Chapter 2

Logan didn’t return to the apartment for three days straight.

Hailey posted constantly on Ins and Twitter. It didn’t feel like she was sharing her life; it felt like she was performing exclusively for me.

Chloe was fuming after looking through Hailey’s posts.

Her voice over the phone shook with outrage on my behalf.

"Who does Hailey think she is? She’s literally a home-wrecker. Where does she get the audacity to act so smug?"

"Is Logan completely blind? What could she possibly have that you don’t?"

I had asked myself that question countless times.

Had he treated me poorly?

Not really. Logan used to remember every single preference of mine, my birthday, and every minor anniversary.

Whenever I fell sick, he would stay up all night taking care of me.

If I casually mentioned wanting to take a road trip, he would pack his bags without hesitation.

Whatever I asked for, he gave me.

Could I say he never loved me?

No.

I had seen the way his eyes used to shine whenever he looked at me.

I took a sip of water and looked out the restaurant window.

"Who knows? It doesn’t matter anymore."

My withdrawal paperwork was practically done.

All that was left was Logan’s final sign-off as the student body president.

I offered Chloe a faint smile. "Come on, let’s eat. Don’t ruin your dinner over them."

When I texted Logan later that afternoon, Hailey replied with a voice memo.

Her voice dripped with sweet innocence.

"Hey, Harper! Logan stepped out to help me edit my cheer team promo draft. I’ll make sure to tell him the second he’s free~"

Editing a promo draft?

He used to worry so much about me staying up late writing code and running platform campaigns. He used to sit right beside me, helping wherever he could and heating up milk for me.

Ever since Hailey came along, he had completely lost the desire to do any of that for me.

His attention had shifted entirely to her.

Before I could reply, Hailey sent over a photo.

It was Logan’s back as he sat in front of the computer in the student council office, working on her file.

"Harper, Logan is really swamped right now. But don’t worry, I passed your message along. He knows about it~"

Logan didn’t get back until very late that night.

Seeing me sitting on the couch, his hand paused as he took off his jacket.

"Why aren’t you asleep yet?"

He acted as if nothing had changed between us.

His tone was casual, familiar. "It’s late."

"I was waiting for you," I said flatly.

Logan walked over, and I spun my laptop screen toward him, showing the completed system transfer form.

"I’ve already confirmed the handover. I won’t touch the base code or the operational models, but the platform’s core algorithms are my intellectual property. I’m taking those with me."

Logan frowned instantly.

"Harper, aren’t you being a little greedy?"

Greedy? If anything, I was being too generous.

I had no interest in arguing. "I built that core from scratch. Taking it back is entirely fair."

We held each other’s gaze for a long moment until Logan looked away first.

With a heavy sigh, he clicked the confirmation button on the screen.

I snapped the laptop shut and stood up.

Logan looked like he wanted to say something.

I didn't give him the chance, heading straight for the stairs.

Halfway up, I stopped and looked down at him.

"Make sure you drop by the student council project room tomorrow morning. The full team needs to be present for the formal handover."

Logan’s frown deepened.

He opened his mouth. "Are you really in that much of a rush?"

I finished his thought for him.

"Every day sooner means your little Hailey spends one less day as a secret mistress. Isn’t that what you want?"