I should have said no.
That was the first thought that crossed my mind when I woke up the next morning.
I should have thanked Marco for trusting me, reminded him that I was his assistant, and walked away before I made the biggest mistake of my life.
Instead, at 8:03 a.m., I received a message from him.
The car will pick you up at noon.
No question.
No explanation.
Just a statement.
Typical Marco.
He didn’t ask people to do things.
He made decisions and expected the world to adjust.
I stared at the message for several minutes.
Then another one appeared.
Emily.
Just my name.
Nothing else.
And somehow that was worse.
Because after two years of working beside him, I knew exactly what that meant.
He was waiting.
I typed:
I’ll do it.
Then immediately regretted it.
By noon, I was standing in front of my closet trying to figure out how someone became a convincing girlfriend overnight.
I had spent two years being invisible.
The woman who organized his schedule.
The woman who remembered his mother’s birthday.
The woman who knew he hated crowded restaurants but loved quiet corners.
The woman who knew he drank espresso when stressed and tea when he couldn’t sleep.
I knew everything about Marco Ricci.
And he knew almost nothing about me.
At least, that’s what I thought.
When I arrived at the penthouse, I expected a quick briefing.
Instead, Marco was waiting in the living room.
And he wasn’t alone.
A woman stood beside him.
Elegant.
Beautiful.
Dangerously confident.
“Emily, this is my sister, Isabella.”
I froze.
His sister smiled.
“So this is the woman.”
I looked at Marco.
“The woman?”
Isabella laughed.
“The woman who finally made my brother lose his mind.”
My face heated.
“Excuse me?”
Marco immediately interrupted.
“Isabella.”
But his sister only smiled wider.
“I’ve known Marco my entire life. He doesn’t bring anyone into his personal world.”
She looked at me.
“Except you.”
I didn’t know what to say.
Because that wasn’t true.
Was it?
The drive to the Hamptons was painfully quiet.
Marco sat beside me in the back seat.
Close enough that I could feel his presence.
Too close.
I stared out the window.
“You are nervous.”
I looked at him.
“I am pretending to be your girlfriend for your entire family.”
“Yes.”
“That is not a normal situation.”
A small smile appeared.
“You are handling it well.”
I almost laughed.
“Marco, I organize meetings for billionaires who argue over millions of dollars. This is different.”
“How?”
I looked at him.
“Because those people don’t know me.”
His expression changed.
For a moment, he didn’t look like Manhattan’s most feared businessman.
He looked like a man who understood exactly what I meant.
“You think my family will judge you.”
“They will.”
“No.”
His answer was immediate.
“They won’t.”
“How do you know?”
He looked at me.
“Because my mother has been waiting to meet you for two years.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
He looked away.
“I told her about you.”
I swallowed.
“What did you tell her?”
The silence lasted too long.
Then he said:
“That you were the only person who stayed when everyone else wanted something from me.”
I looked down.
Because I didn’t know how to respond.
Not when the man I secretly loved was saying things I had dreamed of hearing.
The Ricci estate was exactly what I expected.
Beautiful.
Expensive.
Intimidating.
The kind of place where every painting probably cost more than my apartment.
But the moment we walked inside, something unexpected happened.
Marco’s mother came running toward us.
Not walking.
Running.
“Marco!”
She hugged him.
Then she turned to me.
And smiled.
“Oh.”
Just one word.
But somehow it made Marco tense.
“What?”
His mother looked between us.
Then she touched my cheek.
“My son finally brought home the woman who makes him smile.”
I felt my entire body freeze.
Smile?
Marco?
I glanced at him.
He looked embarrassed.
Actually embarrassed.
I had never seen that before.
His mother kissed my forehead.
“Welcome to the family, Emily.”
And suddenly…
The fake relationship became much harder to pretend.
The first two days went better than expected.
Too well.
His sisters loved me.
His mother treated me like I had always belonged there.
Even his cousins, who clearly arrived prepared to judge me, started asking me questions about my life.
Nobody cared about my job.
Nobody cared that I wasn’t wealthy.
They cared about whether I made Marco happy.
And that was the problem.
Because every time someone said that…
I remembered this wasn’t real.
On the third night, after dinner, I found Marco outside on the terrace.
The ocean stretched endlessly behind him.
“You should be inside.”
He looked over.
“So should you.”
I stood beside him.
For a while, neither of us spoke.
Then he said:
“You’re doing better than I expected.”
I smiled.
“Was that a compliment?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll write it down. It might never happen again.”
He laughed.
Actually laughed.
And my heart betrayed me.
Because that sound was rare.
And beautiful.
Then his expression became serious.
“Emily.”
The way he said my name changed everything.
“What?”
“I need to tell you something.”
I looked at him.
“About the fake relationship?”
“No.”
He stepped closer.
“About why I chose you.”
My heartbeat became impossible to ignore.
“Marco…”
“I could have asked anyone.”
“I know.”
“But I didn’t.”
The ocean waves crashed below us.
“I chose you because every person around me wants something.”
He looked directly into my eyes.
“Money. Power. Connections.”
A pause.
“But you?”
His voice softened.
“You looked at me like I was just a person.”
I forgot how to breathe.
Because I had spent two years hiding my feelings.
And now the man I loved was standing inches away, telling me the exact reason he trusted me.
Then his phone rang.
The moment he looked at the screen, everything changed.
The warmth disappeared.
The businessman returned.
“What happened?”
He listened.
His face became cold.
“What do you mean someone knows?”
I watched him carefully.
When he ended the call, I asked:
“Is everything okay?”
“No.”
“What happened?”
He hesitated.
Then he said:
“My family doesn’t know the truth.”
I frowned.
“The truth about what?”
Marco looked at me.
“The reason I needed a fake girlfriend.”
I waited.
He took a breath.
“Someone inside my family is trying to destroy me.”
The air suddenly felt colder.
“And they believe you are the weakness they can use against me.”
I stared at him.
“Me?”
He nodded.
Then he said the one sentence that changed everything.
“They don’t know you’re pretending.”
A pause.
“They think you’re the woman I actually love.”
My heart stopped.
Because for the first time…
I wasn’t afraid of pretending.
I was afraid that when this week ended…
I would have to stop.
