Chapter 2

Logan had confessed his feelings to Chloe back in college.

Chloe had slipped that into a casual conversation at a party a while ago, making sure I heard every word.

Even so, I had never doubted Logan's love for me.

Until I saw those two sticks, both bearing Chloe's name.

And until I saw the look on his face right now.

Logan froze for a second.

Then, pure fury flashed across his features.

"Did you touch my sticks?!"

"How dare you!"

He gripped the wooden stick so tightly his knuckles turned white, as if venting his rage.

He was the one who had played me for a fool for five long years.

He let me pray like an idiot before every single draw:

Please let it be me this time.

I really just want to spend the holidays with you.

And every time, Logan had simply smiled.

After drawing the rigged result, he would patronize me:

"Since Chloe's name came up, we have to stick to the rules."

"Just wait for the next holiday, okay?"

Even now, caught red-handed, he didn't offer a single word of explanation.

There was only resentment and blame.

My heart sank completely.

"I should be asking you that," I said, my voice shaking as years of suppressed pain broke through.

"Why wasn't my name on either of those sticks?"

"For five years... I actually thought I was just unlucky..."

Every word felt like tearing open an old wound.

Tears streamed down my cheeks, unstoppable.

Logan stared at my tears and let out an exasperated sigh.

He took a step toward me, opening his mouth to speak.

Chloe instantly darted between us, cutting him off.

She looked at me with open disdain.

"Since you already know, I'll just be blunt."

"Logan was never going to your house."

"The whole drawing game was just a little trick to keep you quiet!"

A loud buzz rang through my head.

"What do you mean?"

Logan caught Chloe's hand, stepping in to speak for her:

"Chloe and I have been best friends for over a decade. I've spent every holiday with her."

He sighed again, sounding burdened.

"After we started dating, she started worrying you'd take me away from her completely."

"So I came up with the idea of the draw."

"That way, I had a valid reason to go with her, and you'd still have something to look forward to."

His eyes shifted away.

"It made everyone happy."

He called wasting five years of my life 'making everyone happy.'

Listening to him, it felt like my chest was being ripped apart.

The entire thing was a sickening joke from day one.

Chloe snapped the wooden stick with my name on it in half.

She tossed the broken pieces aside and gave me a smug smile.

"Friends are like family. Partners can be replaced whenever."

"So even if you pulled cheap tricks to get your name drawn, Logan is still coming with his best friend."

Logan stood silently beside her, not uttering a word of protest.

"Chloe already told her family I was coming," he murmured, glancing at my pale face with a fleeting flicker of guilt.

"This draw doesn't count, Saffron."

"You can wait for next time."

"Don't be a sore loser."

Then, lowering his voice, he added:

"Next time, I promise I'll make it completely fair."

As if a casual promise could buy another round of my blind devotion.

I clenched my fists so hard my nails dug into my palms, the sharp pain keeping me grounded.

Then I looked up at Logan, curved my lips into a faint smile, and nodded.

What he didn't know was this:

My parents had made it crystal clear. This Thanksgiving, I had to bring my fiancé home.

And that fiancé didn't have to be him.