Chapter 1 - The Cruel Blind Date and the Man in the Shadowed Booth
Rain blurred the city outside Delaney Waverly’s apartment into ribbons of red and blue.
She stood in front of the mirror wearing an emerald wrap dress she had almost returned twice.
At twenty-six, Delaney had spent years learning how to make herself look smaller.
Dark sweaters.
Loose coats.
Back-row photographs.
Never sit in the center.
Never order dessert first.
Never give strangers another reason to decide her body was public property.
Tonight, she was trying something different.
Three days earlier, her twin sister Daphne had called.
“I met someone.”
Delaney laughed.
“For yourself?”
“For you.”
That alone should have made her suspicious.
Daphne had three million followers, luxury sponsorships, a glamorous fiancé, and the ability to turn almost anything into content.
The sisters shared hazel eyes, chestnut hair, and nearly identical faces.
Everything else had diverged.
Daphne wore size-two couture.
Delaney lived with PCOS and a body that had changed despite diets, doctors, medications, tears, and years spent trying to negotiate with genetics.
Daphne had made that difference a joke since high school.
“You’re the soft version.”
“You got all the appetite.”
Always smiling.
Always harmless—if Delaney objected.
But this time, Daphne sounded sincere.
“His name is Jared Abbott. Finance. Smart. Funny. He told me he likes curvy women.”
Delaney wanted to believe her.
That was the humiliating part later.
Not the restaurant.
Not the camera.
Hope.
Thirty minutes after leaving home, Delaney entered Laurent.
Crystal light.
Velvet booths.
White tablecloths.
People wearing watches worth more than her car.
Jared Abbott was already waiting.
Blond. Expensive navy suit. Perfect teeth.
His eyes moved over her when she approached.
Something flashed there.
Amusement.
Delaney ignored it.
“You look exactly like Daphne said.”
“Hopefully that’s good.”
“Oh, it’s perfect.”
They sat.
Jared propped his phone against the metal wine cooler.
“Are you expecting a call?”
“Nothing important.”
Fifteen uncomfortable minutes later, the waiter arrived.
Jared ordered first.
“Ribeye for me.”
Then he nodded toward Delaney.
“House salad. No croutons. Dressing on the side.”
She looked up.
“I was going to order.”
Jared laughed.
“Relax. I’m helping.”
“I didn’t ask.”
“Your sister said you were sensitive.”
The waiter looked uncomfortable.
Delaney closed the menu.
“I’ll have the salmon.”
Jared’s smile changed.
Then he tapped his phone.
“Come on, give them something.”
Delaney frowned.
“Give who?”
He turned the screen toward her.
A red LIVE icon.
Comments raced upward.
Viewer count:
35,417.
Delaney stopped breathing.
“Daphne’s private channel,” Jared said.
“What?”
“Social experiment.”
He grinned.
“Can the desperate sister believe the bait?”
Then Delaney saw Daphne’s pinned message.
TOLD YOU SHE’D FALL FOR IT.
Her twin.
Her own twin.
Something inside Delaney went completely quiet.
She grabbed her clutch.
“I’m leaving.”
Jared caught her wrist.
Hard.
“Not yet.”
“Let go.”
“We need the exit.”
His fingers tightened.
“Fifty thousand viewers and then we wrap.”
Delaney pulled against him.
“Let me go.”
Jared leaned closer.
“Sit down.”
Then, softly enough for her—and the phone—to hear:
“Don’t ruin the joke, whale.”
A chair moved behind him.
Not loudly.
Still, Jared stopped.
A man from the neighboring booth had stood.
Tall.
Dark suit.
Black hair.
A face composed enough to be more frightening than anger.
His companion remained seated but alert.
The stranger looked first at Jared’s hand around Delaney’s wrist.
Then at the phone.
Then at Delaney.
His voice was low.
“Take your hand off her.”
Jared laughed.
“Mind your business.”
The man’s gaze settled on him.
May you like
“It became my business when she said no.”
And somewhere behind Jared, the live viewer count continued climbing.
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