Page 46 of The Substitute Fiancée

“How many years were you chasing him?” she continues mercilessly. “Four? Five? And he never even saw you. It only took me three weeks to get him into my bed. Three weeks.”

She sees that she’s getting to me. She revels in it.

“Not feeling so confident now, are you?” she hisses. “You know as well as I do that the second I whistle, he’ll come running back. And when that happens, I’ll make you pay for what you just did.”

The apartment door suddenly flies open.

Emelyne appears on the landing.

“I don’t know where you think you are, Kristel, but you’re going to calm down right now,” my friend snaps. “You do not talk to her like that, or you get out of my place.”

Kristel recoils in the face of Emelyne’s fury, but she’s not done yet.

“Expect to hear from me soon, dear little sister. From now on, I’m going to make your life hell. And when our parents find out what you’ve done, they’ll disown you. This time, for good.”

The violence of her words hits me head-on.

Would they really go that far?

The truth is, I don’t know. Maybe this will finally be the moment of truth. Maybe they’ll seize this opportunity to erase me from their lives for good.

Kristel storms off.

Emelyne immediately pulls me inside and shuts the door behind her. The slam still echoes when she wraps me against her chest.

It’s only then that I realize my entire body is shaking, wracked by the emotional backlash.

When I finally manage to calm down, Emelyne studies me closely.

“Fuck… did she do that to you?”

I know exactly what she’s looking at: the mark on my cheek, still burning.

“It’s nothing,” I reply, downplaying it.

“You’re kidding, right?”

She turns abruptly, rummages through a kitchen drawer, and pulls out a clean dish towel. She dumps a handful of frozen peas into it, then fashions an improvised compress and hands it to me.

“Here. Put this on if you want to limit the damage.”

The moment the cold touches my skin, someone buzzes the intercom.

“Yes?” Emelyne answers.

“It’s Alexander.”

Without hesitation, she presses the button to unlock the building door.

“But what is he doing here?” I panic.

“I texted him when I heard you arguing in the stairwell. He’s the one who dragged you into this mess, so the least he can do is take care of you.”

She gives me a conspiratorial wink before disappearing into her bedroom.

“Enjoy!” she adds under her breath before closing the door.

Despite everything that just happened, a smile forms on my lips when I open the door to Alexander.