My Work Rival Begged Me To Be Her Fake Boyfriend — I Didn’t Expect The Heartbreaking Reason Why

Part 1

The fourth of July had always been the quietest day of the year for me.

I usually spent these holidays alone in my apartment staring at meaningless baseball games on the television.

My parents had passed away a few years ago.

My younger brother lived across the country with a chaotic and growing family of his own.

I usually welcomed the silence of my empty living room.

It gave me a much-needed break from the relentless noise of the marketing firm where I spent most of my waking hours.

That comfortable silence shattered when my phone vibrated violently against the glass coffee table.

I picked it up and stared at the screen in absolute disbelief.

The name flashing in harsh white letters belonged to Brenda.

For three solid years she had been my absolute worst nightmare at work.

We fought over every major account.

We argued in every conference room.

She had this uncanny ability to find the one weak spot in my presentation and tear it apart in front of the senior executives.

She was brilliant.

She was entirely ruthless.

I ignored the first three calls because I assumed she wanted to argue about the upcoming quarter projections.

Then a text message appeared on my lock screen.

It simply read that she needed a huge favor and begged me to answer.

The desperation in those words felt completely wrong.

Brenda never begged for anything from anyone.

Against every instinct I possessed I tapped the green button and lifted the phone to my ear.

Her voice trembled over the line.

She sounded nothing like the polished woman who regularly dismantled my marketing strategies with a cold smile.

She rambled about her grandparents and her aunts and the unbearable pressure of family expectations.

Apparently she had invented a boyfriend months ago just to stop their endless interrogating.

Now her entire extended family was gathered for an annual barbecue and demanding to finally meet him.

She had panicked.

She had volunteered me.

I should have hung up the phone right then and there.

My brain screamed at me to stay completely out of her personal mess.

I had no desire to spend my holiday playing a ridiculous role for a woman who actively drove me crazy.

But the sharp competitive edge was completely missing from her voice today.

She just sounded profoundly exhausted.

She sounded like someone drowning under the weight of other people’s expectations.

I knew exactly what that felt like.

Before I could talk myself out of it I was grabbing my car keys from the kitchen counter.

I drove across town with the windows down.

The thick summer heat did nothing to calm the nervous energy twisting in my stomach.

I parked halfway down a suburban street lined with massive ancient oak trees.

I could hear the barbecue before I even saw the house.

Loud music drifted over the tall wooden fence.

Children screamed and laughed as they chased each other through sprinklers on the front lawn.

The air smelled heavily of charcoal, grilled burgers, and sunscreen.

I stood at the edge of the driveway taking a deep breath to steady myself.

I pushed the heavy wooden gate open.

The backyard was an absolute explosion of red, white, and blue decorations.

At least fifty people occupied the sprawling lawn.

White canvas tents were set up over long folding tables completely covered in food.

I spotted Brenda almost immediately standing near the concrete patio.

She wore a simple floral summer dress instead of her usual structured corporate blazers.

The moment she saw me standing by the gate her tense shoulders dropped entirely.

Pure undeniable relief washed over her face.

She practically sprinted across the grass toward me.

She grabbed my hand before I could even open my mouth to say hello.

Her fingers felt surprisingly small and cold against mine.

She dragged me right into the center of the crowded patio.

She raised her voice over the blaring music.

She announced to the entire staring crowd that I was finally here.

She called me her boyfriend.

The sheer volume of the applause actually made me take a physical step back.

Someone cheered loudly from behind the massive grill.

An older woman who looked exactly like Brenda immediately burst into happy tears.

A tall man slapped me hard on the shoulder and handed me a paper plate heavy with ribs.

I felt like a terrible actor shoved onto a brightly lit stage without a script.

Brenda squeezed my hand tight.

She smoothly navigated the overwhelming chaos of her relatives.

She fielded aggressive questions about how we met with terrifying ease.

She lied with the exact same sharp precision she used in our board meetings.

But the truly unsettling part wasn’t the lying at all.

It was how easily I fell into the natural rhythm beside her.

We joked effortlessly with her cousins.

We leaned against each other while waiting in line for potato salad.

I found myself naturally pulling out her chair when she sat down at the picnic table.

I watched her laugh wildly with her uncle and gently wipe barbecue sauce off a toddler’s chin.

This was a completely different person.

She wasn’t wearing her heavy corporate armor here.

I realized I had spent three long years fighting a version of her that didn’t even exist outside the office walls.

The afternoon slipped by in a comfortable haze of warm sunlight and easy conversation.

I sat back in a plastic lawn chair nursing a cold drink.

I allowed myself to actually enjoy the chaotic warmth of the massive crowd.

I thought we had somehow pulled off the impossible lie.

Then the heavy wooden gate swung open again.

That was when I noticed the shadow falling over our table.