Chapter 3I Married My Sister's Catfish

I didn’t let Lindsay’s petty taunts get to me. I simply led Hogan up the stairs to my room.

“My sister is always like that,” I said as I opened the door. “Don’t take it to heart.”

Hogan was looking around the sparse, cramped room. There was nothing but a twin bed, a worn-out wooden desk, and a single closet. It looked more like a storage closet than a daughter’s bedroom. A flash of sharp pain and anger crossed his features.

“Have you always had to live like this?” he asked, his voice tight. “Compromising on everything?”

I let out a bitter, quiet laugh. “It’s not really a compromise when you don’t have a choice. My parents love Lindsay. Even if I fought, I’d never win.”

The tenderness in his eyes deepened, softening the hard lines of his face.

“Why didn’t you ever tell me before?” he whispered.

I didn’t answer. The floating text, however, was in a frenzy:

[Oh my god, she is totally playing the victim to get his sympathy! Hogan, don’t fall for it! She’s just trying to seduce you!]

[When is this evil sister going to get exposed? I’m literally going to pop a vein. Can Hogan please find out she’s an imposter and throw her out already?]

To their absolute horror, over the next few days, Hogan didn’t expose me. If anything, we only grew closer.

The burner phone Lindsay had used to chat with him had been tossed onto my desk like a piece of trash. But Hogan didn’t care about the phone. He came to see me every single day, riding a beat-up Vespa, waiting at the gates to take me out.

Every time Lindsay saw that Vespa, she made sure to laugh. Today was no exception.

She stood on the front porch, watching Hogan hand me a helmet. Rolling her eyes, she raised her voice so the gardeners could hear.

“Look at you two, so sweet! Love on a Vespa, how incredibly romantic.” She smirked. “Are you going to ride that to your engagement party too?”

She turned to Charles, who was standing beside her looking deeply uncomfortable, and purred, “Charles, honey, I’m not like my sister. I’m not that hopelessly naive. If you don’t pick me up in a Maybach on our big day, I’m not getting in.”

She was too busy preening to notice the sheer terror flitting across Charles’s face.

I ignored her entirely, stepping onto the back of the Vespa and wrapping my arms tightly around Hogan’s lean waist.

Leaning my cheek against his broad back, I murmured, “You know, you don’t have to ride all the way here to pick me up every time. I can meet you there.”

Hogan was silent for a long moment as the engine idled.

“Norah,” he said quietly. “Are you embarrassed to be seen with me?”

The floating text went strangely quiet for a second.

[Why does he sound so vulnerable? This is... weird.]

[Uh, guys, don’t hate me, but... does it look like Hogan is actually falling for the sister?]

[No, absolutely not! He’s meant for Lindsay! He only feels this way because he thinks she’s his online girlfriend!]

I ignored them, shaking my head against Hogan’s back.

“No,” I whispered. “I just think it’s a long ride for you. I don’t want you to tire yourself out, only to come here and be ridiculed by my family.”

The tension in Hogan’s shoulders instantly melted. I couldn’t see his face, but when he spoke, his voice was thick with emotion.

“Norah. I promise you, when you marry me, I will never let you lose.”

The comment section cracked wide open:

[Wait, what? Did he just confess to her?]

[Hogan, wake up! Lindsay is right there watching you!]

[Honestly, I kind of ship them now. They’re kind of cute.]

[Are you blind? The sister is so manipulative, she doesn’t deserve him!]

Their constant chatter meant nothing to me. But before I could reply to Hogan, Lindsay let out a sharp, mocking laugh from the porch.

“A boy with nothing to his name sure knows how to make big promises.”