No wonder I couldn’t stop replaying it in my head. The Nathaniel from last night and the one I knew were two completely different people.
The Nathaniel I knew looked right through me. There was never anything in his eyes for me — nothing at all.
At my eighteenth birthday party, I told him. I was floating — certain he’d say yes.
“Go out with me, Nathaniel.”
One look from him, and all of it came crashing down.
“Is this some kind of game to you?” he said. “I don’t like you, Chloe.”
Nothing changed after that. I cried, begged, threw fits — and his expression never flickered.
He was untouchable — cold, distant, completely out of reach.
But last night, something in him had snapped. He was feral — eyes bloodshot, his movements relentless, like he wanted to tear me apart.
“Baby,” he whispered. “My baby. You like me, right?”
“You do,” he said. “You like me. And you’re mine, baby. Only mine.”
I begged him to stop. He heard me — he just didn’t care.
At some point, I passed out.
When I came to, my body felt wrecked, and the comments were already flooding in.
[Wait — did the male lead think Chole was the female lead last night? Audrey’s always been the one he loves. He literally holds her keepsake every night before he falls asleep.]
[Exactly. She took advantage of him. Plus, he never called her by name — not once. He kept saying “baby,” and we all know who his baby actually is.]
[Ugh, when is Audrey going to show up? Someone save this poor man already.]
[Would you like a refund, or would you prefer a replacement?]
[Just the refund.]
He didn’t want me. I was done making a fool of myself.
I could gamble with my own life. But my family — I wasn’t dragging them down with me.
