Entangled with the Enemy: A Short Instalove Romance (His Perfect Match Book 1) by C.L. Cruz

Author:C.L. Cruz [Cruz, C.L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2024-08-11T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

Holden

My heart sinks as I watch Imogen storm away, her shoulders tense and her stride purposeful. Something is very wrong.

I excuse myself from the group I've been chatting with and rush to catch up with her. "Imogen!" I call out, my voice laced with concern.

She doesn't turn around, doesn't even break her stride as she heads straight for the valet stand.

"Imogen, wait!" I reach out and gently grab her arm, pulling her to face me.

The look in her eyes is like a punch to the gut. Her lips are pressed into a tight line, but I can see the slight tremble in her chin, the sheen of unshed tears in her eyes.

"You knew." Her voice is quiet but laced with venom. "You and my father... you both knew the truth about Archer Systems, and you never told me."

My throat constricts as understanding washes over me. Someone must have let it slip—the real story behind the buyout, the deal my lawyers had struck with her father to protect the family's interests.

"Imogen, let me explain—"

"Explain what?" She cuts me off, her tone rising with pent-up emotion. "That you let me believe the worst for all these years? That you watched me resent you, hate you, for something that wasn't even true?"

I open my mouth, but she barrels on, the words tumbling out in a torrent of hurt and frustration.

"You and my father worked together to keep me in the dark. And you let me look like a fool to everyone in the business world! I’ve spent years telling the story of how I persevered after a hostile takeover, only to find out it was all a lie."

She takes a shaky breath, her eyes flashing with anger. "Do you have any idea how humiliating that is? To find out that so many people knew the truth, and they just let me go on and on, thinking I was some kind of resilient hero? When in reality, it was all orchestrated to protect our family's reputation."

Her voice cracks on the last word, the first glimmering tear spilling over to trace a path down her flushed cheek. The sight twists like a knife in my gut.

"Imogen..." I reach for her, but she flinches back, wrapping her arms around herself in a protective embrace.

"Don't," she whispers, her gaze boring into me with an intensity that steals my breath. "Just... don't."

I swallow hard, shoving my hands into my pockets to keep from reaching for her again. "You're right," I say, my voice low and gravelly with regret. "Your father and I agreed to keep the details of the buyout quiet.”

Imogen scoffs. "Right, because lying to me was the better option?"

"That's not how I saw it then." I run a frustrated hand through my hair, struggling to find the right words. "Hindsight's twenty-twenty, I guess. We were just trying to do what we thought was best."

"Well, it wasn't." Her voice is laced with a bitterness that feels like a slap. You let me build my life on a lie, and now I have to face the truth that I've been living in ignorance.

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