Chapter 2

2: 2

2

"Ann, open the door, let me explain! We were only talking about music, don't get the wrong idea!"

He pounded on the door and yanked the handle like a madman while I calmly lifted my phone and started taking photos for evidence.

"Save it. It's all right there in the chat, I can read it fine on my own. Now do me a favor and pack up your things and get out of my apartment. I'll ship the rest to you. Otherwise I'll call the police, and I doubt you want to end up trending online, do you?"

The knocking stopped. A second later came the sound of him kicking the door, and he roared.

"Ann Pruitt, I dare you to post that! So I'm only allowed to write songs for you, not for anyone else? You just want to keep my talent all to yourself. You're so selfish!"

For a second he actually made me laugh. I never realized he was this good at making excuses.

The screen lit up. Lucia had replied.

"How could I be Lucia Harding, you've got the wrong person! In that case, there's no need for us to work together. Goodbye!"

When I tapped her profile again, it was gone. She'd blocked Rex's account.

"Aw, your little dummy blocked you. So sorry about that. But you can look up her main account, it's Sweet Lucia. You two can keep chatting."

What they'd said before was even worse. If I hadn't been with him every single day, the two of them would probably have moved on to the next stage already.

Rex shouted himself hoarse outside my door and still wouldn't leave, so I had no choice but to call the police.

"Hello, someone has broken into my home. Could you please come and remove him for me."

The officers arrived fast. I hurried to open the door, pointed at a stone-faced Rex, and said in a frightened voice.

"Officer, please help me, this man's been kicking my door, I'm so scared!"

"Ann Pruitt, cut the act! I'm her fiancé, don't listen to her nonsense."

He reached out to grab my arm, and the young officer caught his hand at once and pinned him against the couch.

"Ms. Pruitt, are you all right? Whatever you need, just tell us, we won't let him do anything."

I squeezed out a few pitiful tears and choked out.

"My body isn't hurt, but my heart has taken a terrible blow. He, he actually..."

"Ann Pruitt! Shut your mouth! Stop spouting nonsense or I'll never let this go!"

He roared and struggled, but it did him no good at all.

I went with them to the station to give a statement. He was warned not to harass me again, and we settled it privately.

The moment I stepped out of the station, a crowd of reporters was waiting, cameras trained on us, snapping away.

Rex was already fuming, and he jabbed a finger at them, cursing.

"Who told you to film here! Stop filming, get out of the way!"

But no one listened to him. The questions came one after another.

"Is it true that you wrote songs for Lucia Harding, Ann Pruitt's former best friend?"

"Have Ann Pruitt and Lucia Harding made up?"

Rex's face went black as a pot bottom. He dragged me by the arm off to a corner and said through gritted teeth.

"Did you call those reporters here? Ann Pruitt, so this is your game, you want to take us both down together, is that it! If I hadn't been writing your songs all these years, you think you'd have won all those awards!?"

I let out a scoff, crossed my arms over my chest, and said casually.

"Have you forgotten I didn't follow your melody, and I didn't stick to your lyrics either? Eighty percent of it I rewrote, and you still have the nerve to say you carried me? Rex, I've been propping up your name all these years. Did that make you forget your own worth?"

He stared at me with his eyes wide, his face flushing red then draining white with rage, unable to force out a single word.

At last, seeing more and more reporters gathering, he strode up in front of them and announced loudly.

"I have something to tell everyone. Today I'm breaking up with Ann Pruitt! From now on she and I are sworn enemies, and I will never write another song for her!"

I didn't expect the young officer behind me to blurt out, thrilled.

"That's wonderful, Annie can finally be herself!"

Rex's face went darker still. He stumbled toward the stairs, hurried down, missed his footing, and tumbled all the way to the bottom.

That night Rex was trending online: "Rex Swanson tumbles down the stairs as punishment for betraying Ann Pruitt."