“Yes. We…were intimate before the wedding. We decided to stop it because we didn’t want that kind of intimacy involved in what would be a transactional relationship.”
Mom laughed.
“What’s funny?”
“You thinking that not having sex would make it less emotional.”
“We tried, but…it was an impossible ask. Noah is so irresistible, and he presses all my buttons. Ugh, I don’t want to be talking about this with you, Mom.”
“Do you think I don’t know what good sex is?”
“Mom! In my head, you don’t know what sex is, period.”
She laughed. “Yeah, let’s go with that. Anyway, it didn’t work for you, and you started a sexual relationship with your husband. I see how that was completely the wrong decision.”
I gave her the side eye even though she was right.
“What I’m hearing is that you got married and—shock and horror—you were intimate with your husband. You also lived together. Can you explain to me how anyone would think your marriage isn’t real?”
I shook my head. “That’s what I’m trying to figure out. No one knew, not even our families.”
“That photo of Noah in the paper…”
“That’s his friend and best man, Jax. That was an innocent meeting.”
Mom put her mug down on the table. “The press doesn’t just print a story like that without being alerted by someone.”
“I know, but I don’t know who that might be.”
She put her hand on my arm. “Why isn’t Noah here?”
“Because the article isn’t everything there is.”
She sighed and took a brown envelope out of her handbag.
“You mean these?”
Bile bubbled up from my stomach. “How did you get that?”
“It was put through the letter box.”
I opened the envelope, and it was exactly like mine. No messages, just my mom’s first name on the front of the envelope.
“In case you’re wondering, I did check the door camera, and it was a kid, probably no older than fifteen, who delivered the envelope. My guess is he was paid to do it.”
“I’m sorry you had to see them. Wait— You knew about the photos? Why all the questions?”
“I wanted you to tell me what was going on, Lior. I may not be young anymore, but I know when my own son is hiding something from me. When you told me about him, I thought you’d hired him to pretend to be your husband, but then I met him, and I just knew.”
“Knew what?”
“How in love he is with you.”
I choked a laugh. “You’re imagining things.”
“Am I? The man enters a legal contract with you even when it helps you more than it helps him. He faces lying to his family. He turns up to a meeting with the board of a multi-million-dollar company to stand by your side and tell everyone how in love you both are.”
I stared at her in shock.
