Chapter 6

In the deep neon glow of the night, a cigarette burned in Logan's hand.

Not far off, headlights cut through the darkness.

Logan locked eyes with Eddie, who had just stepped out of a car.

"I'm delivering cake," Eddie explained as he peered through the window into the room.

Taking in the sight of the separate blankets on the bed and the floor, he let out a knowing smirk.

"Can't help it," he said. "She's just too clingy."

Even though they weren't close and Logan wasn't reciprocating the conversation, Eddie was desperate to assert his dominance.

"She's craved this cake forever and insisted I buy it. She won't accept it from anyone else. When she wakes up tomorrow and sees this, she's going to be absolutely thrilled."

Eddie looked at Logan. "You wouldn't get it. I'm her first love."

"Are you?" Logan finally said something.

"Why would I lie?" Eddie retorted. "She only joined this reality show to win me back."

That cake, however, was nowhere to be seen when I woke up the next morning.

The live stream wrapped up, and for the first time, all four of us were gathered together for the bonus footage interview.

I arrived late, being the last one to walk in.

A staff member handed me a headset.

My hair, freshly washed and too silky, made it impossible to secure.

Across the room, Bella and Eddie were drawing Q&A cards.

As I kept my head down, the headset nearly fell. But before it could, a hand from my left swiftly caught it.

"Thanks."

I reached out to take it from Logan, but he didn't let go. Instead, he brought my hand to his lips for a brief kiss before putting the headset on me. He even adjusted it with practiced ease.

The entire room instantly fell into a dead silence.

Eddie shot up from his chair.

Logan withdrew his hand, his tone suddenly polite and restrained as he addressed me. "Sorry, my hand slipped."

Louie, reading the room, quickly broke the tension. "Let's move on to the questions."

Eddie slowly sat back down, and the Q&A game began.

When it was my turn to draw a card, I pulled the "First Love" card.

Louie asked me, "Is your first love the absolute favorite of your life?"

Eddie rested his chin on his hand, dropping his casual demeanor to stare intently at me.

The rest of the crew glanced back and forth between Eddie and me. Everyone thought he was my first love.

"Yes."

Hearing my answer, Eddie sat up straight, unable to resist shooting Logan a triumphant side-eye.

But Logan seemed completely checked out. He kept his face turned toward the window, watching the falling snow outside.

The glass reflected my face perfectly.

"Same question," Louie announced. "Logan, your turn."

Since we were paired up, we had to answer the question on the same card.

Bella wasn't his first love.

No one in the room knew who that person was.

"I hate her. She's really infuriating." Logan's voice was incredibly soft. It carried a rare, underlying hint of vulnerability.

The crew immediately perked up, leaning in to catch the gossip.

"Sounds like a lot of resentment." Louie prodded, "What did she do?"

"Well…" Logan turned around, drawing out his words. "She married someone else but claims that I'm actually her favorite."

The statement didn't make sense. No one in the room could understand it.

Yet, Eddie's brows furrowed instinctively.

Louie flipped the final card. "Alisson, what would you say to your first love right now?"

A hundred safe, generic answers flashed through my mind.

But what slipped out of my mouth was, "I hope… he doesn't hate me too much."

It fit the narrative perfectly. Everyone present assumed I was begging for Eddie's forgiveness.

Eddie's smug arrogance returned instantly. He arched an eyebrow, clearly intending to string me along without giving me an easy way out.

When the exact same question was put to Logan, he replied, "I lied just now. I don't hate her at all."

Eddie finally began to realize that something was off.