The Hockey Captain's $300,000 Fake Fiancée

ise

and I was on my third

ore like a product on display. Across from me was an empty seat reserve

et go of was the thought of me facing the rest of my life alone. So I had promised him I would

ld myself. Th

ht buy him more time, but the drugs might as well have bee

fifteen mi

t Boston traffic. A gleaming Rolex on hi

to an expensive university when your family was already broke seems pretty irresponsible. And art, of all things? You spent four years

fabric of my dress. I forc

" he said, as if the name

ation began. "Your father's illness, I heard. Unfortu

s so direct it

I wasn't here to beg.

d dollars. Your father's ongoing treatment, the targeted drugs plus hospital stays, you're looking at two hundred fifty thousan

a knife, twisted

researc

ate. It was an interview. A humili

missive hand. "I'm just saying, be realistic, Eloi

ave a great salary, a condo, a car. My social circle is top-tier. For yo

man in your position doesn't need to play entrepreneur. Honestly, you should've become a tradwife years ago. You

long don't bounce back as well, and I wouldn't want my wife letting herself go. My family needs a son to carry on th

ned. I thought

bout one thing, Kevin. Marriage can solve problems. But marrying you would create

, Eloise. Who else do you think would b

away, his stare clinging to m

hit my face, but I couldn't feel it

ned against a cold brick wall, a single

really no

Hinge icon making me feel nauseous. I swipe

ce flashed in my

ouldn't

opened the app again, b

ed, a "Most Compatible" reco

raming a clean-shaven face with sharp cheekbones, a straight nose, and a dazzling, effortless grin. His broad shoulders filled out his navy jersey, but there was something unmistakably boyi

nd one of his prompts read, "Failing P

ade of "financial elites" and men "looki

. I couldn't even save my own life; how w

ved toward

every instinct, I tapped the heart beneat

wered my phone

matched

ared almost immediately. T

ially the lighthouse under the stars. It feels lone

fr

small Etsy shop by name. No one

ough at that painting to understa

pected, was like a single matchstick st

ly just another line

y family's problems or calculated what I might cost him. He had looked at something I created and somehow seen the fe

I should have closed the app. Inst

uide someone home. If you want the rest of the an