The Spanish Love Deception

Chapter 112

But I didn’t turn to look at him as my sister continued, “I am not Mamá, Lina. You can tell me.” My sister

batted her eyelashes, and I heard how Gonzalo cleared his throat. “Or share with the group—fine,

whatever.” She rolled her eyes at her fiancé. “Come on. We are listening. Did you guys hook up first?

And if so, how many times?”

Daniel, who had been oddly quiet for someone who was supposed to be having a good time, sighed

noisily. “I don’t think there’s any need to share that with the group.”

My gaze swiveled in his direction, finding him with a deadpan expression.

“Thanks, Dani,” Isabel gritted out between her teeth. “But I’ll let my sister decide if she wants to share

her sexcapades with the table.”

Oh Lord, did she just call it sexcapades?

At the change in Isabel’s tone, Gonzalo wrapped his arm around her shoulders and tugged her against

his side. I watched Isabel’s body relax immediately, letting go of what I knew were years of contained

animosity toward her fiancé’s brother.

Sighing silently, I felt a pang of guilt slice across my chest. It was unprecedented, and I had no reason

to feel responsible for the situation, but at the same time, it was hard not to let some of the weight fall

on my own shoulders.

In an ideal world, the best man wouldn’t be my ex. In that same world, I wouldn’t have panicked when

learning that he was engaged while I seemed to be stuck in time and alone, and I wouldn’t have felt the

need to lie to my family and tangle myself into the web of deception I had woven. Perhaps, in that ideal

world, the man by my side would be there because he loved me and not because I had struck a deal

with him.

But those scenarios were hypothetical and therefore unreal. Unattainable. And each of them painted a

picture that was far from the truth. In the real world, there was a consequence to every decision I made.

To every choice that I ever took. A perfect world where life happened neatly and ideally didn’t exist. Life

was messy and often hard. It did not wait for anybody to be ready or to expect the bumps on the road.

You had to grab on to the wheel and steer your way back to your lane. And that was all I had done.

That was what had brought me to where I was. For better or for worse.

It was unfortunate that the one man who Gonzalo shared DNA with was not only my ex, but also the

man who had been the other half of the relationship that was the catalyst for me leaving everything I

had once called home. But I had made the choice to date him. My university professor. The man who

would introduce my sister to the love of her life.

Because life wasn’t ideal. It turned and bent. It spun you out for a minute and swung you right back in

the next.

Contrary to what most believed, when I had applied for the program abroad that had taken me to New

York, a year after everything had blown up in my face, I hadn’t been escaping Daniel; I had been

escaping the situation that my relationship with him had thrust me in. Granted, in the process, he had

also broken my heart. And that was what everybody saw. The scolded, heartbroken runaway. But the

damage went beyond a simple breakup. After that, I went through the worst year of my life. I almost

quit uni and threw away my education. My future. All because people, those I had considered friends at

some point, spun disgusting lies about me. And it hadn’t only scarred me; it had also impacted my

family.

For one, that sadness that everybody had regarded me with stuck to me across time. And the very few

times I had come back home, single, it had thickened until solidifying into something that I carried with

me.

Even my parents in a way. I could tell they were scared I’d never bounce back from it. Which was

stupid. I was over Daniel. My singlehood had nothing to do with that. I simply … struggled to trust

somebody enough to give myself completely. I managed to keep myself one or two feet from anything

that had the potential to hurt me. And that always ended one of two ways. I either walked away, or I

was the one who was walked away from. But at least, I did come out of it wholly.

As for Isabel, she had gone from loving Daniel for giving her Gonzalo to threatening the best man’s

balls. Repeatedly. And while she turned into my fiercest protector and cheerleader, the breakup never

shook the foundation of her own relationship. Which was evidence of how much they adored and loved

each other. Besides, over the years, she had come to accept that even if Daniel had been at fault for a

part, he hadn’t done anything besides accept to break some unspoken rule about dating a former

student. Society had done the rest.

Which didn’t give me—or Isabel or Daniel—the right to force Gonzalo to pick a side. Something that

Isabel had come to terms with. Eventually. In her own way.

“There were no sexcapades, Isa.” I shook my head lightly, trying to shove all those thoughts and

memories away.

“Not even one? Come on. You guys work together. And I saw you during the soccer match. You—”

“It was a very boring and uneventful meeting,” I interrupted her. “Get your mind out of the gutter.”

Isabel’s mouth opened, and I was left with no choice but to elbow my fake boyfriend.

Maybe Aaron’s confirmation would appease her.

“Correct,” he said, and I could hear the amusement in his voice. “No sexcapades took place.”

I watched my sister’s lips clip closed.

“Unfortunately,” he added.

My own mouth was the one clamping down then. Or it fell open and to the floor—I didn’t know.

Don’t look at him. Don’t look shocked. This is all part of the deception.

Focusing on my sister, I ignored Aaron’s last comment and smiled—hopefully naturally.

Isabel reached for the bottle of sidra and poured a culín in my glass, filling only the bottom of it. Exactly

how tradition stated sidra had to be served. Once she had served

me a culín, Isabel proceeded to do the same with Aaron’s glass. “You are not telling me something.”

Her eyes narrowed to thin slits as she pushed our drinks in our direction. Then, she leveled only me

with a look. “I can see it in your eyes. Drink.”

I didn’t think she was bluffing. Lying wasn’t something I was particularly good at, and my sister had the

sibling ability to see right through me.

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