All I wanted was to protect my job. A rumor spread that our new boss only promoted people with families, and I had none. Feeling desperate, I called Ryan — a single dad I’d met at the park — and asked him to pretend to be my husband, with his daughter acting as our child. We spent a week getting to know each other so the act would seem real, and somewhere along the way, it stopped feeling like pretending.

When the new boss arrived, I tried to play it cool, placing a photo of “my family” on my desk. But just as I was preparing to meet him, Ryan called — his daughter was sick and he needed help. I left work to drive them to the hospital, risking everything for the little family I had grown attached to. Sitting there with them, I realized how much they already meant to me.

While waiting for news about Lily, Ryan confessed a truth of his own: he was actually the new boss. My stomach dropped. I thought I had ruined my career and made a fool of myself. But instead of being angry, he told me he respected me and that the rumors about him only promoting people with families weren’t true.

I apologized for my idea and he just smiled, saying he had gotten to know the real me. Before I could say another word, he leaned in and kissed me. For the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel alone — and I realized I hadn’t staged a family. I had stumbled into the beginning of a real one.