Chapter 1

A computer glitch opened my boyfriend's group chat.

After a cheating story went viral, his friends had talked him into faking an affair to test how much I trusted him.

At the same time, they were sending their richest, best-looking friend to seduce me. They wanted to see how easily I'd take the bait.

My boyfriend couldn't get enough of his little cheating game.

So I pretended to fall for it.

————————

My boyfriend, Ethan Cole, had been acting strange lately.

He kept checking his phone over meals. Suddenly he had all these work outings I'd never heard of. Even the way he dressed had changed.

As people online would put it, my boyfriend seemed to have a new girlfriend.

I'm not the type to sit around making myself miserable with guesses.

So when he changed outfits three times before going out late at night, humming as he sprayed on cologne, I asked him outright.

“Are you seeing someone else?”

“If you are, tell me. We can break up.”

He froze. Something oddly like excitement crossed his face before he worked himself up into anger.

“Riley Walker, is that really what you think of me?”

“You're always saying I should be more ambitious. Now I'm actually working for our future, and you decide to get paranoid?”

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

He slammed the door on his way out.

I frowned at it.

Ethan was acting like a cheater, but something didn't fit.

Usually, when you confront someone who's cheating, they get defensive and turn the accusation around on you.

But his first reaction hadn't been guilt. It had been a little flash of private excitement. Almost triumph.

He probably had no idea what a terrible actor he was.

Even the anger looked fake.

I knew him too well.

He'd wanted me to notice. He'd practically been afraid I wouldn't suspect him.

But why?