“Hernan!” Hayden’s voice came through, cold and menacing.


    Weirdly enough, hearing him made me feel… safe? I wanted to yell, ‘Get me out of here!‘ but I


    forced myself to stay calm. The more freaked out I looked, the more power Hernan would have.


    Hernan justughed, setting the phone up on a stand before grabbing his wine like this was some


    kind of twisted FaceTime hangout. “Your girl’s quite the catch so beautiful, so charming. Real nice.”


    “She’s not my girl anymore,” Hayden shot back.


    Ouch. I knew it was true, but hearing him say it like that still hurt.


    “Oh, not anymore?” Hernan clicked his tongue, fake disappointment all over his face. “Looks like I


    need to update my sources.”


    “If you’re done, I’m hanging up,” Hayden replied, and his indifference was like a punch to the gut.


    It’s not like I expected him toe to my rescue, but… he didn’t even sound worried. Here I was,


    thinking I was some kind of pawn in this twisted game, but apparently, that was just me holding onto


    some delusional, leftover feelings.


    “Wait,” Hernan said, then suddenly yanked me close, throwing me off bnce.


    The next thing I knew, the sharp scent of his body wash filled my nose, and I was in his arms, facing


    Hayden on the screen.


    Hayden looked ridiculously put–together in a ck shirt with a single gold pin on the cor, sharp


    and dignified like always. His gaze drilled into me through the screen, intense enough to make my


    pulse skip.


    But his face? Completely unreadable. He looked at me like I was just… some random person in the


    wrong ce.


    “Well,” Hernan said, leaning down, his lips hovering way too close to my face, “since this girl has


    nothing to do with you, I think I’ll keep her for myself.”


    I shrank back, instinctively trying to pull away, but his grip tightened around my neck, holding me in


    ce. He didn’t actually kiss me, but the closeness–the way he lingered right there–felt like a snake


    hissing. right by my ear.


    It was all a game to him, a test to see if Hayden would crack, would show even the slightest


    reaction. And, yeah… maybe part of me wanted to see a reaction too.


    Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.


    But then Hayden’s voice came through. “What you do with her is none of my concern.”


    No sooner had he said that than the screen shifted, and suddenly he was gone. In his ce, a


    smooth, feminine voice came from off–screen. “Hayden, you promised to spend the day with me.


    Why are you on the phone again?”


    A woman with sleek, short hair stepped into view.


    It was Yara Drago.


    I’d seen photos of her before–absolutely stunning, with that effortless elegance and confidence


    that


    turned heads everywhere! She had this maic presence that even I couldn’t ignore.


    If she’d been anyone else, maybe I could’ve told myself Hayden was just doing his family duty with


    the engagement. But Yara was someone that even I found captivating. And if I felt that way… how


    could Hayden not?


    “Apologies, but my fiancé has promised me his time today,” she said smoothly. “If you need him,


    maybe you should find another time.”


    And then, the screen went ck.


    I stared at the darkened disy, feeling like my entire world had been swallowed up with it.


    No one knew Hayden like I did. He’d always valued his time so fiercely that, in all the time we were


    together, he never once dropped everything just to be with me.


    In my mind, he was always busy–being with me meant I was squeezed into his schedule.


    But now, here he was, setting everything aside for someone else.


    Theparison stung. All those little things Hayden did that once made me feel special? Yara had


    shattered them with one simple line.


    I stared nkly at my defeated reflection on the screen. That’s when I knew: my so–called love


    story with Hayden had been nothing more than a self–deluded joke.