Chapter 1

Everyone said the North Shore team was guaranteed to win the intercollegiate football championship.

Logan thought so too.

That was why he dared to bet our breakup on it, right in front of the entire campus.

His younger cheerleader friend, Hailey, was even bolder. Before the game was even over, she posted an official announcement on social media: "If they win, we’re going public with our relationship."

She attached a photo showing off her new appointment letter as co-lead of the campus engagement platform.

The comments were blowing up, everyone waiting to see my reaction.

I didn’t say a word. I just nodded quietly, packed my bags, moved out, and handed over my admin rights to the platform.

He thought I had simply given in.

What he didn’t know was that two days earlier, I had already received my acceptance email for a study abroad exchange program.

I was leaving very soon.

…

When the final whistle blew, the stadium erupted in deafening cheers and screams.

Logan and I stood in the middle of it all, quietly out of place.

He seemed stunned.

I looked at the final score flashing on the jumbotron.

Quietly, I said, "You won."

This was a bet he was destined to win, and I was done fighting.

"Logan, I agree to the breakup."

Three years of dating, more than two years of living together—and he won that, too.

On the drive back, Hailey sent Logan an excited voice message.

"Logan! North Shore actually won! Does this mean we can finally make our relationship official?"

The audio played through the car speakers by mistake.

Every single word landed loud and clear in my ears.

Logan instinctively glanced over at me.

He found me staring out the window, completely expressionless.

He cleared his throat. "I just said that before the game to humor her. To make her happy."

"Still…" Logan paused, his tone drifting into something nonchalant. "She’s helped me out a lot lately. I guess I really do owe her an official title. And you should transfer your admin permissions for the campus platform to her. She just joined the team, so she needs something to establish herself. She’s still young, after all—"

"Okay," I said softly. "I understand. I’ll finish the handover."

Logan blinked, clearly not expecting me to give in so easily.

He, more than anyone, knew what that platform meant to me. I had poured my heart, soul, and countless sleepless nights into it over the past few years.

He shifted uncomfortably. "There’s no need to rush it that much."

I met his gaze calmly. "We wouldn’t want to delay your big announcement, right? Better to get it over with early. Besides, she’s been waiting long enough."

I wasn’t lying.

Hailey had been hovering around him for an entire year, waiting for the right moment to make their relationship public.

As long as Logan and I hadn’t broken up, he couldn’t bear the thought of letting Hailey take the blame for being the other woman.

Logan stared at my face, searching for any sign of hurt or anger.

Exhausted, I simply closed my eyes.

I didn’t want to say another word.

As we neared our shared apartment, Logan suddenly said, "The power went out in Hailey’s cheerleading rehearsal room. She’s terrified of the dark. I’m going over to keep her company."

"Sure. Drop me off at the corner," I replied, entirely numb to it.

Logan hesitated.

After I stepped out of the car, he rolled down the window. "I might not come back tonight."

I nodded, my voice completely flat. "Okay."

After his car pulled away, I stood on the sidewalk for a moment in the cool air.

My phone buzzed with a text from my friend, Chloe.

[Did you and Logan head back early?]

[I lost you guys in the crowd.]

Logan had hesitated for a long time about attending the game. Whether out of guilt or an uneasy conscience, he had ended up going with me anyway.

I texted Chloe back:

[Yeah. We broke up.]

Chloe replied almost instantly:

[Because of Hailey? Why is she literally everywhere?!]

[She’s just a random underclassman. Has Logan completely lost his mind?]

Maybe he had.

I couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment everything between Logan and me began to rot.

When did it start?

Probably around the time his student council duties started piling up, and our conversations began dwindling down to nothing.

He stopped sharing the little things he found amusing.

His replies grew slower and farther apart.

Walking away from this relationship didn’t actually hurt; if anything, I felt an overwhelming sense of relief.

Three years together, two years of shared projects, and endless nights lying awake staring at the ceiling—it was finally over.

My phone chimed with a voice note from Logan.

"Get some rest early."

He always had this habit of slapping me across the face and then handing me a piece of candy.

I had grown used to it.

Back at the apartment, I collapsed onto the couch, drained, staring blankly at the empty living room.

A while later, a notification lit up my screen.

The app pushed Hailey’s latest post directly to my feed.

I tapped it. It was her official announcement.

"Congrats to North Shore on bringing home the championship! Logan won his bet, which means we can finally be together properly!"

The photo showed their intertwined hands resting over her new platform appointment letter.

A dull ache flared in my stomach.

Yesterday’s clinic discharge paperwork was still tucked inside my bag.

Stress-induced gastritis. The doctor had strictly advised me to rest and stop staying up late.

Lowering my eyes, I closed the app.

I opened my laptop, pulled up the project resignation template for the campus platform, and typed:

[Please process my project withdrawal and admin handover as soon as possible.]