Chapter 19
Matteo
Today was going to be hard. I had to say goodbye to Lacey. Today was the day we’d have to “break up.” It had to be done big and in front of the entire family. At first, I thought maybe I should tell Lacey about the scene, but then I thought if I told her, she might not be able to act as surprised. I needed a reaction for my family to believe it.
When the ceremony began, I couldn’t take my eyes off her out in the audience. She was the most beautiful woman there, besides the bride of course. This made me even more nervous because of what I had to do. She would hate me for it. That was undeniable. Was I okay with the chance she might not want to see me again after today? I had to be. This was what she was hired for. Who knew if any of this was real to her? It was probably all part of the act.
Once the ceremony was over, everyone headed into the reception hall. Lacey and I kept our distance from each other, knowing the end of the lie was coming. She didn’t know exactly when, which was probably going to make it worse. I heard my mother squeal.
“Mom, what’s wrong?” I rushed over to her. “Are you okay?”
Her eyes grew wide while reading something on her phone. She looked at me with sad eyes and handed it over.
“I’m sorry, honey. I’m so sorry.”
The headline read The Real Lacey Pierce: Billionaire Side Piece. There was only one thing to do. It was time. There was no sense in prolonging it. Lacey was standing next to my sister when I asked to speak to her in private, but only stepping a few feet away. I needed them to hear it.
“This isn’t going to work. You are just not the person I thought you were. I found out who you really are.” I stopped and showed her the phone angrily. “You’ve been lying to me this whole time. Why have you been using me? To pay for your tuition? Here I thought what we had was real, but then I found out this. I can’t do this anymore. I need you to leave.” I really sold it by raising my voice.
She whispered, “Okay, you sold it. Stop yelling at me now.”
She didn’t even look at the phone. Maybe she thought I was joking. I couldn’t show it to her again without making it obvious. “I’m not joking. I can’t believe I ever even kissed you. We are so different, and it would have never worked out anyway. I don’t want to see your face anymore. Leave!” I yelled again.
I felt horrible, but it had to be done. I calmed myself down and realized tears were strolling down her face. That made me feel like a complete asshole. Her feelings got hurt for real. Why was I that jerk again? I already opened myself up, so why couldn’t I just be that guy for her?
Lacey wasted no time storming out of the reception. The bad thing was her reaction was real. I had gone too far. I should have dialed back the yelling a bit.
The next thing I thought was who could have tipped off the tabloids about Lacey? The only person that knew about us coming here together was Kimberly and my family. Of course, my family was out of the question. They would never do something like that to me. Would Kimberly? I paid her a good wage to keep my life private. Maybe it wasn’t enough?
Abigail walked over to me and put her hand on my shoulder. “Wow, I’m so sorry. I know how happy you guys were. But I don’t know. It didn’t seem fake to me. Are you sure she was just using you?”
Shawn then chimed in. “You felt so deeply for her. Are you really going to let her walk away? If you don’t fight for what you want, then every girl is going to walk away from you. Go get her!”
The sad thing was I wanted to chase after her. I wanted to apologize and beg her to stay, but I knew I shouldn’t. It was all fake. The past seven days were fake, weren’t they?
I stood there and shrugged it off, then got a drink. I couldn’t blow my cover.