belonged to me.
And then, faint but unmistakable, a click.
A distant camera flash lit the hallway for a split second, reflecting off a polished frame on the wall.
We froze.
I turned my head just in time to see the silhouette of someone retreating at the end of the hall, a lens glinting in the dim light.
Somewhere in the building, a paparazzo had just captured our shadows, blurred and dangerous, and the world would soon know our secret was alive and would try anything possible to pry it open.