THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
411 Words
Ariella
There’s a document waiting for me on the kitchen counter the next morning.
Thick cream paper. Black ink. No signature yet.
> Engagement Agreement – Terms & Conditions
Confidential. Binding. Discretion required.
I blink.
“Are you serious?” I ask, holding it up like it might burn me.
Cassian doesn’t even look up from his espresso. “Deadly.”
“You drafted a contract for our fake engagement?”
“This is a business deal. I don’t do business without paper trails.”
I flip through it. “Clause 4: No kissing in public unless initiated by Mr. Wolfe. Clause 6: Must wear the Wolfe engagement ring during all media appearances. Clause 9…” I pause.
“No s****l contact unless mutually consented and formally renegotiated.”
My eyes snap up. “Are you out of your mind?”
Cassian finally looks at me. “I’m protecting you.”
I laugh—sharp and bitter. “From what? Your wandering hands?”
He sets his cup down. “From me forgetting this is a lie.”
There’s something cold and raw in his voice. A warning.
My anger fizzles into confusion. “Why would you forget?”
He doesn’t answer.
And somehow, that silence is louder than any explanation.
---
Later that day, my best friend Nova calls. She saw the foreclosure headline and the ring.
“I swear, Ari, if you’re in trouble—blink twice,” she half-jokes.
“I’m fine,” I lie. “It’s real. Just…complicated.”
She doesn’t believe me. But she doesn’t push either. That’s the thing about Nova—she trusts me to come clean when I’m ready.
Too bad I might never be.
---
Cassian and I are scheduled for our first official engagement photoshoot. It's a glossy, overproduced affair in some luxury rooftop garden. Stylists everywhere. Flashbulbs in my face. The press eating out of our palms.
They want us to kiss. Just a small one. For the headline.
I glance at Cassian.
He doesn’t move.
I lean in. Just barely.
He turns his head—kisses my cheek.
The crowd melts. Cameras explode.
But I feel it. The tension in his jaw. The way his hand holds my waist like he’s trying not to grip too hard.
And I realize something terrifying.
He might hate this as much as I do.
But he wants to win even more.
And I have no idea what that win will cost me.
- Writer
