Affection Score: Absolute Zero

On the third day of trying to win over Heidi Shilton, she confessed to me.

But the affection score floating above her head was still zero.

After we got together, she spoiled me nonstop.

On our sixth anniversary, she pulled off this huge proposal.

Tears burned my eyes. I was just about to say yes when comments suddenly flashed across my vision—

[Heidi must be exhausted. Six years pretending to love Rowan just to protect the male lead.]

[The stand-in for Andy seriously got too into the role. This is hilarious.]

The blood in my veins turned ice-cold.

No wonder that score hadn't changed in six years.

Then a system alert slammed into my head—

[Final stage activated. Mission countdown: 10 days. Failure will result in complete erasure.]

Smiling, I pushed away Heidi's engagement ring and wiped my tears.

"Sorry. I'm done playing this game."

The comments kept scrolling—

[Did Rowan's whole vibe just change?]

[He should've figured it out sooner. Heidi's always loved Andy.]

[Can't wait for his villain arc.]

Me? Go full villain?

No.

I just finally remembered all the little things.

She never let me meet people alone, always saying she was "worried I'd end up around bad influences."

Any time I brought up work, she'd softly cut me off. "I'll take care of you."

So it was never love.

It was a cage.

***

I walked back to the mansion in a daze, stuffing clothes into a suitcase on autopilot.

When I passed the study, the comments suddenly exploded—

[Check the computer! Heidi forgot to log out of her chat app!]

[Oh crap. If Rowan sees those messages—]

[Warning! Operation Protect Andy is starting!]

A notification dinged from inside the study.

I pushed the door open.

The screen was still lit up.

A chat window sat open between Heidi and the female lead—Grace Kohler.

The latest message was from Heidi—

[He suddenly turned down the proposal. Keep Andy safe for the next few days. Don't let Rowan get near him.]

Grace replied almost instantly—

[Don't worry. You've put up with so much all these years.]

I laughed under my breath.

Seriously?

Because of me, two former rivals had teamed up.

I scrolled higher.

The chat history felt like a dull knife dragging through my flesh.

[Grace: In the original story, Rowan ruined Andy's face and even hired some creep to assault him. You've had to sleep next to that trash every day. That's insane.]

[Heidi: As long as Andy's safe, none of it matters.]

[Grace: He's getting more obsessed with you. If he learns the truth, won't he completely lose it?]

[Heidi: He won't find out. But if he does—and he dares touch Andy—I'll break his arms and legs, dump him in a psych ward, and lock him up forever!]

She even added an exclamation point.

I stared at the screen, my fingertips freezing cold.

The comments exploded again—

["None of that matters." Heidi loves Andy so much.]

[Am I the only one freaked out by this? She manipulated someone for six years just for Andy?]

[Rowan's the villain anyway. Heidi's just protecting her true love. Everybody wins.]

[Look at Rowan's face... Is he about to snap?]

[Rowan, quit screwing around and just run!]

Run?

I looked down at my wrist.

Yeah.

I needed to get out of here.

By the time I dragged my suitcase outside, the night had gone pitch-black.

I stood by the road, not even knowing where to go.

The comments were freaking out for me—

[Is he seriously leaving?]

[Hurry up already! Stop getting in the way of Heidi and Andy's romance.]

[Wait... isn't that Heidi's car?!]

Headlights sliced through the dark.

A familiar black sedan screeched to a stop beside me.

Heidi jumped out and ran over, shirt slightly wrinkled, breathing uneven, panic and hurt all over her face.

"Rowan, I'm sorry. I rushed the proposal... I thought you'd be happy."