Unexpected (A. Bridgerton)

Ma. Claudia Sofia Bonifacio has been in love with her best friend for as long as she could remember. Benedict Charles Bridgerton had been a constant in her life, from fulfilling her dreams as a pastry chef to her Mama's marriage to the Future King of The United Kingdom, effectively being thrusted into the spotlight. And Sophie had been there for Benedict just as he was for her, from being accepted into an Arts programme to the untimely death of his father Edmund.

She realized that she's ready to tell Benedict how she feels at Violet Bridgerton's annual charity masquerade gala... Only to have her world crashing down when Benedict met another woman at the same event and fell in love with her at first sight.

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Anthony Edmund Bridgerton, the 9th Viscount Bridgerton has never fully believed in love after he saw his mother's sorrow when his father died and had his heart broken by two women. Siena Russo, his first love who chose another man over him and Kathani Sharma, a woman who he thought he'd spend forever with... Until she moved away and the distance took a toll on their relationship that caused it's untimely end. Since then, Anthony never had a serious relationship

Violet Bridgerton had been trying to encourage his son to find a love match, especially when his younger brother Benedict announced his whirlwind engagement to Sophia Baek, the woman he met at the Bridgerton Charity Masquerade Gala.

A compromising encounter with his brother's best friend during the engagement party gave him the idea of being a fake couple until the wedding, to get his mother off his back and for Claudia to make Benedict jealous and realize that she's been here all this time.

But somehow... Things change unexpectedly, feelings grow and the lines blur to see what's fake and what is not