Chapter 2
The line went silent.
Logan sounded caught off guard when I brought it up.
After a long pause, he finally spoke, his voice low and serious.
"Wow, Elisabeth, I didn't realize you could be so petty," he said. "It's just business between our families. Why make it sound like we owe you?"
I cut him off with a cold laugh. "Cooperation? Seriously? Let's be honest, when has the Ramirez family ever not been the one cleaning up after you? Bailing you out, covering your mess, taking the losses? Do you really think a partnership is supposed to look this one-sided?"
Logan snapped back immediately, as if the words had stabbed him. "Are you finished yet?!" His voice rose sharply. "Yes, the Ramirez family helped the Jenkins family. But do you honestly think I ever asked for that?"
"For years, you've used your family's power to control me. And that engagement? It was just another leash. Elisabeth, I've had enough."
Disgust oozed from every word he spoke.
The live comments erupted in applause.
[Logan finally cutting off the female side character after rebirth! No more tolerance!]
[Elisabeth is obviously scheming. Dragging business into everything just to guilt-trip him. Let's be real, she's only doing this because she's obsessed with Logan.]
[The Jenkins family isn't even that strong anymore. Once Logan takes over, he might crush the Ramirez family.]
[No way Elisabeth lets this go. She's way too in love with him.]
[Relax, Logan will protect Emma this time.]
Before I could reply, Logan ended the call.
The comments vanished instantly.
The next morning, Logan caught up with Emma holding a bottle of warm milk.
Right in front of everyone, he pressed it into her hands.
"Drink it," he said gently, but loudly enough for the surrounding students to hear. "Skipping breakfast is bad for your stomach."
Emma flushed and took a small step back.
"Logan... thank you for helping me yesterday," she said softly. "But this feels a little inappropriate..."
"It's fine," Logan cut in deliberately, raising his voice. "As long as I'm here, no one will dare bully you."
The moment I appeared at the corner, every gaze shifted toward me.
Some were shocked. Some entertained. Some openly mocked, "What's going on with Logan and Emma?"
"You just noticed? He's always treated her differently," another student chimed in.
"So what happens to Elisabeth? Isn't she into Logan?" someone else started.
"Shh! She's the heiress, you know..." someone whispered.
The whispers around me stung like a thousand tiny needles.
I gave Logan and Emma a frosty glance and deliberately walked the long way around.
But Emma hurried after me.
She shoved the milk into my hands, eyes red and glistening.
"Elisabeth, I know you have feelings for Logan, but I swear I had no idea what was going on today," Emma said nervously. "Please... don't be mad at me."
Just as expected, whenever the main couple shows up, the live comments go wild.
[Emma, don't bow your head! Logan's favoritism is so obvious. Stand your ground and be brave!]
[What can she do? Elisabeth's got all the power and influence. Emma can't afford to mess with her at all…]
[Why does Elisabeth always act so overbearing? No wonder Logan can't stand her.]
[It's not just dislike. If she hadn't used her family's power to push Logan into that engagement in his previous life, he wouldn't have hated her so much that he destroyed the Ramirez family the moment he took over.]
I pointed past her at Logan. "Emma, if you want to reject him, tell him yourself. Why involve me?"
Emma bit her lip. "Elisabeth... I know my family isn't well-off, so you've always looked down on me. But I was only trying to help..."
Logan immediately stepped in front of her.
"Why do you keep haunting us like a ghost?" he said coldly. "Just take the milk and stop bothering her."
Disgust filled his eyes.
I calmly dropped the bottle straight into the trash.
"Don't flatter yourself. I don't want anyone's leftovers," I said.
It was meant for both the milk and Emma.
Logan froze for a split second, then his face darkened.
"Elisabeth!" he called out. "I never knew you could be so mean-spirited! Come back here and apologize now!"
We'd known each other for years, and somewhere along the way, Logan had gotten used to ordering me around like he owned the place.
I didn't bother responding. I just turned and walked toward the classroom.
My dad was quick to notice how my attitude toward Logan had shifted.
That night, he called me into his study.
"The Jenkins family reached out again recently, hoping I'd invest in the Northern Tech Park. I haven't given them an answer yet.
"Elisabeth, what do you think?"
I knew my dad always looked down on the way the Jenkins family did things.
From top to bottom, the Jenkins family was obsessed with profit, and they were experts at cozying up to the powerful while trampling anyone weaker.
But Logan, who prided himself on staying above the fray and never getting involved, was the real outlier in his family.
I used to like Logan, and our families had already set up an engagement between us.