Sophia dropped me off just past sunset, still buzzing from our spa day and jewelry hunt like someone born with caffeine in her veins.
“Get some sleep,” she said, waving as I stepped out of the car. “You’ll need it for the chaos that’s brewing.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Should I be scared?”
She winked. “Terrified.”
I rolled my eyes,ughing as I walked toward my building, muscles sore in the best possible
way.
After a warm shower and copsing into bed, I reached for my phone and fired off a quick
text.
Emily: Are you still alive or out there scheming as usual?
Jay’s reply came within seconds.
Jay: Thank God. I thought you forgot who I was. I was already lighting candles for our broken friendship.
Emily: I’ve been kidnapped by Sophia. It’s a long story.
Jay: She’s trying to steal you. And it’s working. I’m offended
Emily: Dramatic much?
0.00%
08.30
288 iVouchers
Jay: I’m re–strategizing. Operation Steal Emily Back is officially underway.
Iughed into my pillow.
Emily: Goodnight, Jay.
Jay: Dream of me. I’m way better for your blood pressure than Sophia.
Iughed and turned off my screen, finally feeling ready to sleep.
But it felt like I had just closed my eyes when my phone started buzzing like it had a personal vendetta.
Groggy and half–blind, I reached over. “This better be a national emergency.”
“EMILY!” Lisa’s voice exploded through the speaker.
I jolted upright, heart pounding. “What?! What happened?!”
“Check the gossip site. Now. Like right now!”
I squinted at the screen. “Lisa, it’s not even 8 a.m…”
“Just check it!”
She sent a link, and I clicked it with the kind of dread usually reserved for horror movies.
And there it was, staring me in the face.
A blurry photo of Mason and me from the night of Jay’s video shoot. The angle wasn’t perfect, but you could see me reaching out,forting him after that call that changed his whole energy. My face was turned away, but anyone who knew me would know.
14.77%
08:31
“Oh my God,” I whispered.
“They’re calling you ‘the mystery woman,” Lisa said, breathless. “You’ve
I stared at the screen. “How did this even happen?”
“No clue. But that’s not even the big part. Go check Mason’s Instagram.”
gone viral.”
My small drop twisted in my stomach.
I opened his profile, unsure what I was hoping to find.
A brand–new post. Just a moody, ck–and–white shot of him in the studio.
But the caption in the corner?
She could be the one.
Thement section was wildfire.
“Is this a new song?”
“Publicity stunt?”
“Mystery girl revealing soon???”
“Please be about love. We need hope.”
“She’s so lucky. WHO IS SHE?<i>” </i>
“Someone find this girl. I have questions.”
“I’m going to pass out,” I muttered.
33.07% <fnce90> This update is avable on find[?]ovel</fnce90>
288 ?Vouchers
08:31
:
288 iVouchers
“You’re okay,” Lisa said. “Your face isn’t clear. You’re still anonymous.”
I groaned. “You recognized me.”
“I’m your best friend. Of course, I would.”
I exhaled, but the panic was still buzzing beneath my skin. “I can’t sit here. I’ll go nuts.”
“Go get air. Grab a coffee. Breathe. You’re not trending yet. I mean…the real you.<i>” </i>
Following Lisa’s advice, I headed to a nearby coffee shop.
In hindsight, I shouldn’t have.
Every time someone nced at me, I felt like my cover was blown. Like they knew. The barista. The guy by the window. Even the toddler smearing banana on his mom’sptop.
Two girls at the corner were whispering loudly about Mason.
“I bet she’s a model,” one said.
“Or some secret actress,” the other replied. “He always goes for mysterious.”
I slipped out before they could finish guessing.
The universe clearly wanted me humbled today.
Eventually, I ended up at the park. Watching families walk their dogs, kids yell over melted ice cream, and couples stroll hand–in–hand like a Nichs Sparks movie.
A few feet away, a dad was helping his daughter ride a pink bicycle with training wheels.
45.69%
08:31
My chest ached.
I pulled out my phone and called my mom.
She picked up on the second ring. “Sweetheart?”
“Hey, Mom.”
“You sound off. Is everything alright?”
288 Vouchers
Her voice was exactly what I needed to hear.
“I’m okay. Just… wanted to hear from you.”
We talked for a while. About nothing and everything. Her vacation. Her boredom. How much she missed LA and work.
“I miss you<i>,</i>” she said softly. I can’t wait to be home again.”
“I miss you too,” I whispered.
After we hung up, I remembered my car was still parked at Liam’s.
He’d dropped me off after the lockdown, and I hadn’t bothered to get it since.
It was finally time to go get it.
When I arrived, the car was right where I left it. Slightly dusty, but untouched.
64.83%
08:31
288 iVouchers
I slid into the driver’s seat and debated stepping inside to say hi to Sophia. But knowing her, she was off finalizing party chaos.
I reached for the ignition.
Then froze.
There was a shadow by my window.
I nced up.
Liam.
He tapped on the ss.
I rolled it down, heart kicking a little too hard. “You scared me. I thought you’d be at work.”
“If I didn’t know better,” he said coolly, “I’d think being in my own house is a crime now.
<i>” </i>
His voice was calm. Too calm.
“I work from home sometimes,” he added, sliding his hands into his pockets.
“Oh.” I nodded. “Right.”
Silence. Sharp and tense.
“So… Mason, huh?” His tone was deceptively casual. “You two a thing now?”
I blinked. “I didn’t think you kept up with celebrity gossip.”
77.50%
08:31
1288 iVouchers
“I don’t,” he said. “Unless it’s the first thing Sophia shoves in my face this morning before I’ve had coffee.”
Of course. Sophia.
I tightened my grip on the wheel. “I don’t owe you an exnation.”
He stepped closer, voice lowering just enough to shift the air. “No. You don’t.”
Our eyes locked.
That was the moment I knew deep down, without question.
This wasn’t about Mason.
This was about us.
Everything we hadn’t said, all the tension we kept ignoring, hung there between us like an
unlit fuse.
And something told me…
It was about to blow.
90.41%