Just Being His Cover Girlfriend

I grew up with Muniz, but I've always maintained boundaries.

Every time he got into a relationship, I'd cut off contact on my own.

On his twenty-seventh birthday, he suddenly said to me, Tucker, why don't we just settle for each other? I'm serious.

It was the first time Muniz crossed the line and reached out his hand to me.

I looked at him and thought for a few seconds.

"Muniz, if we become a couple and then break up, I won't be friends with you anymore."

He laughed carelessly. "We won't break up. I can't bear to lose you."

So I took his outstretched hand.

This "settling" lasted three years.

At the engagement party, Muniz was hiding on the balcony with a friend, smoking.

"Muniz, back then you were afraid your grandfather would go after Scott, so you asked Tucker to be a cover for her. But from what I saw today, Tucker seems genuinely sincere."

"Don't tell me you never told Tucker this was all an act?"

The hazy smoke obscured Muniz's face. His voice was cold and calm.

"I was too rushed that day. I forgot."

My footsteps stopped at the corner. I was still holding the cold medicine I'd brought for Muniz.

Ramon's voice shot up in shock. He cursed Muniz, calling him a bastard, then leaned in to ask more.

"So what's the situation between you and Tucker now? Real marriage or fake marriage?"

"I saw Scott post on Ins yesterdayyou spent the night before your engagement at her place."

Muniz laughed.

"Scott is my girlfriend, of course."

"As for Tucker, she's just a marriage alliance partner. What's the difference between real or fake marriage?"

"I could tell ages ago that she likes me. Giving her a happy marriage and a title isn't exactly treating her badly."

The glass in my hand burned so hot it hurt my palm.

I looked down awkwardly and realized the cold medicine I'd brought for Muniz had already melted in my hand.

Even hotter was my facethe humiliation of having my secret crush exposed and mocked.

"You know what? Tucker is actually pretty stupid. I've been playing the field for years. Who holds hands with a marriage alliance partner and gets breathless and can't make eye contact?"

"She always pretends to be cool and indifferent, but she's actually super patient and really indulgent with me."

Muniz coughed softly twice, then bragged.

"Two days before the engagement, I lied and told her I had an emergency business trip. She didn't even suspect me. She even helped me pack."

"Last night, Scott and I got a little wild by the window. When I came home at dawn with a headache, the medicine at home had expired."

"She went out in the middle of the night in her pajamas with a down jacket over them to buy medicine, then coaxed me into taking it before going to sleep."

"Every half hour or so, she'd get up to feel my forehead, afraid I'd get a fever."

"She probably doesn't even know how much she likes me."

Ramon hissed through his teeth.

"Muniz, Tucker's been so good to you all these years. You're telling me you're not even a little bit moved?"

I stood outside the door feeling like a joke, my eyes stinging uncontrollably.

But I still didn't leave. I wanted to hear Muniz's answer.

Muniz didn't hesitate for a second. His tone was mocking.

"What a stupid question. Of course I don't like her."

"Tucker and I have known each other for thirty years. If we were going to be together, we would've gotten together ages ago. Why would I wait until I was twenty-seven?"

"I like the wild but innocent type. She's cold and hardcompletely doesn't fit my dating criteria."

"Love is about that instant spark. I don't believe in growing feelings over time. Even if another thirty years passed, I still wouldn't like her."

He took another deep drag, completely self-righteous.

"But Tucker is my friend for life. She'll be my family in the future. Even if I don't love her, I definitely won't treat her badly."

"I want both her and Scott."

My heart ached, yet I couldn't help wanting to laugh.

What did Muniz think I wassome object for him to pick up and put down at will? Take it when he wants it, toss it aside when he doesn't.

How pathetic must I be for him to think that marrying me was some kind of favor to me?

On the rooftop, Ramon sighed and patted Muniz's shoulder.

"Let's go, Muniz. The party's about to start."

"Scott's pretending to be my cousin tonight, right?"

I turned and went downstairs first, rushing into the bathroom to dry heave.

Tears fell faster than I could wipe them, ruining my carefully applied makeup.

All these years of feelings were like a rancid swamp that suddenly submerged me, making me feel suffocated and disgusted.

My phone kept dinging with group messages.

[Engagement party! Where are our bride and groom?]

[Muniz and I will be right there. My cousin is coming tonight too.]

[Since when do you have a cousin? Where's Tucker? Not a peep from her.]

I found an empty room, washed my face clean, and reapplied light makeup.

All these years, every time Muniz got into a relationship, I'd cut off contact.

I wanted to see what Muniz's sweetheart actually looked like.

I used a cotton swab to wipe away tears that had fallen from the corner of my eye without me noticing, to keep from ruining my foundation.

Muniz probably thought that when I said we wouldn't be friends after breaking up, I was joking with him.

But I, Tucker, have never lacked friends.

And I don't want to keep company with someone who doesn't love me anymore.

"Tucker, what took you so long?"

As soon as I sat down, Muniz started whining and acting cute with me.

"I haven't taken my medicine tonight yet. My cough seems even worse."

He blinked his eyes and nuzzled his face against my shoulder.

Not a trace of the cold, unfeeling person from the rooftop moments ago.

Friends nearby started teasing.

"What are you doing! Take your PDA outside!"

"These two are disgustingly clingy all day! If I didn't think they were perfect for each otherand couldn't beat them upI would've kicked them out of the group chat ages ago!"

"This is what we call true love prevailing! Childhood sweethearts, a match made in heaven!"

"Muniz fooled around for twenty-some years and now he's totally whipped by our Tucker. Makes even me believe in love."

The sticky residue from the melted pill coating still lingered on my palm.

Suppressing my disgust, I smiled faintly.

I leaned forward slightly to reach for the sparkling wine at the corner of the table, also avoiding Muniz.

"Where's Ramon?"

Muniz was about to lean in again, but when he heard me ask about Ramon, he froze.

"He went to pick up a friend! Oh, there they are now."

Ramon and a thin girl in a white dress sat down one after the other, keeping half a meter between them.

"You're one lucky guy. Your friend is so prettywhy don't you introduce her to us?"

A friend joked.

Ramon glanced at Muniz awkwardly and replied.

"This is my friend, Scott."

Amid the lively laughter, I looked at Scott, and she looked at Muniz with glistening eyes.

The person who had been constantly sidling up to me moments ago now subtly pulled away, leaning against the sofa beside him.

That dull pain surged up again. No matter how hard I tried to control it, I couldn't suppress the sadness and anger rising in my heart.

Scott hadn't learned to restrain herself. Or maybe, as the one being loved, she had the right to be arrogant.

Her gaze lingered on Muniz almost brazenly.

My friend Barbara noticed I was unhappy and laughed directly.

"Scott, the guy you're staring at is off-limits. He's about to get married."

Scott's face immediately turned red. She looked away, laughing somewhat awkwardly.

"Sorry, I have a boyfriend."

Muniz still had a smile on his face, but his tone was sharp as he defended her.

"Barbara, you like to play around, but not everyone is like you."

Barbara's temper flared. She stood up to smack Muniz.

I held her back and smiled at Muniz.

"You talk like you're so faithful. Barbara has never two-timed anyone."

Muniz froze. He instinctively avoided my gaze, then forced a calm smile.

"I haven't either. Why are you getting mad at me?"

Seeing my obviously unhappy face, Muniz picked up a drink and downed it.

"I spoke wrong. I apologize to Barbara. Let's move on."

Amid everyone's laughter and conversation, I saw Scott looking at Muniz with eyes full of heartache.

As if I were some terrible villain tormenting this poor little couple.

"Alright, alright, let's play a game. How about spin the bottle photo album?"

Ramon stepped in to smooth things over.

"If you've got anything you can't show, hide it now. Don't scare everyone."

"I'll pick a date first."

"May 17, 2023!"

Everyone pulled out their phones. Whoever the bottle pointed to had to open their photo album to the corresponding date and show everyone what they did that day.

The bottle's mouth stopped right in front of me on the first spin.

My phone screen was shared to the big screen.

Ocean waves, beach, candlelit dinner, and a screenshot of a delivery locker number.

"That's from your birthday that year! You two went to the beach together for vacation!"

Barbara teased, pushing my shoulder and lowering her voice.

"I even asked you if sleeping with a man felt amazing."

I smiled at Barbara. What was once beautiful now tasted only bitter.

A sharp-eyed friend pointed at the screen and asked Muniz.

"You two ordered delivery at 2 AM?"

"What kind of delivery, Muniz? Don't tell me it was condoms!"

All our friends burst into laughter. Muniz, who usually played along, couldn't laugh this time.

He looked at Scott, whose face had gone pale.

"No, just some cold medicine. Don't talk nonsense."

Malice suddenly surged from my heart.

"Wasn't buying medicine that day because you hurt me?"

I smiled gently, tearing open my own wound just to disgust them.

"You were too rough. I don't know what you were so excited about. That dress was expensiveI'd only worn it once."

"Muniz, you acted like you'd never slept with anyone before. Your technique was terrible."

"Did the Scotts you liked before never let you touch them?"

Amid everyone's teasing and joking, I saw Scott bow her head and wipe away tears. I saw Muniz looking displeased yet forcibly holding back his frustration.

I was clearly laughing from the satisfaction, yet my chest felt so stuffy and my nose so sore.

"Next one!"

Ramon wiped the sweat from his forehead and spun the bottle again.

The mouth pointed at Scott.

She forced a fragile smile.

"There's nothing interesting in my album."

Barbara looked at me, then at her, frowning perceptively.

"Scott, if you can't handle the game, don't join in."

Muniz frowned. Before he could speak, I grabbed his hand first.

I leaned close to his face, tinged with anger. From the side, it probably looked like we were kissing.

"I'm a little hungry. Can you go order some food for me?"

Muniz paused for a few seconds, then stood up and went to the private room attendant to get the iPad for ordering.

"I can handle it."

I knew Scott had seen my interaction with him. I heard the gritted teeth in her voice.

She glared at me through tears.

This was the first time tonight she made eye contact with me, with desperate determination and unconcealed hatred.

Her phone was projected onto the big screen. The first image was a chat screenshot.

A nosy friend read aloud.

"Did you sleep with her? You said it was just a marriage alliance. You promised me you wouldn't touch her!"

"But I was thinking about you the whole time, Scott."

"I want fries, Tucker!"

A friend calling me to order ended on the same note as the last line in the chat.

The atmosphere in the private room suddenly went quiet for a few seconds.

I finished ordering and handed it to the attendant.

I put my trembling hands under the table and smiled.

"What a coincidence."

"But from what I'm hearing, Miss Scott sounds like a mistress."

"Tucker!" Muniz suddenly called out.

Meeting my calm eyes, he forced an ugly smile.

"Tucker, don't talk to others so rudely."

Before I could answer, Scott suddenly raised her voice.

"I'm not a mistress."

She looked at Muniz, full of defiance.

"My boyfriend and I are each other's first love. We gave each other our first kisses, our first times."

"It's just that his family is too stubborn and won't approve of us being together. Otherwise we wouldn't have separated!"

"He and his girlfriend are just in an open marriage alliance. His girlfriend has a one-sided crush on him. His parents forced them together."

Scott vented her emotions freely, swiping through screens.

"The day before May 17, we celebrated his birthday together."

"His flight was at 11 PM, but he dragged it out until 9 before heading to the airport. He almost missed his flight."

"Before leaving, he bought me flowers. We ate cake together and made love for a long time."

"This is the birthday gift he gave me. I just looked at it once on his phone, and he took a photo and gave it to me."

It was a brilliant aquamarine ring.

"He said he'd only ever buy a ring for me in this lifetime."

I was somewhat stunned.

I was at that auction too. I also wanted that ring, but some stranger bid on it directly.

Muniz consoled me at the time, saying he'd buy me an even more beautiful one.

But now we were already engaged.

I touched my bare fingers and suddenly realized Muniz had never bought me a ring.

Scott scrolled back to the 17th. I saw in the sliding screenshots.

Even though he was by my side, Muniz had been sweet-talking her from morning till night.

Those beautiful sceneriesshe had a share of them too.

Beautiful travel jewelryMuniz had them all noted in his memos, saying the packages were on the way.

And there was a photo of a cake.

In the shadow, I saw my own clothes and half my chin.

I saw myself with hands clasped together, eyes closed, making a wish to always be with the person I loved.

At that moment, he was beside me, typing to Scott.

"This cake is delicious. I'll buy it for you to try next time."

So disgusting.

I pressed down on Barbara's leg.

From the moment she saw that photo, she'd grabbed the wine bottle.

"Tucker, that's... that's!"

"Don't rush."

I smiled at Barbara.

Her eyes were flashing with tears from anger as she cursed incoherently about idiots and bitches.

The atmosphere in the private room suddenly fell into suffocating silence.

"Is Miss Scott finished? Then next round."

I calmly spun the bottle on the table again.

"I want to choose April 2, 2025."

"Want to play together?"

Muniz lost his composure for the first time tonight. He suddenly put his arm around my shoulder.

"Tucker, my head hurts a bit."

"I just remembered I took antibiotics tonight. I can't drink."

"Let's go to the hospital, okay?"

I removed his hand bit by bit and smiled.

"No."

I opened my phone first. The screen showed the pale walls of a hospital room.

Post-miscarriage care instructions photos.

Medical advice in my notes.

A chat screenshot I'd sent to my mom.

[The doctor said I might never be able to have children again.]

[Mom, they still haven't found the hit-and-run driver.]

[Let's postpone the marriage registration.]

April 2, 2025, was the fifth day after the accident.

On the day Muniz and I were supposed to register our marriage.

A woman suddenly rushed in front of our car. There was still some distanceemergency braking could have worked.

Muniz had even raced cars before.

But he was so nervous at that moment that he jerked the steering wheel hard.

The entire passenger side crashed into the guardrail beside us.

The child who had just begun to have a heartbeat was gone.

I was severely injured and lay in the ICU for three days.

When I woke up, I saw Muniz kneeling by the hospital bed, having lost a lot of weight.

He said he could do without children, but no matter what, he had to spend this lifetime with me.

"Let's not look anymore, Tucker."

At this moment, Muniz gripped my hand, his eyes full of undisguised panic.

"I really don't feel well. Let's go, okay?"

Scott hesitantly tried to put away her phone, but Barbara snatched it first.

She viciously scrolled to that day. It was a photo of Scott posing in lingerie in front of a mirror.

And a video with a shaky camera pointed at a messy, filthy floor.

Amid chaotic panting, I heard Scott crying.

"Didn't you say you hated me, that you never wanted to see me again for the rest of your life? Why did you come?"

She was pressed down and kissed.

"I really want to destroy you!"

The man gritted his teeth, then comforted her in a hoarse voice. "Scott, that was my child. Do you know she might never be able to get pregnant again?"

"I can give birth for you!"

Scott's voice sounded so aggrieved.

"If you want to compensate her, just give her our child."

Muniz seemed to sigh.

"I love you so much. How could I bear for you to lose a child?"

"Just consider it... something she and I owe you."

I finished watching this farce, drank the last sip of wine, and set down my glass.

As if also setting down thirty years of entanglement.

"Muniz, let's break up."