Lyric Jace and I split up after we finished at the restaurant. When I arrived home, I saw something I never wanted to face again. But it was unavoidable. I knew he was coming to see me. That was certain. In the living room sat my ex-mate, Roderick. One arm rested on the back of the sofa, his leg crossed over the other. In his other hand, he held his phone, scrolling through it with a smug look. The sound of my sandals caught his attention. He lifted his head slowly, glanced down, then checked me out again with a sharp look. The change in his expression sent chills down my spine. He stared at me a little too long before Nora interrupted, stealing my attention. "You're here finally," she said, her voice sounding tired or maybe worn out. She got up from the couch and crossed her arms. But Roderick still didn’t take his eyes off me. He wasn’t even blinking. Suddenly, he raised a finger and pointed at me, his eyes narrowing like he was trying to remember something. "I know you," he said. Then he recalled, "I met you at the airport," and the lines on his forehead softened. Nora noticed it too, her body language shifted. She uncrossed her arms and stared at Roderick, then looked back at me, as if trying to figure out what was happening. She suddenly sat back down again, this time a little too close to Roderick. She placed her hand on his and squeezed it tightly, forcing a very fake smile. "Babe, that's Lyric, remember? The ugly duckling?" she chuckled, trying to keep up the story about me, but Roderick’s eyes showed he didn’t agree anymore. "She’s here for the rejection, remember? We should get going." She shook his hand to catch his attention and break his stare from me. The anxiety in her body language didn’t escape me, I noticed every detail. Still, Roderick’s behavior was strange. He seemed at a loss for words. "Hello, Roderick. It’s good we’re finally meeting again. Because just as eager as you were to kick me out, I’m just as eager to end the last of this mate bond between us. Let’s go," I said this with a confident smile, excited about the rejection. I turned toward the door, expecting him to follow. But it didn’t seem like he was ready yet. “I don’t get it. How can she be Lyric?” Roderick stood up, looking confused. His face showed he was struggling to piece things together, even though it wasn’t hard to understand that I’d just gotten rid of the scar. “She used to be—,” he stammered, like he couldn’t find the right words to explain his thoughts. “Ugly? I’m not ugly anymore?” I helped him find the words. “Well, Roderick, I wasn’t born ugly, in case you forgot. I only had a scar on my face. That’s the only scar I got rid of. I’m still the same Lyric, the same one you kicked out. Remember how you told me you didn’t want to see my face, that I should just leave your back and your sight? I remember everything. Same old me.” I choked, forcing a weak smile, but my eyes burned with so much hatred that I wished he knew if looks could kill, he’d be dead by now. His eyes widened more. For someone as tough as Roderick, that was priceless. “Now let’s go. I have something important to do. I can’t waste time reminding everyone I’m the same Lyric,” I said, no longer smiling. I turned toward the door, fully expecting him to follow. When he didn’t, I stopped and looked back at him. “Oh, dang it. Something urgent just came up. I don’t think we can go today. We’ll have to do it another time,” Roderick said, quickly scrolling through his phone like he was panicking. When Nora tried to peek at his screen, he hid it like he was lying. I could tell he was stalling. What could be more important than this rejection? “Come on, Roderick, your work can wait. Let’s get this over with.” But Nora wasn’t a fool. She saw what he was doing and started pushing him. The more she pressed, the more irritated he got with her. “I want to finish this today too. I can’t keep putting it off. I have other important things to handle,” I said, sounding businesslike. The way his eyes flicked from Nora to me was hard to miss. He looked annoyed with Nora, but when he looked at me, his expression softened, almost gentle. The way he sized me up made me feel sick. I didn’t want to be under his gaze. “Since you have other things to do, you must know how important some things can be for me as well. So I hope you’re not asking me to delay my urgent work just to go through with this rejection.” The same Roderick who never waited to reject me was now trying to manipulate me into admitting the rejection wasn’t that important, all because he liked what he was seeing now. “Roderick, what are you saying? We’ve been waiting for this moment, haven’t we?” Nora tried to hold his hand again, but he quickly pulled away, slipping his hand into his pocket. “Didn’t you hear me? I said I have something important to do. This rejection can wait.” This time, his tone was sharp and harsh, so much that Nora didn’t argue back. She just stood there, eyes wide, mouth slightly open, watching him. I guess it was hard for her to see him treat her like that in front of me, just because he didn’t want to reject me right now.“Well, it was nice meeting you too,” he said as he started to walk past me. He stopped briefly just to say that one line. The way his eyes lingered on my face, amusement clear in them, made me clench my fists. Then he walked out of the mansion. Once he was gone, it was just Nora and me. She stared at my face for a moment, hurt was all I saw in her eyes. She took a deep breath and lifted her chin, probably trying to convince me she wasn’t broken yet. "Lyric, don't be so proud!" Nora glared at me fiercely, the jealousy in her eyes obvious. "You'd better not expect Roderick to change his mind. He's just been busy lately and doesn't have time to deal with your mess." After saying that, she walked past me to get out of my sight. I snorted coldly, completely ignoring her anger. I know I've instilled in her a strong sense of crisis, something I've never given her before. When I was the ugly duckling, she used to look down on me and never took me seriously. But now, I'm no longer the Lyric I once was. My change isn't just about my appearance; more importantly, I won't let them bully me anymore!