Sort-of Soulmates

Chapter Seventeen: Dylan

Alright people, in this chapter we meet Mr and Mrs Ivy, and they are deeply unpleasant individuals. Anyone who's got experience with parental trauma, or triggers around having weight/body commented on, take it easy while reading okay? Just know that they get what's coming to them.

Love, Cam

♡

Chapter Seventeen

Dylan

I put my head in my hands and muffled a small scream.

Aiden, looking over at me with a vague sense of concern, asked, "Not a particularly fun phonecall from your lawyer, I'm guessing?"

"No," I grunted into my hands.

"Shame," Aiden said airily. He wasn't pleased with me still, which was understandable given the situation. He didn't like being lied to, and I'd been thoroughly lying to him for weeks now. He didn't like being complicit in lying to other people either, and I'd pushed him into an awkward position of having to maintain the lie to literally everyone else on the planet who had a social media account.

My lawyer had informed me that Christian Memphis, the dickhead reporter - if 'gossip columnist' could be considered a 'reporter' - was not backing down on the harrassment charge, and neither was his employer. I assumed he brought in far too much money for them to let him go, sneaky sod that he was.

"It was about Memphis," I told Aiden.

His eyes sharpened. "Why? What's he done now?"

"Harrassed Alex's customers at work," I replied.

Aiden shrugged. "He signed up for that. You're certainly paying him enough. He knew what he was getting into."

I winced. Aiden knew exactly how much I'd paid for Alex's year of service, and he had no compunction about telling me I was both insane for paying so much, and insane for not paying more to ensure the silence continued after our fake-break-up was staged.

"I'm not sure he did really know what he was getting into," I hedged. "He was drowning in debt, and about two months away from being evicted and having his stuff seized by the courts. I think he probably would have signed up for anything."

Aiden gave me a despairing look. "That sounds like a healthy and ethical business arrangement."

"Yes, I know," I said, frustrated. "I know, but it's working, isn't it? I will have EverAfter, and he'll be out of debt, and no one is harmed by it."

"Debatable," Aiden snorted. "I think by the end of it, one of you two are going to wind up harmed." When I frowned at him, he sighed. "Dylan, neither you nor Alex are callous people who can separate emotions from - well, from anything. You're romantics at heart, and you're going to hurt each other doing this."

"I'm a grown man," I said sharply. "As is Alex. We can make our own decisions."

"Yes, and you can accept the consequences of them," Aiden retorted, looking truly pissed off now. "The consequences being that I hate lying and now I'm doing it on the reg because of you, so I'm going to be pissy in your general direction and you're going to take it with grace."

I gritted my teeth. "Yes, dear."

My phone rang again, and I answered it without looking, expecting it to be another call from my lawyer. "Hello?"

"Hello, Dylan."

I cringed into myself, wishing I'd checked the sodding caller ID. "Hello, Mother. How are you?"