The Billionaire's Fake Forever

The first thing Ava noticed wasn't the music or the chatter filling the ballroom. It was the flowers. White roses covered every table, every pillar, and every corner of the room until the entire place looked like something out of a fairy tale. A fairy tale she had no business being part of. She tightened her grip on the small gift bag hanging from her wrist. Compared to the beautifully wrapped designer boxes piled near the stage, hers looked embarrassingly simple. It was wrapped in brown paper with a silver ribbon she'd spent almost twenty minutes trying to tie neatly. Inside was a handmade photo album. Three years' worth of memories filled its pages. Movie tickets, faded receipts from late-night coffee dates, tiny handwritten notes Ethan had slipped into her bag whenever she was having a bad day, and photographs of moments they had promised they would never forget. It wasn't expensive. But it meant everything to her. Her eyes drifted toward the large banner hanging behind the stage. Congratulations. That was all it said. No names. No photographs. Just one word. When Ethan invited her two weeks ago, he had simply told her there was something important he wanted to celebrate. "Just come," he had said over the phone. "You'll understand when you get here." She had spent the last two weeks wondering what he meant. Maybe his company had finally secured the investment he'd been chasing for months. Maybe he'd bought the apartment they always talked about. Or maybe... Her eyes dropped to her pale blue dress, and a small smile touched her lips. Maybe tonight was finally the night he proposed. It was a silly thought, but after three years together, Ava didn't think she was wrong for believing they were moving toward forever. "Ava." She turned at the sound of her name and smiled when she saw Rachel making her way toward her with a champagne glass in her hand. Rachel worked with Ethan and had become one of the few people from his office Ava genuinely liked. "You actually came." Rachel smiled before glancing around the ballroom. "You're here by yourself?" Ava nodded. "Ethan told me to meet him here." For the briefest moment, Rachel's smile faltered. "Oh." The single word carried something Ava couldn't quite place. "What is it?" Rachel shook her head a little too quickly. "Nothing." Before Ava could ask anything else, someone called Rachel's name from across the room. "I have to go. We'll talk later." Rachel hugged her before disappearing into the crowd. Ava watched her leave, an uneasy feeling settling in her chest. Something didn't feel right. Maybe it was the way people kept looking toward the staircase. Maybe it was Rachel's strange reaction. Or maybe she was simply nervous because she hadn't seen Ethan properly in almost three weeks. Work had consumed his life. There was always another meeting, another investor, another business trip. Every time he apologized, he promised everything would settle down soon. Ava believed him. She always did. A small smile found its way onto her face as she remembered the day they met. She had accidentally spilled an entire iced coffee down the front of his white shirt. Instead of getting angry, Ethan had looked at the stain before meeting her eyes. "You know," he had said with a perfectly straight face, "most women usually start with hello." She had laughed so hard she nearly cried. Later, he admitted he didn't even like coffee. He had only ordered it because he thought it made him look more mature. Remembering that still made her smile. The lights suddenly dimmed, pulling her back to the present. Conversations faded until the ballroom fell quiet. Everyone turned toward the grand staircase overlooking the room. The pianist stopped playing. A moment later, applause filled the ballroom. Ava looked up with an automatic smile. Then she saw him. Ethan looked every bit like the successful businessman he had dreamed of becoming. His black tailored tuxedo fit him perfectly, and the confidence in his posture made him seem like he belonged in a room like this. Then she noticed the woman standing beside him. She was beautiful, with long blonde hair resting over one shoulder and a champagne-colored gown that shimmered beneath the lights. Her hand rested comfortably around Ethan's arm, and he made no attempt to move away. Instead, he smiled at her. A knot tightened in Ava's stomach. Who was she? Before Ava could answer that question, the master of ceremonies stepped onto the stage. "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for joining us tonight for such a special occasion." The applause slowly faded. "I know you've all been waiting for this announcement." He turned toward Ethan and the woman beside him. "It gives me great pleasure to congratulate Mr. Ethan Kingsley and his beautiful fiancée, Miss Sophia Sinclair." The room erupted into applause. Ava couldn't hear any of it. She stared at Ethan, certain she had misunderstood. Fiancée? That wasn't possible. There had to be some mistake. Their eyes met across the ballroom. She waited for him to laugh. To shake his head. To tell everyone there had been some misunderstanding. Instead, he looked away. That was when she knew. Sophia Sinclair wasn't standing beside him by accident. She was exactly who the host had introduced her to be. Ethan's fiancée. And somehow, her boyfriend had invited her here to watch him choose someone else. When Ethan finally looked at her again, guilt flickered across his face before disappearing just as quickly. He whispered something to Sophia, then the two of them walked down the staircase together. Every step they took made the truth harder to deny. Ava stood frozen where she was, unable to move while the applause continued around her. It felt as though something inside her had quietly fallen apart. Ethan stopped a few feet away. "Ava." She searched his face for an explanation. Anything that would make this make sense. Instead, he looked at her the way people looked at someone they knew they were about to hurt. "I didn't think you'd come." A bitter laugh escaped her. "You invited me." "I know." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I thought... maybe after thinking about it, you'd decide not to." "So you invited me to your engagement hoping I wouldn't show up?" "It wasn't supposed to happen like this." Sophia stepped forward with a polite smile. "You must be Ava. I've heard so much about you." Ava barely looked at her. Her eyes stayed on Ethan. "Tell me she's joking." Neither of them spoke. "Ethan... tell me this is just a business announcement." He closed his eyes briefly before letting out a slow breath. "I'm sorry." Those words hurt more than she expected. She tightened her grip on the gift bag. "You promised we'd look at rings after your promotion." "I know." "You promised we'd move in together before the end of the year." "I know." "You promised we'd build a life together." His shoulders sagged. "I know." Every answer sounded practiced. As though he'd rehearsed this conversation long before tonight. "Then why?" He hesitated before answering. "Because things changed." Ava shook her head. "No." He frowned. "No?" "You changed." He started to speak, but she continued before he could. "I stayed exactly where you left me." People nearby had stopped talking. She could feel them watching. Ethan sighed. "Ava... sometimes love isn't enough." She smiled sadly. "Is that what you tell yourself so you can sleep at night?" He didn't answer. "I loved you when your company wasn't making any money." His jaw tightened. "I stayed when everyone else doubted you." He lowered his eyes. "I celebrated every little success because I believed in you before anyone else did." He remained silent. Finally, he looked at her. "Sophia's family can give my company opportunities you never could." There it was. Ava nodded slowly. "So this was never about love." He looked away. "It was about business." He said nothing. That silence answered everything. She placed the gift bag gently on the table between them. "I made this for you." His eyes followed it. "You don't have to keep it." She swallowed the lump in her throat. "But every picture inside belongs to a version of you that money hadn't changed yet." Neither Ethan nor Sophia spoke. Ava stepped back. "I hope one day you become successful enough to realize what you gave up to get there." Then she turned and walked away. She refused to run. She refused to let anyone in that ballroom see her fall apart. Not until she was outside. The cool night air hit her face as she stepped through the hotel doors. She kept walking until she reached the edge of the driveway. Only then did the tears come. And that was when the black luxury sedan pulled up beside her. The rear window slowly lowered. A man sat inside. He looked to be in his early thirties. His dark suit fit him perfectly, and there was something calm about him that stood out against the chaos in her chest. His gray eyes settled on her with quiet certainty. "Ava Carter." She frowned. "I'm sorry... do I know you?" A faint smile touched his lips. "No." Before she could ask another question, he opened the car door. "But I've been looking for you for a very long time." Ava froze. "Who are you?" His gaze never left hers. "I'll answer every question you have." A pause. "Get in."