Chapter 2

Three full days went by without a single call from Serena.

Then, on the third night, the moment I walked into my new place after working late, my phone lit up with an incoming call from her.

"You're not home? Where the hell are you?!"

"Logan, what is the meaning of this?!"

Her voice suddenly screeched through the speaker. She had clearly just seen the lipstick on the mirror.

A quiet chuckle slipped past my lips. I could picture her face—veins popping, eyes bloodshot with rage, looking down her nose like she always did.

I kept my voice deadpan. "Can’t you read plain English? Are you blind?!"

Serena gasped sharply on the other end, completely stunned. Without waiting for her to recover, I hung up on her face.

She probably never imagined I would ever dare speak to her like that. Seconds later, a message buzzed on my screen:

Logan, you want to break up? Fine! Don't you dare come crying back!

After seven years of bending over backward for her, I knew her playbook inside out. That was just who she was.

In two days, she’d call me again, acting like she was generously "giving me a chance."

It was the same routine every single time. And every single time, I would be the idiot running back to apologize first.

Why should I? If we were breaking up, then let's make it clean.

Still, after chasing her for seven years, my chest felt hollow and tight seeing that message.

Leo dragged me out to a high-end lounge that night.

"Logan, the quickest way to get over an ex is to find someone new."

He shoved me down onto a VIP leather booth and snapped his fingers. A few gorgeous women immediately strolled over.

"Look around! Seductive, sweet, whatever type you want—just say the word, and she's yours!"

Leo was clearly pulling out all the stops and spending a fortune to snap me out of it. I opened my mouth to decline, but he grabbed my arm, cutting me off.

"You're just too damn loyal. You've barely dated, so you gave Serena your whole damn soul."

"Once you see the entire ocean, you’ll realize Serena wasn't even a drop of water!"

I had nothing to say to that. Serena was a tiny sapling I had watered with seven years of devotion. Just as it was about to grow into a towering tree, she trampled all over my efforts.

After downing a couple of stiff drinks, my head began to spin with a pleasant buzz. I randomly pointed toward a stunning brunette. "Her."

Leo grinned wide. "A little vixen. Good choice!"

The girl slid into the booth beside me, taking my hand with a bright smile to play a drinking game.

She wasn't pushy, and she knew exactly where the line was.

For the first time in a long time, I felt genuinely relaxed.

Just as I lost another round, a familiar, sickeningly sweet voice drifted down from above:

"Serena, isn’t that your boyfriend over there?"

Boyfriend?

Hearing Serena's name caught me completely off guard. I glanced up instinctively. A few people were sitting in the adjacent booth, and every single one of them was an acquaintance.

Christian was clinging to Serena’s arm, wearing an arrogant smirk.

Our eyes collided out of nowhere. Before I could even pull my hand back from the edge of the girl's short dress, Serena spoke up, her tone icy.

"No. We broke up."

I scoffed internally. Turning back toward the brunette beside me, I wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Come on, loser drinks! Don’t stop now!"

That irritating voice behind me chimed in again.

"Wait, is this because of me? Though honestly, looking at how comfortable he is here, he must be a regular. Does he come here all the time?"

Leo had no idea who this clown was, so I leaned over and muttered, "That's Christian."

Leo’s eyes flared, and he raised his voice so the whole room could hear: "Damn, why does it smell like cheap drama in here?!"

"Must be some expired, thirsty snake nobody wants! Guess he can only try his luck crawling back to old flings!"

The girl sitting next to me, Chloe, caught on instantly and let out a soft giggle. "Totally. Even discounted drinks sell better than desperate exes. Can’t blame him for having zero game."

She even threw Christian a playful, mocking wink. Christian's face turned completely pale, then bright red. "You—!"

Unable to come up with a comeback, he tugged desperately at Serena’s sleeve like a kicked puppy.

Serena stood up abruptly and marched right over to my booth, glaring down at me. "You dumped me over her?"