Laura's POV.
My life used to be simple. I was brought up and raised in Canada, growing up with my parents, and we were happy. Not rich, not famous, just happy. Our house was always warm, always loud with my mother's voice and my father's laughter. I used to think nothing could ever touch us there. I never had a boyfriend or even a crush because people at school used to call me ugly, but they didn't know what they were talking about. I know I'm beautiful, and nothing will ever change my mind about that. They were just jealous of me, jealous of my beauty, jealous because I loved my family and they loved me too.
And honestly, I never even wanted a crush anyway. Love looked messy, distracting, complicated. I didn't need it. I had my family, my future, and my dreams. That was enough for me. Then I got accepted into my dream school, University of Oxford, and everything changed. My family moved there with me because my parents didn't want me alone in another country. At first, it felt perfect. Like life was finally opening its doors for me. A new country. A new beginning. A future I had worked so hard for. I never planned to like Noah. It started with my mum.
At first, it was small things. She got tired easily. She smiled less. Some mornings, she couldn't even get out of bed without holding onto something. Then the hospital visits started. Tests, medicines, and waiting rooms that smelled too clean and too cold and then came the bills. Hospitals don't treat people for free, and I didn't have enough money. The bills felt like a mountain I couldn't climb no matter how hard I tried. Every time I thought I was catching up, another payment came. Another problem. Another warning. Sleepless nights became normal. I stopped thinking about classes, friends, or even myself. All I could think about was my mother lying in that hospital bed while I stood there feeling useless. No money or a way out and definitely no miracle coming to save us. I needed help and money fast.
My mother was lying in that hospital bed, getting weaker day by day. The doctors said the throat cancer was still in its early stages, which meant there was still hope, but hope was expensive. Every treatment, every test, every medicine came with another bill waiting for us at the end. I had to leave college and come back home because the hospital bills were destroying us. The kind of debt that keeps you awake at night, staring at the ceiling, wondering what else you can sell before there is nothing left. I watched my father grow quieter every day. I watched my mother smile through pain just so I would not cry in front of her. And the worst part was feeling helpless while the person I loved most slowly suffered in front of me.
I needed money fast. Not later or eventually just now. That was when Noah appeared, calm, quiet, reliable. The kind of person who looked like he already had everything under control even when the world was falling apart around you. He offered me a deal. I would pretend to be his girlfriend so he could make Felicity jealous, and in return, I would get paid. No feelings, no complications. Just a simple agreement between two people who needed something from each other. At the time, it felt like the only choice I had. My mother needed treatment, and I was desperate enough to do almost anything to help her. So I said yes to Noah but now, I'm not so sure what that choice is costing me.
It was supposed to be simple. Just a job and money, nothing more. That's what I told myself in the beginning. Noah needed a fake girlfriend to make Felicity jealous, and I needed money to help save my mother. It was a deal, a clean, easy deal that has no feelings involved. Except it stopped feeling simple the longer I stayed around him. Noah was kind in quiet ways. The kind that sneaks up on you when you are not paying attention. When I cried about my mom, he listened without trying to interrupt or fix me. When I was exhausted, he bought me tea without asking what I wanted because he already remembered. He noticed small things. Stayed close when I needed someone near me. Never pushed too hard or played games.
And slowly, somewhere between fake smiles, shared conversations, and all those quiet moments, my heart started tripping over him. I stopped acting. I started liking him for real. I think that was my first mistake. Then came that night at the party. I still remember the way he looked at me. Sad eyes. Honest eyes. The kind that tells the truth even when it hurts.
"I don't think we should pretend anymore," he said softly. "It's too much of a risk because I love Felicity."
Right, Felicity. The sweet, innocent, naive Felicity. I kept my face still when he said it. Played it cool like it didn't matter. I even teased him.
"Honestly, dear, being your fake girlfriend is quite an honour."
I joked about it because that was easier than letting him see what those words did to me. But inside, something cracked. Because he wasn't pretending. Not about her, not even a little and suddenly, my fake boyfriend felt a lot more real to me than I was to him. The worst part was that he looked confused when I teased him, like he truly didn't understand what was sitting right in front of him. He didn't see me that way at all. He only saw her. Then he ended it softly, kindly, like I meant something, but not enough. I told myself I didn't care but I lied.
Today, I was walking back from my college building when I saw them. Noah and Felicity were walking back to the dorm, laughing together. Not fake laughter, forced smiles, or pretending, but something real and happy. Noah looked different with her. His face looked brighter, softer, peaceful in a way I had never seen before, like the world finally made sense when she was standing beside him and something inside me twisted sharply.
My stomach dropped. That ache I felt at the bar came back sharper this time, twisting hard inside my chest. Jealousy. Hot, ugly, angry jealousy. I wanted to be the girl making him laugh like that. I wanted to be the one he chose for real.
Mom is stable now, and for the first time in months, I'm not drowning in hospital bills or panic. I'm finally back at college properly, and I don't need Noah's money anymore. I told myself that meant I could finally move on, that it should make everything easier. That I could walk away from all of this, pretend it never mattered, and finally leave it behind.
But then I saw him with her again, walking across campus like they belonged in the same world. Felicity laughed at something he said, and his whole face softened and that ache came back harder than before. My stomach dropped as I stood outside the campus gate watching them together. I told myself it was stupid to care. I knew the rules from the beginning. I was hired. It was never supposed to become real to him.
But knowing that didn't stop it from hurting. Somewhere between pretending and reality, Noah stopped feeling fake to me. It became real, and now, standing outside the campus gate watching them laugh together, I could feel something sharp twisting deeper inside my chest. I think this is what heartbreak feels like. I think this is what jealousy feels like too.
"She doesn't deserve him," I whispered to myself.
"I agree." The voice behind me was cold enough to make me jump.
I turned around quickly and saw a girl standing there. She looked rich, beautiful, and furious. Dark short hair framed her face perfectly, her green eyes sharp and dangerous. Even the bag hanging from her shoulder looked expensive. I had never seen her before, but the way she stared at Noah and Felicity in the distance made my stomach tighten. She looked like she wanted to burn the whole campus down.
"Who are you?" I asked carefully, taking a small step back.
The girl didn't look at me. Her eyes stayed locked on Felicity. Then she smiled coldly, but it never reached her eyes.
"You don't need to know who I am," she said calmly. "But we have the same enemy. Felicity."
My eyes flickered back to Felicity. "We do?" I asked slowly.
The girl followed my gaze and smiled again.
"Yes," she said softly. "Her."
Then she finally looked at me properly. "But I know who you are," she continued. "You're the girl losing her man to Felicity Paddington."
My breath caught. How did she know that?
"My name is Mia," she said. "And it seems we have the same problem. Felicity is in your way, and she's in mine. She took Christopher, and now she's taking your Noah too. Noah, Alex, Chris. It's like she has all of them trapped around her."
I stared at her, then back at Noah and Felicity. Noah reached up and tucked a piece of hair behind Felicity's ear. She didn't pull away. She leaned into his touch so naturally it made something bitter rise inside me. Mia noticed.
"See that?" she asked quietly. "She takes everything."
Something sharp twisted harder inside my chest. Because maybe I didn't hate Felicity. But I hated the way he looked at her. I hated that he had never looked at me like that. Not even once.
Mia stepped closer, her voice lowering into something softer and more dangerous. "If we don't do something, Felicity gets everything, and we get nothing." Her eyes stayed fixed on me. "Do you want to keep losing, Laura? Or do you want to win?"
I looked back at Noah and Felicity again. They were still laughing together, completely unaware.
"What do we do?" I heard myself ask.
Mia smirked slowly. The storm was finally here.
"So," she said, tilting her head slightly. "Are you in?"
I didn't answer right away. I was still watching Noah laugh with her. But for the first time, I wasn't thinking about my mother's hospital bills anymore. I was thinking about mine. Something quiet, heavy, and dangerous settled deep inside me. Doubt, jealousy and anger and just like that, the game changed.