Guess all that ranting isn't for nothing. My effort finally pays off. "Fine." Piper hesitated. After days of giving Aiden the cold shoulder, she'd been struggling too. Before, the moment she opened her eyes, Aiden was there, fussing over her. Whatever she wanted to eat or do, she didn't have to say a word—he handled it all. These past few days, that royal treatment was gone. Even eating out required careful thought. Back then, no matter how expensive it was, Aiden always picked up the tab. That was real living. Pride and stubborn self-respect, plus the belief that Aiden would come crawling back in a couple of days, had kept her from lowering herself. After getting chewed out by Storm, she realized Aiden wasn't as useless as she'd thought. Martin's patient reasoning gave her a way to step down gracefully. "That's more like it," Martin finally exhaled.From his perspective, as long as Piper reached out first, it didn't matter what had happened—even if meteors were falling—Aiden would come running. That's just how it always was. "I'm logging off. I'll contact you later," Piper said before turning toward the safe zone to log out. Martin stayed quiet, but he looked a little excited. Soon, Piper exited the game. She sat on the edge of the bed and pulled out the brand-new phone Aiden had just replaced for her. Honestly, Aiden really did treat me well. Throwing money around is tacky, but Martin's right. Money is all he's got—no other skills. I should probably give him a chance. Staring at the latest model phone worth tens of thousands, her expression softened. Her fingers flew over the screen. 'Aiden, I'm playing a game called Doomsday. Hurry and buy some gear, then carry me and Martin to level up. If you get me onto the Leaderboard this time, I'll consider being your girlfriend. How's that? Hehe.' The message popped into the chat window instantly. She even added a cute emoji and sent it with full confidence. In her mind, Aiden would be over the moon.She calmly locked her phone and set it aside. She didn't need to check. She already knew what would happen once he saw the message—tears, excitement, and then him rushing over. Minutes passed. The phone stayed silent. Hmm. Looks like he really ran into something. Sick? Or something else? Her brows furrowed. Skipping a message this important wasn't like him. She wasn't worried, just smug. He must have something going on if he's been quiet this long. If that's it, then fine. I'll forgive him. It's not like he meant to. Piper smiled, feeling confident. Her charm hadn't faded. She picked up the phone to check on him, planning to—just this once—ask how he was doing. The second she lit up the screen, she froze. Her confident look shifted to shock, then disbelief, then pure fury. Next to the message she had sent was a big red exclamation mark. He actually deleted my contact? How dare he! How could he even think to do that?Moments later, a piercing scream tore through the expensive apartment, shattering the quiet. "Aiden! From today, we're done! Completely done! If you've got any spine, don't crawl to me begging. I'll never forgive you! Never!" Ten long minutes passed. Piper's chest rose and fell as emotions surged. She'd planned carefully, but never imagined this outcome. How could he do this? Has he forgotten all the digging he did, all the people he had to buy off just to get my contact? Has he forgotten how excited he was when he finally got it? Has he forgotten he promised never to take more than three minutes to reply?