I Agreed To Be Her Fake Date For One Night — Then Her Toxic Ex Showed Up
Part 2
Craig Davies leaned against the doorframe with the lazy confidence of someone who had never been properly punched.
” Well,” he said smoothly.
” This is new.”
Megan’s fingers went completely cold inside my hand.
I leaned closer to her, dropping my voice so only she could hear.
” You do not owe him a single inch.”
Her breath caught in her throat.
Slowly, she sat taller in her chair.
Craig walked into the room and poured himself a glass of red wine without asking.
” Megan, you look good,” he said with a smirk.
” She does,” I agreed.
His smile flicked toward me with obvious disdain.
” And you are?”
“The man sitting with her,” I replied evenly.
Aunt Nancy made a delighted little noise, like someone had just dropped a match near gasoline.
Craig laughed, swirling the wine in his glass.
” Ah, that is vague,” he said.
” So are apologies from men who do not mean them,” I shot back.
The room went dead silent.
Megan stared at me, eyes wide with shock.
I wondered for a second if I had gone too far and detonated the entire family dinner.
Then Mrs. Higgins lifted her water glass in a mock toast.
” To Tyler,” she said loudly.
” A man who has excellent hearing and even better instincts.”
Susan looked absolutely horrified.
Jessica looked highly entertained.
Craig just looked annoyed.
But Megan looked at me like I had handed her back something she thought was gone forever.
Her voice was surprisingly steady when she finally spoke.
” Craig, if you are staying, do not speak to me like we are friends.”
His face flushed an angry red.
For the first time all night, nobody else at the table had anything to say.
Under the table, Megan’s hand found mine again.
This time, she did not let go.
Dinner quickly became a battlefield disguised as a family meal.
Forks scraped aggressively against porcelain plates.
Wine was poured much too quickly.
Susan wore the expression of a woman watching her dining room catch fire.
Craig leaned back in his chair, his jaw tight with irritation.
” I was only being polite,” he muttered.
” No,” Megan said clearly.
” You were testing whether I would still make myself smaller just to keep the room comfortable for you.”
The silence that followed had real weight to it.
I looked at her, and so did everyone else.
Megan’s hand trembled in mine, but her voice did not shake at all.
” I am not doing that anymore.”
Craig pushed his chair back with a loud scrape.
” I do not need this.”
“No,” Megan said softly.
” You usually leave before the consequences arrive.”
His face went bright red, and for a second, I thought he might snap back with something cruel.
I felt my own muscles tense, ready to stand up.
Every instinct I had hated men who mistook restraint for weakness.
But Craig only grabbed his coat from the hallway hook.
At the doorway, he turned back and sneered.
” Good luck with the mechanic.”
Megan smiled then, not sweetly, but victoriously.
” Thank you,” she said.
” He actually fixes what he breaks.”
Craig walked out, and the front door slammed shut behind him.
Then Mrs. Higgins began a slow, steady clap.
Would Susan finally realize how toxic this environment was, or was Megan about to face the wrath of her own mother?
