The Engagement Bomb
The Engagement Bomb
Scarlett's POV
Kai stared at me like I’d grown a second head. “Our wedding plans,” I repeated, keeping my voice steady. “Tell them, Kai.”
The cameras zoomed in. Jake watched, sensing something was off. Kai’s eyes locked on mine—I nodded. Please. Play along.
“The wedding,” he said slowly. “Right. The chapel by the beach?”
“Yes,” I said. “The one with the ocean view.”
“And the date—June twenty-seventh,” I added. “When we first met.”
“Our anniversary,” Kai said softly, his hand covering mine.
Jake leaned forward. “Tell us more.”
I saw the trap—he wanted a love story to destroy. “It doesn’t matter,” I said. “I left three weeks before the wedding. Kai moved on.”
Jake smirked. “But you kept the ring?”
“No,” Kai said. “I threw it in the ocean.”
Jake’s delight was venomous. “And tomorrow, when your manager forces you to choose between Scarlett and your career?”
“Tomorrow hasn’t happened yet,” Kai said coldly.
Jake pulled out his phone. “Scarlett, you claimed you were engaged, but we found no proof. No posts, no photos—nothing.”
My blood chilled. “We kept it private.”
“How convenient,” Jake sneered. “Almost like it never happened.”
Kai’s voice hardened. “Are you calling her a liar?”
“I’m saying your manager told us you two dated but were never engaged. That Scarlett left because she felt inadequate.”
“That’s not true!” I shouted.
“He said you had a breakdown and left on your own.”
“He’s lying!”
“Prove it,” Jake said. “One photo, one text.”
I couldn’t—because there wasn’t any.
“We don’t have to prove anything,” Kai said.
“Actually, you do.” Jake turned to the cameras. “Maybe she’s been lying all along.”
“Get out,” Kai snapped.
Jake smirked. “Tomorrow, the truth comes out.” He left.
Kai dropped my hand. “You lied about us being engaged.”
“I had to!” I said. “If they knew the truth, they’d dig deeper into why I really left.”
“So the ultimatum was a lie too?”
“No! That part was real!”
“But we weren’t engaged, Scarlett.” His voice shook. “Why lie?”
“Because the engagement made me seem sympathetic! I didn’t want to look like I just ran away.”
“So Jake was right—you’re rewriting history.”
“The love was real!” I cried. “I just… changed the story so people would understand.”
Kai’s eyes were full of hurt. “Now my manager’s going to expose you as a liar.”
“I know.”
He looked away. “You wanted people to understand? You just humiliated both of us.”
“I wanted them to know I wasn’t heartless,” I said through tears.
“But they were lies,” he whispered. “How do I trust anything you say now?”
“You shouldn’t,” I said quietly. “The truth is worse.”
Kai froze. “What truth?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“You can.”
I broke. “Because once you know, you’ll hate me more.”
“I don’t hate you,” he said softly. “Just tell me.”
I met his eyes, trembling. “Because… I was pregnant.”
Silence.
“You were pregnant,” he repeated.
“Yes.”
“With my child.”
“Yes.”
“And you left without telling me?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“I lost it. Two months later.”
Kai staggered back like I’d struck him. “You went through that alone.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“You let me think you left for my career, when you were carrying my baby?”
“I was scared,” I whispered. “You had everything ahead of you.”
“You couldn’t trust me,” he said, breaking. “I would’ve chosen you—both of you.”
“I lost the baby anyway.”
“It still mattered,” he said, tears in his eyes. “You should’ve told me.”
We stood in silence, destroyed by the truth.
“So you lied about the engagement to hide this?”
“Yes.”
“And tomorrow, when my manager shows up?”
“He’ll expose me. And he’ll be right.”
Kai buried his face in his hands. “Now I have to decide whether to destroy you or protect you.”
“What are you going to do?” I whispered.
“I don’t know. But promise me—tomorrow, tell the truth.”
Before I could answer, footsteps echoed. Madison stood at the stairs, pale.
“How long have you been there?” Kai asked.
“Long enough,” she said. “You were pregnant?”
“Yes.”
“And lost the baby.”
“Yes.”
She pulled out her phone. “I found something in Jake’s office—a contract between him and your manager.”
We stared at it.
“It’s all staged,” she said. “Tomorrow’s ‘ultimatum’ is fake. They scripted everything—Kai’s choice, the ending.”
“What does it say?” I asked.
Madison’s voice broke. “It says Kai chooses his career. He rejects you on camera. I become the new love interest.”
“No,” I whispered.
Kai read the contract, fury rising. “They planned this.”
“And we can’t refuse,” I said, pointing to the clause. “If we break script, we owe them everything.”
“So I have to break your heart on command?”
“Unless we run,” I said.
“And ruin our lives,” he replied.
“There has to be another way,” Madison said.
“There is.” I looked at them both. “We tell the truth. On live TV. The pregnancy, the lies, the manipulation—everything.”
“They’ll sue us,” Madison said.
“Let them,” I answered. “We’ll expose them first.”
Kai hesitated. “That’s insane.”
“So is all of this,” I said. “We either follow their script or burn it down.”
He looked at Madison, then at me. “We’ll lose everything.”
“But we’ll finally be free,” I said.
“No more lies,” Kai said.
“No more being puppets,” Madison added.
We stood together, united.
“So tomorrow,” Kai said, “when my manager comes in?”
“We improvise,” I said.
“We rebel,” Madison echoed.
“We choose ourselves,” Kai finished.
One night to prepare. One day to burn the lies.
“Are we really doing this?” I asked.
“Yes,” Kai said firmly. “Becau
se I didn’t come here for revenge. I came to find you. And I’m not letting anyone write our ending for us.”
He pulled me close.
Tomorrow, the world would watch us burn.
Tonight, we planned our revolution.