Chapter 42

FORTY-TWO

THE ARTICLE

It Wasn't Fake, Folks. Nathan West Is Not the Man You Think He Is.

There are times in life when it's necessary to pause and take stock of who you are and what you're doing. To judge your actions, choices, and thoughts against who you want to be and see if they align, then make Big Scary Changes if they don't.

My name is Mina Blake and I've come to one of those moments.

As you may have read on this blog, I entered into a fake relationship with Nathan West.

He offered to pay me to pretend to be his girlfriend. I needed the money so I accepted, even though, at the time, I didn't like him. I'd built my opinion of him off things I saw online and never slowed down to wonder how much was exaggerated, blown out of proportion, or just plain wrong.

I'm sure you expect me to apologize. To tell you I'm ashamed of what we did and then spin a story about a rich man taking advantage of an underprivileged woman.

But that's not what happened. I wasn't taken advantage of by a villain. And I'm not going to apologize for a choice that led me to fall in love with an amazing person.

I'm here to set the record straight.

I willingly entered into a fake relationship with Nathan West, but that's where the truth in the article you read last week ends. He wasn't using me. He didn't seduce me for personal gain. Yes, he's rich and sure, I'm poor, but he made me feel like a treasure, not an embarrassment.

When I first met Nathan, I called him The Prince of Darkness and thought I was cute. I'm sure many of you judge him based on the things you think you know and believe he's a rich asshole building a villain's lair, living in excess while the rest of us struggle to put food on the table and pay our bills.

But know this.

Nathan West is not that man.

Period. Full stop. The end.

He's not drinking too much. He's not with a new woman every night. He's not sipping champagne in exclusive hotels, enjoying luxury at the expense of the little guy.

Nathan cares deeply about the world and the people in it. He dedicated his life to charity and kindness, not to impress anyone, but because that's what he's called to do. He's a protector. A provider. Someone who gives freely. Who sees the best in people even when they do him wrong. He's dedicated to his family and strives to make life easier for everyone. He does what's right, even when it's hard. When you meet the man, the whole man, the human being who has good days and bad days instead of the caricatures of him you see online, he will inspire you to live as your best self because that's what he's doing every day.

I thought the hardest thing about pretending to date Nathan West would be making people believe I liked spending time with The Prince of Darkness.

Turns out the hardest thing is that I fell head over heels with a wonderful man, and when push came to shove, I'm not sure I deserved him.

I ask all of you to rewrite what you think you know. When you see the name Nathan West, don't think about a playboy or a villain or a trust-fund-asshole.

See the man for who he is:

A philanthropist dead set on leaving the world better than he found it.