While Riley drowned in despair over her grandma, Alex was tangled up with Sera, still rattled from Eric’s laxative fireworks. Her hair whipped wild, eyes sultry, hips swaying in a rhythm that held his full attention.
Before the massive floor-to-ceiling window, the city glittered—a sprawl of lights and hustling clawing for a living. Inside, the room stayed dark, neon glow seeping through the glass, casting jagged shadows across the floor.
With a final tug, Alex felt the world dull, a strange clarity washing over him. Sera, ever obedient, dipped low—she wasn’t that clueless college girl anymore.
“Still thinking about earlier?” Alex asked, voice flat.
She was trying hard to please him, but he could tell her mind was elsewhere. He was an expert at reading that much.
Sera’s face tightened, fighting off the nasty images in her head. She nodded. “Every time I think about letting that psycho near my grandpa, I want to… slap myself.”
“Not your fault,” Alex said, lifting a foot to hook under her soft chin, tilting her flushed face up to meet his gaze.
To a Protagonist, a heroine like her was sacred—untouchable. They’d pull every trick to win her, then cradle her like glass. But Alex? He just wanted to feel good. Her feelings? If he was happy, she’d be happy.
Sera knelt still, letting his foot rest on her smooth skin. “Didn’t he get locked up for killing someone? How’s he strutting around outside in the open after just three days?”
‘Oh, sweetheart, you’ve got no clue how scary a Protagonist can be.’ Alex turned toward the bathroom. “Someone bailed him out. Just steer clear.”
Sera scrambled after him, ready to tend to his bath. These past days had tamed her well. Some say breaking a person takes months—or a lifetime. Alex? One day did it. If that wasn’t enough, he’d keep at it.
“Oh!” She nodded, bending to test the tub’s water, hips swaying as she hesitated. “Um…”
She sighed, trailing off.
“Spit it out,” Alex snapped, brow creasing. He hated two kinds of people: those who stopped mid-sentence, and—well, the other didn’t need saying.
Sera checked the temperature, then squeezed bath gel onto her hands, lathering him up. It was routine, nothing fancy. Her body twisted like a dancer’s ribbon—years of lessons from the Kleinbergs showing through—pressing close as she worked. Friction made foam, and it did.
“What about Logan and his family?” she asked.
Alex glanced at her. “Feeling soft?”
She shook her head, fumbling for words. “No, it’s just… they’re with those thug types. What if they get heavy-handed and accidentally kill them? That’d be a shame.”
Her voice wavered. She’d wanted Logan to suffer, not die.
“After all this time, Logan’s thrilled to know his niece still cares,” Alex said, leaning back in the tub, savoring the rub. “Don’t worry—your wish, my command.”
Sera perked up, cheeks red, leaning close to his ear. “Alex, ever thought about taking the back way? I can open up just for you.”
Whoa—where’d you pick that up? But a Sera’s needs? He couldn’t say no.
One thing led to another, and it was a hell of a ride.
….
Morning hit at eight. Alex dragged himself from bed. Sera had a class, bolting out by seven in a cab. She’d asked him to drive her, but he’d waved her off.
‘What am I, some lovesick hero? I’m just your average, sleazy villain.’
After washing up, he grabbed his phone—and froze. “Why so many missed calls?”
He’d silenced it last night to avoid interruptions. Urgent stuff went to his other line. Less than ten people in the city had this number, and none would dare blow it up like this. They’d ping Waters first.
Then it clicked. Last night’s system alerts:
[The Heroine ‘Riley’ is having a Mental breakdown. Congrats, you have earned 1000 Critical Points!]
[The Heroine ‘Riley’ is having a Mental breakdown. Congrats, you have earned 1000 Critical Points!]
[The Heroine ‘Riley’ is having a Mental breakdown. Congrats, you have earned 1000 Critical Points!]
He’d been too busy with Sera’s “back” to care why the sweet, naive Riley was cracking. Probably her grandma’s liver cancer—big deal if she died. He didn’t give a damn. Like Sera’s grandpa—dead was dead. If it sped up a heroine’s collapse, he’d even nudge it along.
Chin in hand, he stood by the window. By his math, Riley’s grandma was due to tank any day now—cancer spreading, death knocking.
Last night’s flood of points meant it’d hit. In the original plot, the day after the hospital’s critical notice, Eric swooped in, saving the old lady and winning Riley’s heart.
But now? That “Prodigy doctor” was a mess—too busy crapping himself silly to chase skirts. Waters said Eric’s marathon runs had landed him in the hospital, wrecked.
Staring at the rising sun, Alex grinned. A night of ignored calls, a cold hospital notice like death’s calling card—Riley had to be drowning in despair. Over 60,000 Critical Points in one night? He could guess the rest.
Even if Sera hadn’t offered up her “back” last night, Alex still wouldn’t have answered Riley’s calls. A heroine’s feelings? They didn’t hold a candle to Critical Points.
Truth be told, he could barely picture Riley’s face anymore—just some scrawny, flat-chested girl fading from memory.
….
Rain started tapping the city by eight, a drizzle that swelled into a downpour by noon. Fierce winds drove sheets of water across the city, scouring the world clean. Above, thick clouds churned, split now and then by jagged lightning and rolling thunder.
The city flickered—bright, then dark.
“Boom!”
A bolt cracked the sky, bleaching the gloom-wrapped streets a stark white.
Inside Reid Hospital, the corridors buzzed with nurses and doctors darting about. Ambulances rolled in from the storm or peeled out into it, their sirens swallowed by the roar outside.
The June rain brought a chill, cutting through the usual muggy heat.
In a corner of the ward’s hallway, a girl curled tight, knees to her chest. Exhaustion carved her face, her once-sparkling eyes dulled to shadows.
The corridor stretched silent, broken only by thunderclaps and the hard plink of rain pelting the windows. She hugged her legs, burying her head deep between her knees.
“Crack!”
A thunderous roar jolted her awake. She lifted her tear-streaked face, eyes red and blurry, and stared at the phone on the floor.