Perfect Illusion

Fourteen -"An Engagement Sham."

The next morning, my phone goes crazy every few seconds with tons of messages from distant friends and relatives.

You're engaged to a Kerrington?

So lucky, Alex! OMFG

Snagged yourself a fiance and you didn't say anything?

Call me ASAP. Why didn't you tell me that you're getting married?

Congratulations, Alex!

Wedding bells in the air! Pls let me be ur bridesmaid!

Need to see you and your gorg fiancé!

You sneaky little bitch! Engaged to the hottest bachelor ever?

And there's hundreds more from where these came from. I wasn't even aware I knew that many people.

I take another sip of my tea and turn my phone off. Ever since yesterday, the news of Daniel's and my engagement has hit all the major news outlets and the hashtag #KerringtonWoods is currently trending at number eight on Twitter with 3.5K tweets.

I didn't know news could spread so far and so fast; I wasn't even aware that the Kerringtons were that famous to begin with. What exactly is so exhilarating about a Boston property tycoon and his son? I don't understand the fascination, but the fact that they've transcended into minor celebrities is quite an impressive feat.

Regardless, I can't seem to escape my face; clips of me and Daniel on The Charlize Matson Show are plastered everywhere on social media. Apparently, the recent attention I've been receiving also earned me two thousand more followers on Instagram and a slew of hate mail from angry teenagers.

So I guess I'm liked and hated by almost everyone in America. Regardless, they all know about me.

Daniel slaps three magazines on the coffee table and I almost jump.

He smirks at me. "So we're famous now."

I glare at him and take a look at the magazines. We're on the front pages of tabloids, and smacked all over featured articles. They used the photos of us when we were on the Charlize Matson show—the most used photo is a picture of me kissing Daniel's hand and him gazing adoringly at me. The photo actually looks legit, like we're actually in love and happy to be engaged.

That photo is a lie.

But the media doesn't know that. And hopefully, they won't ever find out.

"So they bought it," I say as I flip through the magazines. "They bought into our engagement."

"Of course they did," Daniel deadpans, like I just told him the sky is blue. "My performance was Oscar-worthy."

I want to tell him that he's so full of shit, but even I know that that's not true. He was a good actor. He fed Charlize and the audience great lies about our love life that even even had me fooled for a moment there.

"So is your dad pleased with our... charade?" I ask. He shrugs.

"He called me this morning. Said that we put on a good performance." Daniel takes a bite out of the pancakes that he just made. "But..."

I groan. "There's always a 'but' when it comes to him."

"There are some that don't believe us." He points out as he takes out a few more magazines. This time I realize they're tabloids. God, I always hate these. "Just take a look for yourself."

I cast him a wary glance before examining the tabloids, wincing when I scroll through headlines that read Is the Daniel Kerrington & Alex Woods Engagement Real? and A Fairytale Engagement Cover-up? How This Could Relate to the Loss of Kerrington Share Value.