The minute the door swung shut, I dropped his hand. “What the hell, Oliver? Am I losing my mind, or did we just get engaged?” I spoke in the angriest whisper I could manage, but what I really wanted to do was scream.
He held up his palms toward me. “I can explain.”
“You damn well better.”
“It’s about my trust fund.”
I stuck my hands on my hips and cocked my head. “What?”
“My trust fund. The money I’ll get for hitting this important, mature milestone. Once we’re—”
“Oh my God.” I shoved his chest, then fisted my hands in my hair. “The money for the land. This was your plan? Con your grandmother into thinking we were engaged so she’d give you access to the rest of your trust because you blew the first part of it on hookers and blow?”
Oliver looked offended. “I have never hired a hooker, thank you very much.”
“You know what I mean!” I poked at his chest. “You’re a con man, and now you’re making one out of me.”
“We don’t have to con anybody, Chloe. We’re really engaged. I asked you, and you said yes.” He grabbed my hand and held it up. “See? There’s a ring on your finger.”
I yanked it back. “You’re unbelievable, and I’m so fucking furious with you, I don’t even know where to start. This is not right. And I’m not going to marry you. Not even for a million dollars.”
“Why not?”
“Because you lie, Oliver. This entire time you’ve been lying to me.”
“No, I haven’t. I just sort of … revealed the truth slowly. And I was going to tell you about the engagement part, but I didn’t get a chance. I swear to God, I had no idea Gran was expecting me to do it so fast.”
My confusion from earlier was clearing. “That’s what your mother was going on about, all the special occasion stuff. That’s why she invited my parents. You told them you were proposing today?”
“Well, Gran asked me to. You know, as a birthday gift.”
I shook my head. “This is totally ludicrous. How could they fall for it? We haven’t even spoken in years.”
Oliver winced. “Well, they sort of think we’ve been seeing each other on the sly for a while.”
“What?” I threw both hands in the air. “How are we going to get my parents to believe that? They saw us together the other night. I could hardly stand to sit next to you.”
“I know. We are the very definition of a love/hate relationship. And we didn’t want anyone to know until we were sure it was really love.”
“Right now, I am feeling no love, Oliver. You lied. No matter how you try to dress it up, the naked truth is right there in front of me.” My throat got tight. “You promised me you were going to be open and honest going forward, and you had a million chances to come clean. You had days.” As I realized the extent of his deception, my heart began to break. Tears welled in my eyes and spilled over.
Oliver groaned and took me by the shoulders. “Chloe, listen to me. I didn’t know what was going to happen between us, and it threw me off. All I wanted was to convince you to see what an amazing opportunity that farm would be. And this was the only way to get it in time.”
“Why couldn’t you just ask your parents for a loan?”
His face reddened. “Because. I don’t want them to know I don’t have the money on my own. I never told them about blowing all that money in Europe. I don’t want anyone to know that.”
“So it’s about appearances? That’s ridiculous, Oliver!”
He stood taller. “I have my pride, okay?”
“No. It’s not okay. We could have gone to the bank.”
“If we had to wait for the bank to approve a loan, we’d have lost the land. We need the money in a hurry. All I wanted was to get that farm.”
I shook my head. “Bullshit. All you wanted was to trick me. Make me fall for you so I’d say yes to your stupid plan and then you’d leave me, just like before.”
“You’re wrong,” he said forcefully.
I couldn’t even talk for a moment. Little pieces of the puzzle were snapping into place, and the big picture wasn’t pretty. Had I been a fool for him again? Was I just a pawn in his game? Did he care about me at all, or was I simply the shortest route from him to his big fat inheritance?
“Christ,” I said, fighting back sobs. “I’m such an easy mark. You knew the whole time. You knew when you approached my father last month. You knew driving up here. You knew I’d fall for you again and you used it against me. You said it once before—I’m so fucking predictable.”
“That’s not true! I had no idea you and I would pick up where we left off.”
I swiped at my eyes. “You wouldn’t know the truth if it came up and bit you. And we didn’t leave off, Oliver, you left me. You tricked me into believing you were someone else in Chicago, someone who actually cared about me, and then you disappeared. You did it then, and you’re doing it now.”
“I’m not! Chloe, please. Think of all the plans we’ve made over the last few days. We’ve had this dream for a long time, and it’s within our reach. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get there. Aren’t you?”
We heard noise in the hallway as the family made their way into the dining room. I knew we’d have to make an appearance shortly, but I felt like I might have to vomit first.
“I feel sick, Oliver. What are we supposed to do? Go out there and pretend to be in love?”
“Well … yes.” He let his arms fall.
I shook my head. “I don’t know if I can do it.”
“Can you try? Please?”
“And then what? I’m not going through with this ridiculous charade engagement, Oliver. You don’t love me. You don’t want to marry me. You just wanted your money.”
“It isn’t like that, Chloe, I promise. I do love you.” He went to take me in his arms but I put my hands out to stop him.
“Your promises mean nothing to me now. And you don’t love anyone but yourself. You never have.” Taking a step back, I gave myself a few deep breaths, refusing to acknowledge the devastated look on his face. It was probably fake, anyway.
“I’ll go out there and get through dinner, but that’s it. Tomorrow, I’m leaving with my parents and you’re going to come clean to your family.”
“But what about the money? What about the land and the rye? What about our dream?”
Sobs threatened again, but I swallowed them back and stood taller. “My self-respect is more important. You’ll have to find another way to get your money. I’m out.”
I spun around and pushed the swinging door open, praying for the strength to get through the next hour and a half.
Before going to the dinner table, I darted up the stairs to my room to fix my face a little. There was no way to hide the fact that I’d been crying, but I figured a few tears were normal after getting engaged. I did what I could and headed down to the dining room.
“There she is,” Gran crooned when I walked in.
Oliver was already seated at the table, which was set for thirteen but could easily have seated twenty. The only empty place was between Oliver and Charlotte, and I did my best to put a smile on my face as I moved toward it. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”