The Fake Relationship

Days passed since Ethan had confessed to her. Sophie was as if walking through fog and couldn't find any firm footing. His words—the confession that he felt something more than just a business, something more than a staged relationship—were too heavy on her mind.

Each time they met after that conversation, she felt torn. Ethan was charming in a way that no one else could compete with, the way he looked at her, and the way he seemed to understand her better than any other made her heart skip beats that she couldn't explain. But that logical part of her screamed at her to keep her distance. She had seen how easily people could get swept away by a person like Ethan. How he could twist situations in his favor, make anyone believe that what they were feeling was real—even if it wasn't.

She had to be careful. She had to stay in control.

But with every passing day, it became harder to keep the lines between fake and real separated. The media wasn't helping. They followed every move Sophie made, analyzing her every word, scrutinizing her every glance at Ethan. This supposed business partnership had morphed into a show in itself. The people demanded answers. Were they in fact a couple? Was it love, or a calculated ploy to propel each of their careers forward?

Sophie knew the answer to that. At least, she had thought she did. But the more time she spent with Ethan, the more the walls she had built around herself began to crack.

It wasn't until one quiet evening, after a very grueling day at work, that Sophie realized how far things had gone. She was sitting on the couch of her apartment, staring at her phone screen, scrolling through another article about her and Ethan. The headline screamed, The Power Couple: Real Love or Perfect Publicity Stunt? and Sophie couldn't help but feel a bitter pang in her chest. The media's insatiable need to dissect every aspect of her life, every moment of her fake relationship with Ethan, was suffocating.

She threw the phone aside and leaned back into the cushions, closing her eyes. Her mind drifted to Ethan, to his confession. She couldn't deny it anymore—she had started to feel something for him. Something real. But did that make it any less dangerous? Could she really trust him? Or was she just falling into the trap he had set for her?

It was then that the doorbell rang.

Sophie sat up, alarmed at the sudden interruption. She hadn't expected anyone. And she certainly wasn't expecting him.

She opened the door to find Ethan standing there, looking as effortlessly handsome as ever, his dark eyes fixed on her with an intensity that shot through her chest. He was dressed in casual leather jacket and jeans but somehow still managed to look as if he belonged on the cover of a magazine.

"I need to talk to you," he said, his voice low and serious.

Sophie's heart skipped a beat. She stepped aside to let him in, her mind racing. "About what?"

Ethan closed the door behind him and turned to face her. He wasn't smiling anymore. The usual confident swagger had vanished, replaced by a vulnerability that Sophie hadn't seen in him before.

"About us," he said simply. "And about where this is going."

Sophie swallowed hard, suddenly feeling like she was standing at the edge of a cliff. She wasn't sure if she was ready to jump. But she knew she couldn't avoid the conversation any longer.

"What do you want from me, Ethan?" Sophie asked, her voice trembling despite her best efforts to sound composed. "You're the one who said we couldn't keep pretending, but now you're here, asking me to make a decision. What are we doing?"

Ethan stepped forward, bridging the gap between them. His eyes searched hers for something Sophie wasn't even sure she was ready to give. "I want honesty," he said. "I want the truth. I want to know if you feel anything about me that I do.

Sophie froze. Those words hit her like a ton of bricks and, for a moment, she was unable to breathe. She had known this was coming. She had known that eventually, they would have to confront the truth of their situation. But now that it was here, she wasn't sure if she was strong enough to face it.

I don't know if I can do this," she whispered, almost inaudible. "I don't know if I can let myself fall for you."

Ethan's features softened, and for the first time, Sophie witnessed a vulnerability in him similar to that of her own. He reached for her, his touch so gentle as he placed his hand over hers.

"You don't have to fall for me right away," he said softly. "But I need you to be honest with me. Tell me how you feel, Sophie. I can't keep pretending either. I've been fighting this, but I can't anymore. I care about you. And I need to know if you care about me too."

Sophie's heart was pounding in her chest. This was the moment. This is the moment when everything can change. She feels it between them in the air—something charged, something electric. She'd spent so long convincing herself this was all a game, that nothing real could come from it. But in this moment, she realizes how much she'd already given of herself. How much of her heart she had already invested in this fake relationship that was now starting to feel dangerously real.

"I…" Sophie started, her voice faltering. "I do care about you, Ethan. I can't deny it."

Ethan's eyes softened, and for a moment, he didn't say anything. He just stood there, holding her hand, letting the weight of her words settle between them.

"Then let's stop pretending," he said quietly. "Let's stop pretending this is just for the cameras. Let's stop pretending we're not feeling something real."

Sophie's breath caught in her throat. She was never good at letting her guard down. She had never been the kind of person to let anyone see her vulnerabilities. But Ethan was different. He had already seen parts of her that she kept hidden for so long, and yet he hadn't pushed her away. He accepted her, flaws and all.

"Are you certain?" Sophie asked, her voice trembling. "Are you sure this is what you want?"

Ethan nodded, his grip on her hand tightening ever so slightly. "I'm sure. I don't want to keep hiding from this. I don't want to keep pretending."

Sophie closed her eyes, breathing in deeply. For the first time in weeks, she felt the weight lifting off her shoulders. She had spent so much time running from this, from her feelings for him. But now, standing here with him, she realized that she couldn't fight it anymore.

"I want this too," she whispered, barely audible.

And Ethan's face cracked into a smile, and for a moment, the world seemed to fade away. It was just the two of them, standing in the quiet of her apartment, no cameras, no reporters, no fake relationship. Just the raw, unspoken truth between them.

But Sophie knew that this was just the beginning. For it meant ending the pretension itself and therefore brought along with it its very own problems. There were, of course, plenty of things yet to be figured out by them-what it said for their careers, for their images to the public, and most important, to their hearts. But for the first time in a long time, Sophie felt ready to confront whatever lay ahead. For, for the first time in her life, she was not pretending anymore.