From Lies to Love: My Rival Husband
She needed a husband. He needed a wife. Neither expected to find each other at the end of the aisle.
Mia Cross is a rising CEO with everything under control except her traditional family, who demands she marry before the year is out. Out of desperation, she invents the perfect boyfriend. But when her family insists on meeting him, her lie threatens to explode.
Liam Wolfe, her infuriating rival from a competing firm. He's ruthless, arrogant, and entirely too handsome for his own good. But he needs a "wife" to secure the business deal of his life. Their solution? A marriage of convenience.
The rules are simple: no love, no real intimacy, and an expiration date set in stone. But when family drama, boardroom battles, and scandalous rumors put their fragile arrangement under fire, Mia and Liam discover that pretending to be in love might be the most dangerous game of all.
Because somewhere between fake kisses and staged smiles, the lines are blurring. And the hardest rule of all to keep might be the one that forbids falling in love.
Will their marriage remain a lie... or become the truest thing they've ever known?
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Chapter 6
By Sunday afternoon, I was running on caffeine and adrenaline. The family reunion had been a whirlwind of nosy questions, "accidental" matchmaking attempts from relatives who hadn't gotten the memo I was already taken, and one too many rounds of the Newlywed Quiz.
I should have been relieved it was over. Instead, I felt an odd twinge in my chest as I stood on the porch, watching my parents hug Liam like he was already part of the family.
"Don't be a stranger," Mom said, patting his arm. "And we'll see you both at the wedding, of course."
I froze. "The wedding?"
Mom smiled brightly, like she'd just told me the weather was nice. "You two clearly aren't wasting time. Aunt Carol already offered to bake the cake."
I shot Liam a warning glare, but he only smiled politely and promised to "keep them posted."
Once we were back in the car, I turned on him. "Why didn't you correct her?"
He started the engine. "Because you were standing right there, and you didn't either."
"That's because I was too busy choking on my own disbelief!"
He smirked. "Relax, Cross. It's not like we're actually-" He stopped, glancing at me in the rearview mirror with that calculating look I'd learned to dread. "Although..."
My stomach dropped. "No. Absolutely not."
"Hear me out," he said, shifting gears. "Friday's investor dinner is the most important night of my career. My biggest competitor is already whispering about my 'unstable bachelor lifestyle.'"
"Which is none of their business."
"In a perfect world, sure. But the board loves optics. And nothing says stable like a man who's not only engaged, but married."
I blinked at him. "You're suggesting we...?"
"Make it official," he said smoothly. "Just for now. Long enough for me to secure the deal, and for you to get your family completely off your back."
I laughed sharp and humorless. "Do you hear yourself?"
"Yes. And I'm hearing opportunity." His eyes met mine, steady and unreadable. "Think about it. We set terms. We file the paperwork. We play the part for as long as we need, then walk away. Clean break."
I stared at him, torn between outrage and... something else I didn't want to name.
"This is insane," I said finally.
"Maybe. But it solves both our problems." He leaned back, like he already knew I was halfway convinced. "Unless you'd rather explain to your mom why your fake fiancé vanished before the wedding invitations went out."
I groaned, pressing my hands to my face. "I hate that you're making sense."
"Is that a yes?"
"It's a maybe."
He grinned, slow and victorious. "I can work with maybe."
The rest of the drive was quiet, but my mind wasn't. I kept replaying his words, imagining the headlines, the family reactions... and the fact that somewhere along the line, pretending to be Liam Wolfe's fiancée had stopped feeling entirely like an act.
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