Chapter 3 Warning Signs and Weak Spots

Mia Carter had dealt with difficult people before. Rude customers. Creepy bosses. Backhanded friends who smiled to her face and laughed behind her back. But nothing in her life had prepared her for Margot Kane.

Everything about Lucas's cousin screamed polished poison. From her surgically perfect smile to the way she clinked her spoon against her champagne glass during brunch, demanding everyone's attention with the effortless grace of someone born into power.

But Mia wasn't from this world. She knew how to pretend. She knew how to smile, how to nod, how to act like she wasn't sweating under the summer sun and the weight of a hundred judging eyes. What she didn't know-what she couldn't figure out-was how to survive it for six whole months.

Lucas noticed.

He didn't say anything during brunch. He just reached for her hand beneath the table and let his thumb gently brush her knuckles. It was the smallest touch-but it grounded her.

It also made her forget, just for a second, that they were pretending.

Now, back in the guest suite-her new "home"-Mia stripped out of her sundress and tossed it across the back of a velvet chair. She headed into the adjoining bathroom, turned on the tap, and splashed cold water on her face.

Margot's words echoed in her ears.

"Everyone will want to tear you apart."

And she wasn't wrong. Every look at brunch had been a calculation. Every question about her past had been loaded. Where did you two meet? What do your parents do? Did you go to university? Oh, a community college? How quaint.

They didn't see a wife. They saw a problem.

A threat.

Mia dried her face and stared at her reflection. Her long brown hair hung in soft waves around her shoulders, her hazel eyes tired but defiant. The simple gold necklace Lucas had placed around her neck before brunch still hung there-lightweight but heavy with meaning.

She was in way over her head.

A soft knock pulled her from her thoughts.

She wrapped her robe tighter around her body and opened the door.

Lucas stood there, sleeves rolled again, no tie, jacket gone. Casual billionaire. Effortlessly intimidating.

"Can I come in?"

She stepped aside, unsure what to expect. "Sure."

He walked in, his gaze sweeping the room before settling on her. "I wanted to check on you."

"You mean make sure I didn't run off screaming?"

His lips twitched. "Something like that."

She folded her arms, leaning against the bedpost. "Margot's a viper."

"She's always been that way."

"She's going to investigate me."

"She's probably already on her third private investigator."

That should've scared her. Maybe it did. But somehow, Lucas's calm made it feel like less of a threat and more of a storm they'd weather together. Pretend or not.

"She asked me if I knew about your ex," Mia said suddenly.

Lucas went still. "What did you say?"

"That I didn't. Because I don't."

He nodded once. "Smart."

Mia narrowed her eyes. "You do realize that if we're going to sell this, I need to know the story. I need to know what she knows."

Lucas hesitated.

She walked past him and closed the door. "Look, I'm not trying to pry. I just don't want to be blindsided."

He let out a slow breath. "Her name was Caroline."

She stayed quiet.

"She was... someone I trusted," he continued. "She said all the right things. Did all the right things. Everyone loved her. Including my grandfather."

"And you?" Mia asked carefully.

Lucas didn't answer right away. "I thought I did."

She nodded slowly. "What happened?"

He met her gaze. "I caught her in my office-copying confidential files. She was feeding them to my biggest competitor."

Mia's jaw dropped.

Lucas's face was unreadable. "When I confronted her, she didn't even deny it. Just said, 'You were never going to give me what I wanted, anyway.'"

Mia's heart sank. "What did she want?"

He looked at her, eyes flat. "Everything."

She understood then why Lucas had drawn that invisible line around himself. Why he was so careful. So calculated.

Why love was off the table.

"Did Margot like her?" Mia asked.

"She adored her. Still does, I think."

"Then I'm really screwed."

Lucas chuckled. "You're doing better than you think."

She turned toward him. "I don't know how you live like this. With all these people smiling and scheming and pretending to care."

"I don't," he said quietly. "That's why I live in the city. I only come here when I have to."

She watched him for a moment. "Why me?"

He raised a brow. "You're going philosophical on me now?"

"No, seriously." She crossed her arms. "Out of every woman you could've hired or bribed or convinced to play your fake wife, why me?"

Lucas moved closer, stopping just a foot away from her.

"Because you didn't know who I was," he said. "You weren't impressed. You weren't scared. You were just... real."

Her breath caught.

"That night in Vegas," he said softly, "you looked me in the eye and called me an arrogant jerk. No one's done that to me in years."

"I was drunk."

"You were honest."

She laughed, nerves bubbling up. "You make it sound like you actually like me."

Lucas's expression didn't change. "Don't get any ideas."

Mia smirked. "You wish."

They stood there for a beat too long. The air between them shifted-charged, complicated.

Then Lucas stepped back. "Dinner's at seven. Wear something Margot will hate."

She laughed, and for the first time since arriving in New York, it felt like maybe-just maybe-she could survive this.

Two Days Later - Downtown Manhattan

Mia clutched the designer handbag Lucas had forced her to carry and stepped out of the black SUV. His assistant, Harper, was waiting at the curb, tablet in hand, blazer perfectly pressed.

"Welcome to Kane Global," Harper said, her tone brisk but not unkind. "We've arranged for Mia to intern in Community Relations. We figured it would look best on paper."

"Community Relations," Mia repeated. "So... PR?"

"Essentially," Harper said. "Don't worry, we'll keep your tasks light. You're just here to be seen."

"Great. I'm here to look useful."

Harper smiled. "You're here to look expensive."

Lucas leaned in. "Just don't cause a scandal."

Mia raised a brow. "Me? Never."

He smirked and kissed her cheek-right in front of the building entrance.

Her heart skipped before her brain reminded her: this is for show.

She stepped into the sleek lobby, heels echoing against the marble floor, and forced herself to channel confidence she didn't feel.

Halfway across the lobby, she noticed people staring.

Not because she was beautiful.

But because she was his.

Lucas Kane's mystery bride.

The nobody who landed the golden billionaire.

Later That Afternoon - Office Gossip

Mia sat at a shared workspace with three other interns, all of them carefully styled, all of them whispering in code when they thought she couldn't hear.

"Did you see the ring?"

"Please, it's probably cubic zirconia."

"She used to be a waitress, can you believe that?"

"Bet she signed an NDA just to sleep with him."

She pretended not to hear.

She smiled. She nodded. She answered emails and filed meaningless reports. But every second reminded her that she didn't belong.

And every second made her more determined to prove she did.

That Evening - Rooftop Charity Gala

It was Lucas's world again. Glittering gowns. Expensive hors d'oeuvres. Photographers lurking behind velvet ropes.

Mia stood on the rooftop of a glass skyscraper, the lights of the city twinkling behind her like diamonds. Lucas stood beside her, tux crisp, face unreadable.

"Ready?" he asked, holding out his hand.

She slipped her fingers into his. "Let's make them believe."

He led her onto the main floor of the rooftop garden, flashing a practiced smile. People turned. Flashed cameras. Whispered.

They looked perfect.

Polished.

Powerful.

Untouchable.

But as Mia laughed at Lucas's whispered joke and leaned into his side, she realized something terrifying.

She was starting to like pretending.

Because with him-even just for show-she didn't feel like a fraud.

She felt seen.