Zoe's POV
Zoe's hand is still shaking when she signs the paper Marcus slides across his desk.
She doesn't remember standing up. Doesn't remember walking into his office or sitting down in the leather chair that probably costs more than her mom's entire hospital bill. The last ten minutes exist in her brain like a dream she's trying to hold onto.
Marcus Hale wants to hire her as his fake girlfriend for five thousand dollars.
The number keeps repeating in her head like a song she can't get out.
Five thousand dollars.
She reads the contract again even though the words blur together. Twelve pages of legal stuff that makes her head spin. But the important parts are clear. Three days in the Hamptons. Public girlfriend duties. Hand holding. Smiling. Making conversation with investors and their wives. Convincing people they're together.
Separate bedrooms.
No physical expectations beyond what's necessary for appearances.
Cash payment when they return to Manhattan.
Everything is spelled out in language that sounds like it came from a robot. Cold. Professional. Transactional.
This is not romance. This is business.
Zoe should feel relieved by that. Instead something in her chest feels broken about it.
"Everything clear?" Marcus asks. His voice is different from the boy she remembers. Deeper. More controlled. Like he's learned to keep everything locked down tight.
"Yeah," she says. The word comes out rough. "Just one question."
Marcus leans back in his chair. Watches her with those green eyes that somehow still see her. That's what gets her. After fourteen years, after becoming a billionaire, he's still looking at her like he sees something worth seeing.
"Why me?" she asks again because she still doesn't have a real answer. "There's got to be a thousand women who would kill for this deal. Women who actually know how to be in your world."
For a moment, Marcus doesn't respond. He just looks at her and she watches something shift in his expression. Something real underneath all that control.
"Because I trust you," he says quietly. Then adds, "And because I know you need the money."
The honesty should feel like a slap. Instead it feels like relief. No games. No pretending. Just the truth spoken out loud between them.
Zoe's eyes feel hot.
"That's not a real reason, Marcus. You haven't even seen me in fourteen years. You don't know anything about me anymore."
"I know you worked two jobs after your mom got sick," he says, and Zoe's breath catches. "I know you dropped out of college to take care of her. I know you've been waitressing double shifts since she passed and you're about to lose your apartment."
The room spins a little.
"How do you know that?" she whispers.
Marcus's jaw tightens. He looks away toward the window, toward Manhattan sprawling out below them like he owns it.
"I had you looked into," he says finally.
The words land like a punch.
"You what?"
"When I decided I wanted to do this weekend, I needed to know if you were trustworthy. If you'd sell stories to tabloids or create drama." He turns back to face her. "So I had an investigator find you. Learn about your situation. Your character."
Zoe feels something twist inside her. Violation and gratitude mixing together until she doesn't know what she's feeling anymore. He cared enough to find her. He invaded her privacy to do it.
"That's insane," she says.
"I know."
"You're insane."
"Probably." Marcus doesn't smile but there's something in his eyes that says he's not disagreeing. "But the point is I know enough about you to trust that you're honest. You won't embarrass me. You won't betray me."
"People change, Marcus. A lot can happen in fourteen years."
"Did you change?" he asks. "Are you a different person than you were at eleven?"
Zoe thinks about it. About the girl she was before bills and death and poverty wore her down. That girl believed in things. Believed in futures. Believed that kindness mattered.
"Yeah," she says. "I changed."
"So did I." Marcus leans forward and there's something dangerous in the movement. "But some things stay the same. Some people stay the same even when everything else falls apart."
The way he's looking at her makes her skin feel too tight.
"This is crazy," she says but she's already reaching for the pen. Already signing her name on a contract that turns her life into a business transaction. "You know this is actually insane."
"Is that a yes?"
She writes her full name. Zoe Margaret Mitchell. The name her mom gave her. The name that's been on all those eviction notices and debt collector calls.
"When do I pick up the clothes?" she asks because the practical questions are easier than the emotional ones. Because thinking about the Hamptons is better than thinking about what it means that Marcus Hale remembered her. Searched for her. Orchestrated all of this.
"They're already at your apartment," Marcus says. "Delivered this morning. Designer clothes for the weekend. They're yours to keep regardless of what happens."
She's so focused on that revelation that she almost misses what he says next.
"Also, I'm paying you more than we agreed."
Zoe looks up sharply. "What do you mean?"
"Five thousand felt low for three days of your life. I'm making it seven thousand. And if you want to extend beyond the weekend, we can renegotiate." Marcus says it like he's talking about the weather. Like he's not just fundamentally changing the equation. "The money goes in your account tomorrow. You'll have breathing room."
"I can't..." Zoe starts but he cuts her off.
"Yes, you can. Consider it a signing bonus. You're taking a risk by doing this. You deserve compensation for that risk."
Seven thousand dollars.
She could keep her apartment. Get her mom's belongings out of storage. Maybe even enroll in one class at community college.
Seven thousand dollars for three days of pretending to be his girlfriend.
"This feels like a trick," she says slowly.
"It's not."
"Then why does it feel like there's something you're not telling me?"
Marcus's expression hardens. The moment of something real between them slams shut.
"There's nothing else to tell," he says, and she knows he's lying. Knows there's something deeper here that he's keeping locked away. "You'll be a convincing girlfriend because you're talented at making people feel comfortable. You'll be compensated generously for your time. And on Monday morning, you'll walk away with enough money to stabilize your life."
"And then what?" Zoe asks. "We just pretend we never see each other again? Go back to being strangers?"
"If that's what you want."
But the way he says it suggests that's not what he wants at all.
Zoe stands up. Her legs feel unsteady. The contract is signed. The deal is done. She just sold three days of her life to a man she used to know. A man who became someone else. A man who somehow still remembers the girl she used to be.
"I should go," she says.
Marcus stands too. They're close now, closer than they've been since he first walked out of his office. She can smell his cologne. Something expensive and complicated. Nothing like the kid who used to smell like cheap soap and poverty.
"One thing," he says quietly. "This weekend, when we're at the retreat, I need you to trust me. Completely. Whatever happens, whatever situation comes up, I need you to trust that I'm protecting you."
"Protecting me from what?"
"Just promise me," he says, and there's something in his voice that sounds almost desperate. Like this matters to him in a way that goes beyond business. "Promise you'll trust me."
Zoe should ask more questions. Should demand real answers. Should walk out and pretend this never happened.
Instead she says, "I promise."
Marcus's relief is visible. It shifts across his face like a weight being lifted.
"I'll pick you up at six tomorrow morning," he says. "Wear something comfortable for the drive. The nice clothes are already there waiting for events."
Zoe nods. Moves toward the door. Her hand is on the handle when he speaks again.
"Zoe."
She turns back.
Marcus is watching her with an intensity that makes her heart hammer against her ribs.
"Thank you," he says softly. "For trusting me. For saying yes."
For a second, she forgets this is fake. For a second, the way he's looking at her feels real. Feels like he's asking for something bigger than just three days of pretending.
Then his phone buzzes. The moment breaks. He glances at the screen and his expression goes professional again.
"I have another meeting," he says, already turning away. "I'll see you at six tomorrow."
Zoe walks out of his office on shaking legs. Takes the elevator down seventy floors. Walks through the marble lobby and out into Manhattan where the air smells like car exhaust and possibility.
She's signed a contract.
She's agreed to be Marcus Hale's girlfriend.
She's accepted seven thousand dollars from a man she used to know.
And somewhere in all of that, she has the terrible feeling that this is going to hurt her in ways she can't predict.
Her phone buzzes as she's walking.
Unknown number: "Just received your payment. Seven thousand dollars. It's real. This is real. See you tomorrow."
Zoe stops walking. Pulls up her banking app with shaking hands.
The deposit is there.
Seven thousand dollars from Marcus Hale.
Her name is next to a lie and she's being paid to make it real.
Then another text comes through from the same unknown number: "Zoe, there's something I didn't tell you in the office. Something important. We need to talk about before the weekend starts."
Zoe's entire body goes cold.
"What didn't you tell me?" she types back.
The response takes thirty seconds that feel like forever.
"I can't say over text. Tomorrow. In the car. I'll explain everything then."