THIRD PERSON’S POV

Inside Bianca’s apartment, Bianca sat on the couch while eating ice cream directly from the container.

“I still think we should slash his tires,” Bianca said.

Sophia snorted “You say that every time.”

“Because every time, he deserves it.”

Sophia shook her head.

Bianca looked at her. The teasing expression on her face slowly faded when she noticed how sad Sophia still looked. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

“You really okay?” Bianca asked quietly.

Sophia shrugged. “I don’t even know anymore.”

That answer alone made Bianca’s chest ache.

Before Bianca could speak again, a loud voice suddenly exploded outside the apartment building.

“BIANCA!”

Both women jumped in shock.

Sophia blinked in confusion. Bianca froze completely.

The loud voice continued again through what very clearly sounded like a megaphone.

“BIANCA, MY BEAUTIFUL ANGEL, PLEASE FORGIVE ME!”

Bianca’s face immediately twisted into horror “Oh no.”

Another loud shout echoed outside.

“I KNOW YOU’RE AWAKE!”

Sophia stood up and walked to the balcony window. Then immediately burst into shocked laughter.

Marcel stood downstairs in front of the apartment building, holding flowers and a megaphone.

Her wolf actually became startled inside her. What is he doing?

Marcel looked completely serious too. He wore a long black coat while standing dramatically beside his car under the streetlights like he was filming a romance movie.

Except...the entire apartment complex clearly hated him right now. Several windows were already opening upstairs.

“SHUT UP!” someone screamed angrily from another balcony.

Marcel ignored them completely.

“BIANCA!” he yelled again through the megaphone. “I ADMIT I WAS WRONG!”

Bianca looked ready to die from embarrassment.

“Oh my goddess” she whispered.

Sophia laughed harder while covering her mouth.

“Your man is insane.” Sophia teased.

Bianca glared at her “He’s not my man!”

Downstairs, Marcel continued shamelessly.

“I BOUGHT YOUR FAVORITE FLOWERS!”

A bottle suddenly flew from one upstairs window. Marcel barely dodged it.

“GET LOST!” another neighbor shouted furiously.

Sophia was laughing so hard now that tears nearly formed in her eyes.

Meanwhile Bianca looked one second away from committing murder.

“I’m going downstairs.” She said.

Sophia grabbed her arm. “No you’re not. He’ll think this works.”

“I’m going downstairs to kill him.”

Before either woman could move further, loud police sirens echoed down the street.

Marcel froze.

Two police cars pulled up near the building. Two officers stepped out quickly.

The neighbors immediately started yelling complaints from their windows.

“He’s been screaming for twenty minutes!”

“I have work tomorrow!”

“He scared my dog!”

Marcel looked deeply offended by the betrayal.

“I’m apologizing romantically!” he protested loudly.

One officer looked exhausted already.

“Sir, put the megaphone down.” He said.

Bianca covered her face completely in humiliation. Sophia could barely breathe from laughing now.

Marcel finally looked upward desperately toward Bianca’s balcony.

“BIANCA!” he yelled one final time while police grabbed his arm. “YOU KNOW I LOVE YOU!”

Finally, the police dragged Marcel toward the car while he continued trying to explain himself dramatically the entire time.

Sophia completely lost control laughing. Even Bianca eventually started laughing too.

Several minutes later, the apartment finally became quiet again.

The chaos downstairs disappeared completely after police drove Marcel away, though random neighbors still muttered angrily through open windows outside.

Sophia and Bianca eventually settled back onto the couch while still laughing about Marcel’s disaster.

“I can’t believe he brought a megaphone,” Sophia muttered.

Bianca groaned. “He has no shame.”

Before Sophia could answer, her phone suddenly rang again. It was Damien calling.

Immediately, the warmth in the room disappeared.

Sophia answered anyway.

“What now?” she asked.

Damien sounded furious immediately.

“Where the hell are you?”

Sophia rolled her eyes. “At Bianca’s. We already discussed this.”

“You left Ashley crying all night.”

The accusation in his voice irritated her. Sophia sat up straighter.

“And whose fault is that exactly?”

“She woke up wanting you.”

“And you were too busy drinking with Tiffany to notice earlier.”

Silence.

Then Damien spoke coldly. “You’re being irresponsible.”

Sophia laughed in disbelief. “I’m irresponsible?”

The anger inside her immediately flared hotter now. Somehow, Damien always managed twisting situations until she became the villain.

“She’s emotionally unstable tonight because you disappeared for hours,” Damien continued.

Sophia’s chest tightened painfully at Ashley’s name. Despite everything... Ashley was still her daughter, her precious little girl.

Her wolf whimpered softly too.

But then, she remembered Damien kissing Tiffany again and her anger returned full force.

“No,” she snapped coldly. “Don’t you dare put this entirely on me.”

Damien became silent.

“You spent the evening indulging yourself with Tiffany while expecting me to clean up everything afterward,” Sophia continued angrily “Do you even hear yourself?”

“That’s not what happened.”

“I literally saw you.”

The silence afterward exposed him completely.

Sophia laughed bitterly. “You know what’s funny? Even after everything between us, you still somehow expect me to act like your wife whenever it becomes convenient.”

“Sophia-”

“No.” she snapped “You don’t get to spend the night kissing another woman while calling me afterward to handle your responsibilities.”

“She’s your daughter too.”

The words stabbed directly into Sophia’s chest. That was the problem.

Ashley was her daughter. And despite trying emotionally detaching herself from Damien lately... She could never fully detach from Ashley. Never.

Sophia closed her eyes tightly.

“You think I don’t know that?” she whispered angrily.

Damien became quiet. The anger in his voice softened slightly.

“Sophia...”

But she was too upset now.

“No,” she interrupted “I’m tired, Damien. I’m tired of being dragged back every single time you ruin something.”

“I didn’t ruin anything.”

Sophia closed her eyes, trying to calm herself.

“Take care of her.” she said softly.

Then, she hung up.

-

Meanwhile, across the city, Tiffany sat inside Damien’s study looking completely frustrated.

She had several research papers in front of her. Her laptop screen was filled with complicated formulas and incomplete analysis reports.

She rubbed her eyes tiredly before leaning back heavily into the chair.

“I can’t solve this.” she muttered.

Damien had just returned from calming Ashley down moments earlier.

“What part?” he asked.

“The simulation keeps failing,” Tiffany muttered. “I’ve tried fixing the calculations three different ways.”

Damien stepped closer toward the desk before glancing briefly at the screen. He barely understood half the technical details himself.

Tiffany sighed “If I can’t finish this properly, my advisor might reject the entire research proposal. I’m seriously considering dropping out.”

Damien frowned. “No.”

Tiffany laughed weakly. “You didn’t even read it.”

“I don’t need to. You worked too hard for this already.”

“You don’t understand. I’ve hit a dead end.”

Damien stayed quiet briefly afterward. Then suddenly remembered someone.

“There’s still one person who could help.”

Tiffany blinked. “Who?”

Damien looked at her “Lance.”

Tiffany looked surprised “Sophia’s friend. Would he-?”

Damien held her hand, trying to soothe her. He kissed her forehead.

“I’ll handle it” he said “I promise”

-

In Bianca’s apartment, Sophia lay awake alone much later that night.

Bianca had already fallen asleep nearby after forcing Sophia to promise she wouldn’t overthink herself into insanity before morning.

Unfortunately...that promise became impossible to keep.

Because eventually, Sophia opened her phone again.

And somehow...her fingers automatically opened her chat with Zade.

The conversation remained painfully empty lately. No new messages. No explanations.

Nothing.

Sophia stared quietly at the screen while remembering the video of Tiffany drinking beside him days ago. The betrayal still hurt.

Then suddenly, the typing bubble appeared.

Sophia froze in shock. Her heartbeat sped up.

Zade was typing.

Several long seconds passed. Sophia stared intensely at the screen while emotions twisted inside her chest.

What would he say? An explanation? An apology? Anger?

But then suddenly, the typing bubble disappeared.

No message came.

Sophia stared blankly at the screen afterward. Then she laughed brokenly.

Her wolf whimpered painfully inside her chest.

And somehow...the silence hurt worse than words ever could.