23


    “Zoe, Mr. Dolton has been a bit… crazytely.” Davy exined, and I suddenly understood. All those wedding dresses and rings? It must’ve been Alvin ordering Davy around to do those things for him.


    “What does he want to do, gross me out?” I asked, furious.


    Davy fell silent for a moment, before quietly responding, “I honestly don’t know what Mr. Dolton wants, but I can tell he doesn’t want to lose you. He loves you.”


    “Davy,” I said, my voice sharp, “I can understand when other people say that, but you, of all people-do you really believe he


    loves me?”


    Davy fell silent again.


    “Davy, if he’s gone crazy, let him. I’m not going to go along with it,” I dered firmly.


    “Zoe,” Davy said softly, “I’ve always felt guilty. If it wasn’t for what happened that time… you and Mr. Dolton wouldn’t have ended up like this.”


    “Davy, I’m actually grateful for that,” I said, pausing for a moment. “If it hadn’t been for that, I wouldn’t have had the courage to break up with Alvin. But I need you to understand, we’re at this point not because of that incident, you should know that.”


    “But I still feel responsible for it,” Davy murmured.


    ‘I’ve said what I need to. If you want to keep feeling guilty, that’s up to you. But if Alvin fires you because of what happened today, just leave. You’re talented, and the world is big. You’ll find a better job,” I tried to reassure him.


    ‘Zoe, have you found a new job?” Davy asked, a hint of concern in his voice.


    ‘I’m confident I can find one,” I replied vaguely, not wanting to cause any more trouble.


    Alvin was a maniac now, and I was worried if he found out I had a new job, he might do something even worse.


    After hanging up, I closed my eyes, trying to process everything. Alvin was really out of his mind. He actually wanted to propose to me?


    It was time to cut him off for good.


    Remembering my conversation with Joshst night, I mustered up the courage to send him a message. [I’m sober now. When can we talk?]


    No reply. It was 10:30 a.m., so he was probably busy at work and hadn’t seen it yet.


    I didn’t wait. I just went ahead with getting ready.


    But by the time I finished showering, I got a message from Josh. [Come to the amusement park.]


    Again with the amusement park?


    Remembering Davy’s words about Alvin wanting to propose, I immediately texted back: [Not going. Let’s meet somewhere else.]


    Josh replied: [I’m on a tight schedule.]


    Looking at his message, I was about to cave in, but then I got another one from him. [Worried about being proposed to?]


    Wait, how did he know that? Alvin must have gone all out at the amusement park.


    I replied: [I don’t want to make a scene.]


    Josh said: [If you avoid this one, he’ll just do it again. Come once, solve it once.]


    Josh’s words made meugh. Was he really offering to be my fake boyfriend?


    Reading his message, it made sense. Jasmine had said the best way to get Alvin to stop was to show him I was with someone


    else.


    So, I replied: [Okay.]


    To look different, I borrowed a yellow spaghetti-strap dress from Jasmine’s closet, let my hair down instead of tying it up. and even put on a bold red lip.


    I looked like a siren, stunning in a way I never had before.


    I had never dressed like this because Alvin didn’t like it. He knew I was beautiful but didn’t want other men to notice.


    When I arrived at the amusement park, I texted Josh. He replied almost immediately, and I saw him running toward me the moment I stepped out of the car.


    As soon as heid eyes on me, I could see his Adam’s apple bob up and down.