Ryan brings my mother flowers.

Not ordinary flowers. Peonies—the kind she carried at her wedding, a fact I mentioned once during our rehearsal.

She is in love with him before we reach the restaurant table.

He remembers her favorite author, compliments her earrings, and listens to every story about my childhood as if my braces and unfortunate bangs are matters of national importance.

Under the table, his knee rests against mine.

Whenever my mother looks away, I remind myself that it is part of the performance.

Then my father arrives.

He takes one look at Ryan and stops.

“Carter?” he says sharply.

Ryans charming smile tightens. “Mr. Bennett,” he replies.

Years ago, Ryan worked beneath my father at a consulting firm. Dad remembers him as talented, ambitious, and capable of convincing almost anyone to trust him.

He also remembers the women.

“There was always someone waiting for you downstairs,” Dad says over dinner.

Ryan keeps his tone light. “I was twenty-three,” he replies.

“You were rarely twenty-three with the same woman twice,” Dad adds.

My mother scolds him, but suspicion has already settled across the table.

Ryan handles every question perfectly. Where did we meet? What does he admire about me? What are our plans?

Then Dad asks, “What frightens Sophie?”

I freeze.

Ryan does not.

“Being treated like she is behind,” he says quietly. “She does not mind being alone. She minds everyone assuming that being alone means she has failed.”

My breath catches.

I told him that once, at midnight, while revising a campaign pitch.

Dad notices my reaction.

So do I.

After dinner, Ryan walks me home. No audience. No reason to continue pretending.

Yet he carries my bag, waits until I unlock my building, and asks me to text when I reach my apartment.

“We are standing at my apartment,” I point out.

“Text anyway,” he says.

Upstairs, I find a message waiting.

Ryan: Home safely?

I smile before I can stop myself.

Maybe Ryan is only good at making people feel special.

The dangerous part is that I am beginning to want to believe him.

Ryan remembered the fear Sophie barely admitted to herself, but her father remembers a version of Ryan who never stayed! Which man is real—the thoughtful boyfriend or the charming heartbreaker? Tell us below! 👇 Hit ❤️ if Ryan is starting to convince you too! 💙