Good_angel

Once Upon a Mistake – A Second-Chance, Fake Relationship Romance

Phoebe Sinclair has spent years convincing herself she’s over Damon Blackwood—the man who shattered her heart when he walked away. With a thriving career and an ironclad reputation, she’s built a life where emotions don’t get in the way. But when fate throws them together at a high-profile auction, one glance is all it takes to unravel the years of distance, reminding her that some mistakes never truly fade.Damon Blackwood was never supposed to see Phoebe again. Their past was a carefully buried wound, a regret he carried in silence. But when a tangled web of secrets resurfaces, forcing them into a fake relationship to protect what they’ve both fought to build, he realizes the hardest part isn’t pretending—it’s resisting everything he still feels for her.As old wounds clash with unspoken desires, Phoebe and Damon must confront the truth: Was their love the real mistake, or was walking away the biggest one of all?

ONCE UPON A MISTAKE

She lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, the weight of Damon's touch lingering like a ghost on her skin. It had been nothing. A brush of fingers, a fleeting moment. But the way her body had responded, the way her breath had hitched—she hated herself for it.

She should have pulled away sooner. Should have laughed it off, should have walked out of that auction hall with her head high and her past buried. But she hadn't.

And now, she was thinking about him. Again.

With a frustrated sigh, she threw off the covers and walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows of her apartment. The Manhattan skyline stretched before her, a city that never slept—just like her.

She had spent years rebuilding herself, turning her life into something solid, something untouchable. Her career was thriving, her name carried weight in the right circles, and she had learned how to be alone without being lonely.

So why, after one fleeting moment, did it feel like all of that was unraveling?

She closed her eyes, pressing her fingers to her temple.

Damon Blackwood wasn't supposed to matter anymore.

And yet, as the hours stretched on, she realized the truth.

Phoebe adjusted the strap of her dress, scanning the restaurant with calculated ease. The atmosphere was warm, intimate, with dim lighting that softened the edges of reality. She had been in places like this before, places where whispered deals and quiet betrayals went hand in hand.

Because tonight, she wasn't here for business.

Damon sat across from her, his suit crisp, his watch gleaming under the candlelight. He looked at ease, like he belonged here, like the world bent to his will with nothing more than a glance.

And maybe, for a while, she had believed it did.

She picked up her wine glass, swirling the deep red liquid inside. "You never told me why you chose me."

Damon leaned back in his chair, studying her. "Do you want the truth or something easier to swallow?"

Phoebe arched a brow. "The truth, always."

He exhaled, tilting his glass slightly. "Because I knew you wouldn't fall in love with me."

Her fingers tensed around the stem of her glass.

It was supposed to be a simple arrangement. A fake relationship, carefully designed to solve problems neither of them wanted to face alone. It had been his idea, pitched with a quiet confidence that made it sound logical. Necessary.

But as she looked at him now, something in her chest tightened.

"What if you were wrong?" she asked before she could stop herself.

Damon's expression didn't change, but his grip on his glass did.

For the first time that night, he hesitated.

And that should have been her first warning.

Phoebe jolted awake, the memory cutting through her like a blade.

She sat up, breathing uneven, the past curling around her like smoke.

Three years. It had been three years.

CHAPTER 2