Morning came.
Irene slept as deep as the dead all through the night.
motionless.
Peaceful.
Gone from reality.
Until—
BRRRRRRING
Her phone vibrated violently beside her head.
She groaned.
Ignored it.
It rang again.
And again.
And again.
And again.
"arrgh" she groaned.
With the strength of someone personally offended by existence, she grabbed it.
"Hello…" she mumbled, voice barely alive.
Silence.
Then—
A familiar voice.
Calm.
Low.
Dangerous.
"Irene."
Her eyes snapped open instantly.
She sat up.
Fully awake.
"Yuan Mi?!"
She looked at the clock.
8:13 AM.
Too early to deal with emotional damage.
"I hope you didn't forget," he said calmly.
Her brain lagged.
"Forget what?"
Pause.
Then—
"Our deal."
Her stomach dropped.
The favor.
Fake girlfriend.
Reality hit her like a truck.
"Oh."
Silence.
"I'll send a car to pick you up at 7 PM."
Her brain short-circuited.
"A CAR?!"
He ignored her panic.
"Be ready."
"Wait," she said quickly. "Bella is coming with me.
Pause.
"Okay."
She froze.
That was too easy.
Suspicious.
Very suspicious.
Then a thought hit her.
"Wait."
Pause.
"How did you get my number?"
Silence.
Then—
She could hear it.
Not see it.
But hear it.
A smirk.
"I have my ways."
Her face heated instantly.
"Did you stalk me?!"
Silence.
Then—
"See you tonight, Irene."
Click.
He hung up.
She stared at her phone.
Heart beating strangely fast.
"…Idiot," she whispered.
But she was smiling.
And she didn't know why.
she informed Bella and Bella agreed.
*****************
Evening came too fast.
Too suddenly.
Too real.
Irene stood in front of her mirror.
She wore a soft blue mini gown that flowed gently around her thighs, paired with elegant
blue ankle boots. A small matching purse rested in her hands.
Her hair was styled in a half-up ponytail with soft loose waves falling down her back, her fringe framing her face perfectly, making her look gentle.
Beautiful.
Elegant.
Just like her mother.
She froze.
The thought hurt.
She pushed it away.
Then—
Car horn.
She froze.
It was here.
This was real.
The car picked up Bella next.
Bella wore black.
Elegant.
Confident.
Deadly.
"You look expensive," Bella said.
"You look illegal," Irene replied.
They laughed nervously.
The car drive while they chatted.
Then _
They saw it.
The building.
Seventeen floors.
Glass.
White.
Glowing.
And at the top—
Golden letters that said.
YUMMY FUD
They froze.
They squealed they couldn't believe it. right in front of their very own eyes was the one and only YUMMY FUD enterprise.
"OMG, this is awesome, i can't believe ?" Bella whispered.
" Neither do i." Irene whispered back.
" This is a dream come true". Bella whispered.
"I know." Irene replied.
They entered.
And we're taken to the 13th floor.
And then—
He appeared.
Yuan Mi.
Standing there.
Waiting.
Watching.
Bella froze.
Then—
She saw Brandon.
He was here too.
She panicked instantly.
"I— I'll go say hi," she said quickly and escaped.
Coward.
Irene stood alone.
With him.
Her fake boyfriend.
Her heart betrayed her.
Beating faster.
He stepped closer.
"You came."
She swallowed.
"Of course."
He leaned slightly closer.
"You look beautiful."
Her brain stopped working.
Then—
A voice cut through the moment.
Cold.
Sharp.
Dangerous.
"Yuan Mi."
His mother stood there.
Beside her—
Haoxiaoyi.
Smiling.
Watching.
Knowing.
The air turned suffocating.
"This is her?" his mother asked coldly.
Irene froze.
Yuan Mi didn't hesitate.
"Yes."
Silence.
Then—
His mother spoke.
"I don't approve."
The words hit like a knife.
Haoxiaoyi smiled softly beside her.
Angel outside.
Monster inside.
But today she was nice and happy.
On thursday, one of her trusty informant AKA spy told her that yuan didn't like Irene he only wanted to use her to pretend to be his fake girlfriend and that was all .
When haoxiaoyi heard this she was overjoyed and excited.
She no longer saw Irene as her opponent but a play thing for yuan, so she stopped harassing her.
But still promised revenge for Irene later obviously.
"No matter what you do," his mother continued, "you will get engaged next year and marry Haoxiaoyi later on."
Irene froze.
Yuan Mi's hands clenched.
"I won't."
Silence exploded.
His mother's eyes hardened.
"You don't have a choice."
Two minutes.
Two minutes was all it took.
For everything to break.
Yuan Mi turned.
And walked away in anger,it was written all over his face.
Leaving Irene behind.
Leaving everything behind.
She stood frozen.
Confused.
Heart racing.
Not understanding why seeing him hurt like this…
Hurt her too.
on the flat roof ot the building behind a wall—
Yuan Mi stood alone.
Silent.
Broken.
Angered and frustrated.
He punched the wall so hard that his fingers were bleeding and didn't stop till they began vibrating non -stop.
He sat down and calmed down .
Then—
His phone vibrated.
One message.
From ShadowByte's tournament system.
NEXT MATCH : "Final Phase Rule Update: All remaining players will enter SOLO ELIMINATION. Team protection is now disabled . only surviers can move to the next level." OPPONENT: lavanderquin.
His eyes darkened
(Solo… elimination?
That meant…
teammates… could become opponents)
And slowly—
He smiled.