Fake dating my enemy, The playboy billionaire

YIREN

"Right now I’m in a sour mood and won’t use filters."

"Both are invalid excuses. You are always in a sour mood and you never use filters with me." She locked her eyes on me, taking a long slow sip of wine. My eyes flicker to the red lipstick stain on the glass- distractingly mesmerizing.

Scoffing, I reach for the wine glass in her hand. She pull it away, brows arching, "Only if you’ll talk. So that we can address whatever this is simmering inside you."

"Why didn’t you take the project?" The words come out sharper than I intend as I snatch the glass, but I don’t care. The question’s been clawing at me, and she is the one who wants me to talk. So here it is.

Yiren freezes for a second, like she didn’t hear me right. "What?"

"Suyin’s offer. The lake house. Why didn’t you take it?" I press, my eyes boring into hers. "You’re an architect trying to build your name and start your own firm. That project could’ve put you on the map, and you passed on it. Why?"

Her brows draw together, and she turns to face me fully, but I see the hesitation. That hesitation pisses me off more than it should. She’s hiding something, and I’m done playing along. "I don’t want to move to the Imperial city. Secondly, I don’t see why I have to explain my decisions."

"This particular decision concerns my family. The kids just now are a clear example, so you have to answer me."

"Well, you get the answer. Happy?" I can see she’s getting irritated by my probing.

"Now let’s hear the real reason."

Her brows scrunch as she stares me like she can read me like an open book. Wish I have a full bottle of liquor. This single wine glass is stupid. "Why don’t you enlighten me with the real reason?"

"Don’t play with fire, Yiren."

"Don’t worry, I have a fire extinguisher and an attitude." She snatches the wine glass back from me and rest her back, gulping it all in one large sip. "

Just say it. Let me see what garbage is stuffed in that head of yours."

"Garbage in my head or your intentions are garbage?" I snap, "You didn’t take the offer because of me. Because you knew I didn’t want you to go. Isn’t that right?"

"True. It will complicate things due to this fake thingy between us. But I have other reasons as well."

"Bullshit!" I bite back, my voice rising with every word. "You’re playing at something. What’s your angle here? What do you seek from me?"

She glares at me, her grip on her empty wine glass tightening. "There’s no angle, you paranoid jerk. It is what it is!"

"I can see that. Impressing my family. Winning over my kids. And now—" I glance down at her body, at the barely-there bikini that’s clinging to her like a second skin, and the words slip out before I can stop them. "--Walking here wearing that. Are you trying to seduce me now? Is that your game?"

Her eyes widen, and for a split second, I think I’ve pushed her too far. The next second, she’s slamming her glass down on the edge of the tub, water splashing up as she whirls toward me.

"What the hell did you just say?" Her voice is low, dangerous, vibrating with barely controlled rage.

"You heard me," I bite back, crossing my arms. "Trying to seduce me now? What, you think because we’re in this fake arrangement, you’ll get something out of it?"

Her chest heaves, and I see her fists clench at her sides. She slams her wine glass down on the edge of the tub, the sharp sound echoing in the thick tension between us. Water ripples in the tub from her sudden movement, but I don’t flinch. I can’t. My frustration has a life of its own, and I won’t stop until I get an answer.

"You are insane," she growls, her voice shaking with the force of her anger. "Seduce you? You really think this is about you?"

She steps closer, fury radiating off her in waves. "You know what your problem is, Jun? You can’t believe someone might actually do something without a hidden agenda, because that’s the only way you think. Everyone has to want something from you, right?"

I stay silent, my jaw clenched tight, but she’s not done.

"You’re a coward," she spits, her eyes blazing. "Too afraid to face the truth."

My pulse spikes. Coward? I grit my teeth, gripping her arms, "Dare call me that again."

She doesn’t back down. Instead, she shakes her arms from my grip and moves even closer, her face inches from mine, her finger pressing under my chin, forcing me to meet her eyes. "You are the biggest coward I’ve ever seen," she hisses, her voice steady, cutting. "You’re hiding. From your family, from yourself, from everything. You couldn’t face that curly-haired woman like a man, so you ran. You’ve been hiding in another country, avoiding your life because you’re too afraid to deal with it."

Her words cut deeper than I thought possible, each one slashing at the parts of myself I’ve been trying to bury.

"And you know what else?" she presses, her voice rising. "You’re hurting everyone around you. Those kids tonight? They love their Uncle Juju. They adore you and their cute effort tonight was proof they want you to go back to Imperial city, because they believe if they can convince me, you will follow me. But you can’t even see that because you’re too busy being bitter and angry at the world. Too busy feeling sorry for yourself."

I feel the weight of her words settles into my chest like stones, but she doesn’t stop. She’s relentless, and her anger is burning hotter by the second.

"You’ve turned into this miserable, woman-hating asshole because you can’t handle the fact that maybe, just maybe, not every woman is out to screw you over. Maybe I’m not playing a game, Jun. Maybe I’m just trying to survive in this messed-up situation, just like you. Maybe I’m really trying not to make it more difficult for you than it already is, even if it means giving up on the project that could make my career.

She shoves me hard in the chest, her breath ragged, her chest heaving. The water splashes between us, but all I can focus on is the tears running down her cheeks, smearing mascara. Her words feel like a thousand tiny cuts, and I hate how much they sting.

"You’re a coward, Jun," she says, her voice quieter now, shaking with emotion. "And you’ll keep running until you decide to stop and face whatever demons are eating away at you. But until then? You’re just a scared little boy."

"I quit!" She storms toward the edge of the tub. She’s done. Done with the conversation, done with me.

My mind is a storm, and before I can stop myself, I’m on my feet, grabbing her wrist and yanking her back, hard. She stumbles into my arms. "Where the hell do you think you’re going?"

"Get your hands off me, you asshole!" she yells, splashing water into my face.

"You’re not quitting," I snarl, stepping closer. "You’re not allowed to quit."

She glares at me, her voice dripping with venom. "I refuse to be your emotional punching bag, Jun. I quit."

I quit.

I quit.

*****