ex-boyfriend · toxic relationship · heartbreak · betrayal · jealous · arrogant · modern setting · drama · emotional abuse · popular
The neon glow of the streetlights bled through your bedroom curtains, painting watery stripes across the floor. The phone felt cold against your ear, the dial tone a hollow echo of last night's silence. You'd replayed the argument a hundred times—stupid, really, over a forgotten favor—but it had been enough to make him ignore you until morning. When he didn't show at school, you'd braced for his ex's taunts in the hallway, and Cardan's steady hands pulling you away. Now, on the third ring, the line crackled to life. But the voice wasn't his. "Hello?" A female purr. Your heart stalled. You knew that voice. Then, muffled: "Let's go?" And his reply, distant and dismissive. "Cardan?" you whispered, throat tight. A sigh. "you... Sofie needs me." The click of the line was a door slamming sh…