Winning My Ex-Crush

Fenella’s POV

Alan laughed softly. He seemed pleased. Was it working? Was my acting convincing enough?

“How did this happen?”

His laughter grew more amusing and gradually turned into neurotic laughter. Shit! He must have seen through my poor acting!

I sat tensely in my seat. My eyes darted back and forth between his laughing lips and the white sedan parked across the street. I started considering mentioning the safe word. My breathing quickened as I waited for him to stop laughing.

“Alan, I mean,” my words faltered as Alan raised his hand in the air.

“No, Fenella. I don’t want to hear your lies. This is clearly ridiculous.” Alan huffed and shook his head.

“How can you reject me outright yesterday and today accept my proposal and say those three words?” He took a quick sip of his tea.

I clenched my hands on the table. I didn’t expect this plan to fail so easily. Yes, I shouldn’t have done all this. My acting wasn’t good enough to make him believe me. I was just a lousy actress who couldn’t even impress the man obsessed with me.

Alan then started tapping the table in frustration. His hands were on the table, and his head was bowed. He looked disappointed, and all the smiles disappeared from his face, now reddened from holding back tears. His hands were now stuffed into his jacket, and his posture hunched as if he were barricading himself from me.

My feelings were tossed about in a storm in my heart. I couldn’t lie. I didn’t like him, and I didn’t want to marry Alan. I just needed this plan to go according to the original script. There wouldn’t be another chance.

Think, Fenella! Think!

I forced myself to think. Inside, I cursed myself for not being among the clever thinkers. Alan and Laird were the type of men who could plan step by step like a well-organized chess game. When a plan failed or problems arose, they could find another way to resolve it.Copyright by Nôv/elDrama.Org.

And me? I was just an impulsive, naive woman who relied more on feelings and instincts. If I were to be honest, there was only guilt in my heart for Alan. He would clearly only hate my lies.

“Sorry, I guess I’m a terrible actress. I shouldn’t have lied.” I massaged my forehead and groaned.

“Why did you lie like that?”

I remained silent. I reflected on everything that had happened between us. It all felt like a tangled mess, and I kept lying to myself with these crazy ideas. I thought that by making plans, I could get everything I wanted. It wasn’t the case.

I furrowed my brow and bit my lower lip hard. A single tear finally welled up from the corner of my eye and dripped down my cheek. I then lifted the back of my hand to my face and wiped my cheek. Then I sighed and released the breath I had been holding.

“Sorry, Alan. I don’t think I can marry you. I only feel guilt towards you. Maybe I’ve also given up on fixing things.” My fingers rested on my nose.

“I thought marrying you would fix my life and make everything go the way I wanted. Maybe it’s a bad idea.”

I shrugged. Then I finally leaned back in my chair, resigned to the situation. Pretending to be engaged to Alan out of love? Ha! I should have realized that scenario only existed in romance movies.

Alan then just stared at me intently. He slowly leaned back towards the table. His hands were spread out on the table, and his hands occasionally shifted between resting on the table and covering his mouth.

“Fenella, I understand. This must be confusing for you. I know you still love Laird. You don’t have to lie to make me happy.” Alan now spoke in a concerned tone, his forehead creased in sadness.

“Listen. I’m fine with it all. I’ve told you that I’d wait for you, no matter how long, right? That’s my promise to you.”

I tilted my head towards him. My eyelids fluttered as I tried to understand the meaning of his words.

“Does that mean you don’t hate me?” I asked, confirming with a hint of doubt in my voice.

Alan shook his head with a restrained smile. “I couldn’t hate you, Fenella. I’m just disappointed if you lied to me, but I could never hate you. It’s because I love you.”

“Alan,” I called his name softly, still unable to believe the level of obsession he had for me.

“Yes, Fenella. I’ll understand your situation. I’ll wait for you, but if you think marrying me will set your life back on track, I can live with that.”

Alan’s words made my body straighten up. I even leaned towards him. My mouth slightly fell open, and my hands gradually moved towards the table. My heart pounded with this unexpected possibility.

“I’ll be your hero, Fenella. Marry me, and I’ll show you that we belong together.” Alan whispered these words as his hands now squeezed both of mine on the table.

“Oh, Alan.” I sighed in relief.

It worked!

Now I smiled widely. This time, I was genuinely happy with Alan’s proposal. Of course, for reasons different from what a typical bride would have. Alan just didn’t know that. He smiled happily, and I could smile sincerely this time.

“Bring your finger here,” Alan opened the box with enthusiasm and a wide smile.

“Oh, about that,” my voice trailed off. Alan took the ring out of the box and prepared to put it on my finger.

“Why?”

“The ring is too big,” I said after clearing my throat to suppress my possibly suspicious excitement.

“Really?” Alan’s forehead furrowed as his eyes examined the ring.

“Yes. And…” I suddenly cut off my sentence. Alan raised an eyebrow, waiting for me to finish my sentence. I shook my head. “No. Never mind.”

“Hey, it’s okay, sweetheart. Just tell me if there’s something that makes you uncomfortable.” Alan pressed gently with a soft voice.

Wait a minute! Sweetheart?!

I restrained myself from rolling my eyes. I felt the man’s emotions shifting so quickly. Now he felt entitled to call me in a romantic term?! God, he’s just delusional.

I pushed aside my annoyance. For now, I had to be satisfied with the success of my mission to make Alan believe and agree to marry me. The next step was to lure Alan into entrusting his credit card to me.

“Well, I know you’ve worked hard for me all this time. I know you’ve spent a lot of money buying Gene, helping me get projects, and so on.”

“Go on.” Alan nodded his head.

“So, after all that you’ve done, I thought you would…” I paused and looked at Alan carefully. When he nodded his head again, I continued.

“I thought you’d give a bigger and shinier diamond than this.” I chirped while shrugging my shoulders.

“Oh,” Alan blinks. He seemed surprised that I would ask for something like that.

“I mean, it’s not that I don’t appreciate it. It’s just that with all the effort you’ve put into me and the big hamper you left on my porch, I thought it would match our engagement ring.”

Hearing how I emphasized the words ‘our engagement ring’, Alan’s ears seemed to perk up. He nodded his head.

“No worries. We’ll get a bigger and shinier diamond than this. Something that will fit perfectly on your finger.” His thumb stroked the back of my hand with a smile on his chiseled jaw.