For Sam Alcott, love has always been a con job.

A beautifully packaged lie.

A fairytale designed to sell overpriced flowers and jewelry.

The thought of it alone is exhausting. Maybe she's just cynical. Or maybe it's the years of bad dates, failed relationships, and men who saw her as either a convenience or a challenge, never something in between. Love is something she can't quite figure out, and frankly, she has better things to do—like work.

Work makes sense and doesn't disappoint her. Then there's Harry Castillo, her billionaire boss.

Charming, generous, the kind of man who could make even the most hardened realist believe in happily ever after. So when Sam learns that Harry, for all his effortless charm, has never been in a serious relationship or even had the thought of settling down. When his younger sister, Rita, insists it's time for that to change, so she asks Sam to find the perfect matchmaker to finally get her brother to settle down. In a whirlwind of situations, she finds Lucy, an expert in high-profile matchmaking.

And to Sam's disbelief, something shifts. Harry seems different. In a way he's more invested with Lucy. And maybe this time, it's not just another fling.

Rita, however, isn't convinced. She's suspicious of Lucy's intentions, and in true little-sister fashion, she decides to intervene. Her plan? Sam. The woman who's been in Harry's life the longest, the one who knows him better than anyone—whether she wants to admit it or not.

For Sam, It's absurd. It's beyond her job description. And yet, somehow, she finds herself agreeing.

Sam knows she is screwed. Literally screwed.

But she also couldn't deny that being the apple of Harry Castillo's eye was kind of thrilling.

For years, she had been the trusted assistant, the one who kept his world running smoothly while he charmed his way through an endless rotation of beautiful, disposable women. Sure, he'd given her fancy gifts like Tiffany necklaces, a limited-edition Prada bag—but they felt more like a gesture of gratitude to her services than anything heartfelt.

And now? He was actually noticing her.

Or that's what she thought all this time.

SAMORN "SAM" JOSEPHINE ALCOTT

portrayed by. Urassaya Sperbund

HAROLDO  SEBASTIÁN  "HARRY" CASTILLO

portrayed by. Pedro Pascal

𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽

SAVINNA "VINNY" MARGARET ALCOTT
portrayed by. Davika Hoorne

SURUI "SUE" ELISE MIKHASEN
portrayed by. Lingling Kwong

SAELI "ELLIE" ANNETTE MIKHASEN
portrayed by. Lalisa Manoban

SARA TAJIRI - MIKHASEN
portrayed by. Penpak Surikul

THOMAS "TOM" MUND
portrayed by. David Corenswet

MITCHEL "MITCH" DEVLIN
portrayed by. Nicola Coughlan

RHIANNON "RHIAN" HALEY
portrayed by. Mikey Madison

MARGARITA "RITA" CASTILLO
portrayed by. Lorenza Izzo

𝒶𝓁𝓈ℴ
Richard Gere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JOSEPH ALCOTT
Linh Dan Pham . . . . . ELAINE UYEN - ALCOTT
Vithaya Pansringarm . . . . . . GENE MIKHASEN
Dave Bautista . . . . . . . . . . . ROMEO ENRIQUEZ
Veronica Ngo . . . . FAYE ALCOTT - ENRIQUEZ
Usa Semkhun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SOLADA TAJIRI
Paulina García . . . . . . . . . . RENATA CASTILLO
Sergio Hernández . . . . . SEBASTIAN CASTILLO
Gabriel Luna . . . . . . . . . . BENJAMIN CASTILLO
Melissa Benoist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ANNA MARCH
Louis Garrel . . . . . . . . . VINCENT SCHNEIDER
Jack Quaid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ADAM LYNDON
Regé-Jean Page . . . . . . . DANNY WOODHOUSE
Damson Idris . . . . . . . . . . WESTLEY KEATING
Robert Pattinson . . . . . . . . ANDREW PEPPARD
Dakota Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LUCY MASON
Chris Evans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JOHN FINCH

i get misty the moment you're near . . .

anj speaks

✏️ are we even surprised at this point??? anything pedro pascal makes me crazy and ideas just keeps pouring in 😭 soooo this fic is based to numerous romcoms and romances (specifically in the 90s like when harry met sally, sleepless in seattle, only you, notting in hill, pretty woman and before sunset) 🙏 coz you guess it, i'm a sucker of romances 😁i will also mention old hollywood romances so don't mind mesksksks

✏️ if you squint your eyes to sam's name (a homage to when harry met sally 😩 and i just make it similar cause i said so).

✏️ because this fic is based on celine song's materialists (2025) i will edit some of it by june if there are something i need to change lol

✏️ harry castillo and sam alcott is in a boss x assistant dynamics so peperrony dynamics is painfully obvious in here 😮‍💨 like miss sam knows him than anyone else while harry is quite dependent to her.

✏️ just a caution, sam's age gap with harry is nine years! she worked with him when she's 25 while he's 34. so yeah, they're supposed romance is a slowwwwwwww burn. so in this story, she's 31 while he's 40 (his canon age btw!)