CEO Said, ‘I Need a Boyfriend to Meet My Parents This Weekend.’ Single Dad Said, ‘I’m..., right?’

When he turned, he found Arya staring at him—not at the plumber uniform or his scraped knuckles—but at him.

“You… have a daughter,” she said suddenly.

Garrett stiffened. “Sorry?”

“I heard you on the phone earlier in the hallway,” she said quietly. “You said her name. Rosie.”

He hesitated. No one ever asked about his personal life—especially not someone like her.

“Yeah,” he said. “She’s sick.”

Something flickered through Arya’s eyes—a crack in the ice.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured.

Silence stretched between them. Then Arya stood abruptly, pacing the room like someone arguing with themselves internally.

Garrett watched, confused.

Finally, she stopped and blurted out the most unexpected sentence he’d ever heard in his life.

“I need a boyfriend this weekend.”

Garrett blinked. “I… uh… excuse me?”

She inhaled deeply. “My parents. They’re old-fashioned. And my mother is dying. I… told her I was dating someone. She wanted to meet him. And I—”

“You want me to pretend to be your boyfriend?” Garrett finished, incredulous.

“I’ll pay you,” she said softly. “However much you need.”

He opened his mouth to refuse—until she named a number.

“$120,000.”

The wrench slipped from his fingers.

“That’s—”

“The amount you need,” she said gently.

Garrett swallowed the fear rising in his throat.

“You’re serious?”

“Completely.”

His pulse thudded. Rosie’s pale face flashed in his mind.

“Two days,” she said. “That’s all. Then you’ll never see me again.”

He stared at her—this powerful, desperate stranger—and made the hardest, easiest decision of his life.

“…Okay,” he whispered. “I’ll do it.”

The Transformation

The next morning, Garrett stood in front of a mirror wearing the nicest suit he’d ever touched. It fit perfectly—Arya had sent a stylist who refused to let him speak until every strand of his hair was tamed.

“You clean up well,” Arya said when she saw him.

“You look… different,” he admitted.

“Less like a drowned raccoon?” she said dryly.

He snorted. “Something like that.”

Before leaving, he stopped at the hospital. Rosie was asleep. He squeezed her hand.

“Daddy’s doing something really important,” he whispered. “For you.”

He wasn’t a liar. But this felt dangerously close.

When he stepped outside, Arya’s driver was already waiting.

A Different World

The Langford family estate looked like something from a movie—rolling hills, a lake, and a mansion with glass walls that reflected sunlight like diamonds.

Arya walked beside him stiffly. “Just be natural. Don’t oversell it.”

“Alright.”

She paused.

“And… thank you. Really.”

Garrett nodded.

Her parents greeted them at the door. Her father was warm and joking immediately, but her mother—Eleanor—was the one who left him speechless.

Her skin was frail, her voice soft, but her eyes… kind. So kind.

She took his hands and whispered, “I’m so glad Arya found someone who looks at her with that much tenderness.”

Garrett flushed. He hadn’t realized he’d been looking at Arya like that.

Arya’s own cheeks pinked.

Over the next hours, Garrett told her parents the “story” of how they met—a mix of truth and lies that flowed surprisingly naturally. At one point, Arya laughed. Really laughed. A sound so warm it made Eleanor beam.

That night, after dinner, Garrett found Arya sitting alone on the porch wrapped in a blanket.

“Your mother adores you,” he said, sitting beside her.

“She’s dying,” Arya whispered. “I just want her to believe I’ll be okay.”

“You gave her peace tonight,” he said softly.

She looked at him, eyes shining. “And you’re giving your daughter hope. We’re both pretending, Garrett… but somehow it doesn’t feel fake anymore.”

The air tightened. Garrett’s chest tightened.

He wanted to reach for her hand.
But he didn’t.

Two days later, Eleanor hugged him and whispered, “Take care of my daughter.”

Garrett wanted to promise he would. But he didn’t have the right.

Goodbye… and Not Really

Back in the city, Arya handed him a check.

Her voice shook. “You saved more than my mother’s peace. You saved me.”

He swallowed hard. “Thank you.”

He had so much more he wanted to say, but none of it came out.

Rosie’s Miracle

A week later, Rosie went into surgery.

Arya sent flowers every day.

But she never came.

Garrett understood. Their deal was over. Their worlds weren’t meant to overlap.

Rosie’s recovery was slow but steady, and he spent every moment by her side telling stories about the lady who saved them.

“Daddy says angels don’t always wear wings,” Rosie whispered one night. “Sometimes they wear tall shoes.”

Garrett laughed softly.

“Something like that.”

A New Beginning

Four months after the transplant, Rosie was finally strong enough to go outside. Garrett took her to the hospital garden.

When they stepped out, a familiar black car was parked nearby.

The window lowered.

Arya.

But not the ice-queen CEO. Not tonight. Her hair was loose, her smile soft, her eyes warm.

“I heard Rosie’s finally going home,” she said. “May I meet her?”

Garrett whispered to Rosie, “Sweetpea, this is the lady I told you about.”

Rosie held out a crayon drawing—three stick figures holding hands.

“That’s you,” she told Arya proudly. “Daddy says you’re part of our story now.”

Arya’s eyes filled with tears. She knelt and hugged Rosie gently.

“I think you’re part of mine too,” she whispered.

Garrett watched them—this powerful woman and this tiny girl—and something bloomed in his chest.

Hope.
Warm and terrifying and wonderful.

For the first time, the future didn’t feel empty.

It felt possible.

Rosie tugged gently at Arya’s sleeve.

“Are you staying for lunch?” she asked, hope shining through her hazel eyes.

Garrett stiffened. He hadn’t prepared for this—hadn’t even dared to imagine it.

Arya looked at him, silently asking permission.

“That’s… up to your dad,” she said softly, brushing a strand of hair behind Rosie’s ear.

Garrett hesitated only a moment before nodding. “We’d be happy to have you.”

A smile lit Arya’s face, small but real. “Then I’d love to.”

A Lunch Full of Firsts

They walked together to a small café across from the hospital—a place Garrett had been to too many times while waiting for test results or updates. But today it felt different. Brighter. Warmer.

Rosie clung to Arya’s hand the whole way.

The waitress set menus on the table. “And for the lady—”

“I’ll have the same as them,” Arya said without even glancing at it.

Garrett raised an eyebrow. “You don’t even know what we’re ordering.”

She shrugged lightly. “I’m trying new things.”

He smirked. “Since when?”

“Since someone reminded me that I’ve been living like a robot for years.”

He didn’t miss the way her eyes softened as she said it.

Rosie giggled. “Daddy says that sometimes you need someone to put batteries in your heart so it can work again.”

Arya choked on her water laughing. “He said what?”

Garrett’s ears reddened. “She… exaggerates.”

“Do not!” Rosie protested. “You said Miss Arya has a heart like a superhero. It just gets tired.”

Arya stared at him.

Heat crawled up his neck. “Okay, uh… maybe I said something like that.”

Her lips curved. “You think I’m a superhero?”

He met her gaze. “I think you saved two people without realizing it.”

Her expression softened—so much that he wondered how he’d ever thought of her as cold.

Something New Growing

After lunch, they drove back to the hospital garden.

Rosie skipped ahead, humming to herself, her new energy a miracle Garrett would never take for granted.

Arya watched her with quiet awe.

“She’s incredible,” she whispered.

“She is,” Garrett said. “She’s tougher than me, that’s for sure.”

Arya didn’t respond. Instead, she asked quietly, “Do you ever… feel guilty?”

“For what?”

“For surviving things you weren’t supposed to.”

Garrett exhaled. “Every day. But I think we’re supposed to keep going. For the people who depend on us.”

Arya’s voice shook. “My mother passed away last month.”

Garrett froze. “Arya… why didn’t you tell me?”

She swallowed. “Because I didn’t know how. Because I didn’t know if I still mattered in your life.”

He stepped closer, lowering his voice. “Of course you matter.”

She blinked rapidly, trying to hide tears.

“I’m not good at this,” she whispered. “Feelings. Vulnerability.”

He took a chance and gently touched her hand.

“You don’t have to be. Just be real. That’s enough.”

For a long moment, they stood quietly—two people who had been broken and had stitched themselves together in the dark.

Rosie’s Question

Rosie ran back to them, throwing her arms around both their legs.

“Miss Arya,” she said, tilting her head, “Are you Daddy’s girlfriend in real life now? Or only in pretend life?”

Arya froze.

Garrett coughed hard. “Sweetpea—”

“Well?” Rosie pressed, hands on her hips.

Garrett rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “That’s… a complicated—”

“It doesn’t have to be,” Arya interrupted softly.

He looked up sharply.

Her eyes held fear. And hope. And something he hadn’t seen from her before.

Courage.

She knelt beside Rosie.

“Can I tell you a secret?” she whispered.

Rosie nodded enthusiastically.

“It started as pretend,” Arya said, glancing at Garrett, “but it doesn’t feel pretend anymore.”

Garrett’s heart slammed against his ribs.

Rosie gasped. “So you are my daddy’s girlfriend!”

Arya flushed. “Well—only if he wants me to be.”

Garrett swallowed hard.

It felt like the world had paused for him to catch up.

He crouched down, facing Arya fully.

“I don’t know what this is,” he admitted. “Or how it works. But I know one thing.”

She waited, breath held.

“I want you in our lives. No pretending. No arrangement. Just… you.”

Her shoulders loosened, as if she had been carrying the weight of the world alone.

“I want that too,” she whispered.

Rosie squealed, grabbing both their hands. “We’re a team now! A real team!”

Arya laughed—a bright, unguarded sound—and pulled Rosie in for a hug.

Garrett watched them, warmth blooming in his chest like sunlight finally reaching a place long left in the dark.

Building a New Life

The weeks that followed became a gentle, unexpected blend of two worlds.

Arya visited the hospital almost daily until Rosie was discharged. She learned how to braid Rosie’s hair—badly—and let Rosie paint her nails horrifically bright colors.

Garrett repaired pipes at Arya’s company building in exchange for her teaching Rosie coding games.
They cooked dinner together—she burnt everything, he saved everything.

Sometimes Arya came over and fell asleep on the couch, exhausted from work, but safe. Home.
And sometimes Garrett found her crying only because she missed her mother—and he held her without saying a word.

They were two people still healing, still learning.

But they were healing together.