One Night Stand With My Exs Billionaire Enemy - Chapter 15

Chapter 15 But instead of throwing a punch, Rhys took a deep breath and said, 'We need to talk.' I relaxed fractionally and plonked myself down on a bench in the waiting area. I wasn't going anywhere till Aunt Louisa came out of surgery. If Rhys wanted to talk, he could crack on. I was fully prepared to ignore every syllable. He sat next to me and lowered his voice. 'I need you to... do something for me.' I kept my eyes glued to the neon-red sign above the operating room door that screamed Surgery In Progress. Rhys went on. 'Look, I'm sorry I lost my temper that day and... hurt you.

I apologise.' I turned my head slowly, like I was checking if I'd just hallucinated him saying that. Rhys Granger, apologising? Was he ill? Had the aliens finally replaced him with a half-decent human clone? 'I'm sorry about how things turned out,' he said. 'I wish we could work something out. Mum was really upset when she found out we'd had a fight-' 'We didn't just have a fight, Rhys. We broke up.' I cut in before he could romanticise it into a bloody rom-com misunderstanding. He let out a heavy exhale. 'Yeah, I know. But Mum doesn't.' I blinked.

'You didn't tell her?' 'I said we'd had a fight. That we were, like, on a break. She told me to fix it. She thinks I'm the one who messed up and I'm supposed to win you back with flowers or whatever.' I didn't respond. Mostly because I was too busy mentally filing this under You Cannot Make This Shit Up. Rhys leaned closer. 'Look, I know it's a massive favour, but... would you still be my fiancée? Just for now. Just till Mum's feeling better. I need time to, you know, ease her into the idea of me and Catherine.' Ah, there it was. The cherry on top of the bullshittery sundae.

Rhys wanted me to play pretend fiancée while he canoodled with Catherine behind the scenes. 'You've got to be kidding me,' I said, once my brain caught up with the sheer absurdity of it all. 'I can pay you,' he added like he was doing me a favour. 'Get you a job at my company, or literally anywhere else in the city. A flat, money, jewellery-whatever you want.' 'You seriously think I'm going to play house with you just so you can keep lying to your mum?' I stared at him like he'd grown a second head. A dumber one.

Less than twenty-four hours ago, I'd literally come up with the exact same plan to get my parents off my back. But somehow, when he suggested it, it made my skin crawl. Maybe that made me a hypocrite. Or maybe it just meant I still had some shred of self-respect left, which was more than I could say for him. 'I know it's a lot to ask,' he pressed on, because of course he did. Rhys never took no for an answer, at least not from me. His voice sped up like he was trying to close a deal before his mum came out of surgery. Which only made it worse.