A deadline disguised as honor. An expectation that within days, I'll host an engagement party in front of all the most important Albanian clans in the United States. That Lily will be presented. Evaluated. Judged.
And refusal isn't an option.
31
LILY
"What do you mean engagement party?!"
The words explode out of me before I can stop them, loud and sharp in the quiet living room.
We're gathered in a loose circle, the four of us standing like corners of a broken square. Luan's uncle just left, the door closing behind him, but the air still feels heavy with his presence. With the weight of whatever happened in that office while I was hiding in the kitchen, chopping vegetables with shaking hands.
Luan stands near the window, backlit by afternoon light that makes him look like a dark silhouette. Artan is by the fireplace, one hand resting on the mantel, his posture deceptively relaxed. Erion leans against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest, watching me with pale blue eyes.
They all look at me. Wait for me to finish my outburst. To calm down.
But I'm not calm. I'm the opposite of calm.
Luan speaks first, his voice careful and measured. "My uncle expects us to host an engagement party. Soon. Within the week."
"But this was supposed to be simple." My voice is rising despite my best efforts to control it. I can hear the pitch climbing, can feel the hysteria building in my chest. "A video call. Maybe one meeting. Now you want a party? With guests? With the entire family watching?"
Luan takes a step forward, his hands lifting slightly like he's trying to soothe a spooked animal. "It's important. For appearances. To solidify my position with the council. To show them that this relationship is real, that I'm serious about building a stable future."
I interrupt him before he can continue with whatever justification he's building. "How far do you want to take this fake engagement? All the way to a wedding? When does it stop being fake and start being real?"
The question hangs in the air between us, heavy and unavoidable.
Because I don't know anymore. I genuinely don't know where the charade starts and where it ends. Where the performance stops and reality begins.
At first, the engagement was fake. I agreed to help Luan satisfy some old-fashioned family requirement. Agreed to pretend for a few weeks while he recovered his sight. Simple. Transactional. An exchange of services that would benefit us both.
But that was before everything changed.
That was before the situation evolved into something else. Something more complicated and messy and utterly impossible to categorize.
Before there were feelings involved.
At least for me.
I have feelings. Real ones that hit me in the chest and steal my breath and make me ache when I'm not near them. For all three of them.
But do they have feelings for me?
Or is this still just strategy for them? Just a role they're playing with practiced efficiency? Just another move in whatever complicated game they're running?
If they have feelings, real feelings like mine, why don't they mind keeping up the charade? Why are they okay with this being fake when it stopped feeling fake to me weeks ago?
Am I the only one who thought this stopped being pretend?
The thought makes my chest tighten painfully.
Luan hesitates. I can see him searching for words, his jaw working as he tries to find the right explanation. The right angle. "Lily, it's complicated."
"Then uncomplicate it."
My voice comes out sharper and demanding in a way I rarely am.
