Chapter 4

Eddie looked up at me when he heard that.

They all expected me to throw a fit. That way, they could edit my meltdown into the bonus footage to highlight how sweet and considerate Bella was.

None of them expected me to yield so easily.

Bella had no use for the lines she'd spent all morning rehearsing. Shut down before she could even start, she managed a dry response. "Good. Don't go back on your word."

"Let's just keep it this way permanently," I said.

Her face stiffened slightly.

But she quickly recovered with a smile. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she whispered, "Are you trying to make Eddie jealous? Everyone knows you only came on this show to win him back.

"Too bad it's not working. Not only is he not jealous, but you're going to have to watch him walk into my room tonight."

Across the set, the production team called out. The decision was made to stick with last week's pairings.

As they were leaving, Eddie asked Bella with a teasing edge to his voice, "Aren't you worried about her being in a room with Logan?"

Hearing that name triggered a sharp reaction from Bella.

She scoffed as if she'd just heard the most ridiculous joke in the world. "As if Logan has ever liked anyone. Lock them in a room for a year, and he still wouldn't spare her a glance."

They traded a knowing look and shared a laugh.

Right in front of me, Eddie took off his coat and draped it over Bella's shoulders. "Alisson, if you're trying to win me back, these petty mind games aren't going to cut it."

He was trying to provoke me.

He wanted me to snap and lose it in public, giving him the perfect excuse to play the victim.

Eddie and Bella were driven off to a luxury villa.

It was the grand prize for the couple with the highest affection level from the previous week.

Bella posted a photo of their candlelight dinner on Instagram.

The livestream chat was flooded with fans swooning over the romance.

I scrolled through all of this on my phone from the back of the production crew's car.

We were heading toward the old town.

"If these two don't get their affection levels up today, they're going to get eliminated, right?"

"They won't eliminate Logan. He's way too big a star. They'll probably just swap his partner."

"So boring. Why did Logan even agree to do a show like this?"

"The weirder the match, the more I ship it. I have a feeling something's about to happen."

"Are you out of your mind? If anything actually happens between them, I'll eat crap live on stream!"

I put my phone away and asked the staff member next to me, "Where are Logan and I staying tonight?"

"You two had the lowest affection levels, so you have to face the penalty. Tonight, you'll be staying in…"

The car pulled over. He jerked his chin toward the rundown residential building outside the window.

"There," he said. "A rental apartment."

I got out of the car.

The only camera tracking me was a fixed livestream lens mounted inside the vehicle.

From that distance, it could only capture my silhouette from behind. They couldn't hear my voice.

I stood at the entrance, and my mind went blank for a few seconds.

I pulled out my phone and called Gracie Riley, my former boss and my best friend.

"Logan told me, 'Long time no see.'"

Right now, I desperately needed her to snap me out of it.

"And? What else was he supposed to say?"

Gracie was as blunt as I had expected. "Let's be real. Everyone has an ex. He has endless options. Why would he choose a divorcee like you? Just because of those few months you spent depending on each other?

"Think about it objectively. That was the absolute lowest point of his life. Who wants to reminisce about that?"

I turned the key and pushed the door open.

Logan was standing on a ladder, fixing a ceiling light.

As he raised his arms, his lean muscles shifted beneath his shirt.

It was just like the old days.

Except there was a medical bandage wrapped around his waist—a casualty of doing stunt work on set.

The old tungsten bulb flickered in his hand.

Dark, then bright again.

The scene was so painfully familiar that I froze at the door, unable to step inside.

"Let's eat."

Logan noticed me.

His words were brief, and his expression remained unchanged.

It made my anxiety feel entirely out of place. I was the only one overthinking this.