Chapter 3

The next week passed without any drama

Sophia gave the watch to Ryan, and he posted a photo on social media that same day.

The brand new Patek Philippe was right there on his wrist, and his caption said: [Some friendships are worth more than money. Thanks to my little angel.]

A bunch of their mutual friends liked it and left comments.

[Holy shit, Ryan! A Patek Philippe!]

[Sophie gave it to you, right? This friendship is goals. I'm jealous.]

[When are you two getting married?]

Sophia replied with a blushing emoji, and then she showed me her phone.

"Lex, look, everyone's misunderstanding. It's so annoying."

She said it was annoying, but the corners of her mouth kept twitching up into a smile.

I looked at the photo.

Ryan's hand was resting on top of a woman's hand, and I would recognize that hand anywhere, even if it was burned to ashes.

It was Sophia's hand.

The angle of the photo was clever. It only showed everything below the wrist, and it looked exactly like two people in a relationship holding hands intimately.

"Yeah, pretty annoying." I handed her phone back.

My voice was completely calm, so calm that Sophia didn't notice anything wrong at all.

She actually thought I believed her whole "pure friendship" bullshit.

What she didn't know was that I could see everything Ryan posted on social media, but he had her on a restricted list.

In another post that only a few of our mutual friends could see, Ryan's caption was completely different.

It just said: [Easy.]

And he'd added three victory emojis after it.

The photo was the same one.

When my childhood friend sent me the screenshot, all he said was: [Lex, you're really gonna let this slide?]"

I texted back: [Don't worry. Just wait.]

I was waiting for something bigger and way more interesting to happen, and it came pretty quickly.

Ryan's birthday rolled around, and Sophia said she wanted to throw him this massive birthday party.

She booked the hottest nightclub in the city and reserved the biggest VIP section they had.

She told me, "Lex, you have to come. You're my boyfriend, so you need to be there."

I agreed.

On the night of the party, the place was already packed when I showed up.

Ryan was sitting right in the center of the VIP section with a crowd of people around him, and Sophia was sitting right next to him with this huge smile on her face.

Honestly, they looked more like a couple than we did.

I walked over, and everyone's attention shifted to me immediately.

"Oh look, the man himself just showed up."

"Mr. Quinn, you're gonna have to drop some serious cash tonight."

The guys talking were Ryan's little followers, and their voices were dripping with jealousy and this barely disguised challenge.

I ignored them completely and walked straight over to sit down next to Sophia.

"Lex, you made it!" Sophia looked genuinely happy to see me.

She leaned in close and whispered in my ear, "Ryan's the star tonight, so just don't give him a hard time, okay?"

I nodded and picked up a drink from the table, taking a sip.

It was strong, and it burned all the way down my throat.

The party hit its peak when they started doing the gift exchange.

Everyone else gave Ryan the usual stuff—designer streetwear, cologne, a gaming console, things like that.

Then it was Sophia's turn.

She stood up and pulled a car key out of her purse.

The Porsche logo caught the flashing club lights, and it was absolutely blinding.

The whole room erupted.

"Holy shit, is that a 718?"

"Sophie, that's insane! That's gotta be like 300 grand!"

Ryan looked completely stunned. He stared at Sophia with his eyes practically glowing.

"Sophie, this is... this is way too much."

"Come on, it's us. Don't be weird about it." Sophia's smile was sugar-sweet.

She pressed the key into Ryan's hand.

"Happy birthday, my... best friend."

Ryan grabbed her and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Sophie, you're too good to me! I don't even know how I'll ever pay you back."

People around them started chanting and egging them on.

"Get a room!"

"Kiss her!"

Sophia's face turned red, but she didn't push Ryan away. She just gave his chest this playful little punch.

It was soft and gentle, and honestly, it looked more like flirting than anything else.

I sat there in the shadows of the VIP booth and watched the whole thing play out.

It was like watching some carefully rehearsed stage performance.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. It was a notification from my bank.

[Your card was charged 330,000.]

It was from the Porsche Center, costing me 330 thousand dollars, for a car, a gift for her "best friend."

I picked up my glass and drained what was left in one long swallow.

Then I stood up.

The second I got to my feet, all the shouting and chanting died down.

Everyone turned to look at me.

They were probably waiting for me to lose it, waiting for me to flip the table over, waiting for the year's biggest meltdown from a lovesick rich kid.

Sophia was staring at me too, and she looked nervous. She let go of Ryan and started walking toward me. "Lex, let me explain—"

I didn't look at her.

I looked at Ryan instead, the guy who was riding high right now, and I smiled.

"You like the car?"

Ryan froze. He probably wasn't expecting that reaction from me. He nodded without thinking.

"Yeah. I love it."

"Good."

That was all I said, and then I turned around and walked out.

I wasn't upset, and I didn't yell. I didn't even bother asking a single question.

I just left.

The whole room was left standing there in shock.

Sophia came running after me and caught up with me right outside the club entrance. She grabbed my arm. "Alexander! What the hell is your problem?"

She'd never been this mad before.

"No problem." I shook her hand off.

"You're pissed, aren't you? Ryan and I don't have anything going on! I just... I just knew he'd been wanting to upgrade his car for a while, so I wanted to help him out.

"I know I should've talked to you first, and that's on me. But you can't just embarrass me like that and walk out in front of everyone!"

Her voice was breaking, and she sounded like she was about to cry.

She was a really good actress, I had to give her that.

I looked at her, at that face I used to think was the most beautiful thing in the world.

Right now, all I felt was disgust.

"Sophia," I said softly. "The game's over."

She froze. "What... what game?"

"The game where I pretend to be your devoted boyfriend."

I reached into my pocket and pulled out a card, then dropped it at her feet.

"This card's yours too. Consider it a gift. The PIN is your birthday. There's still some money on it. Should be enough for you to buy your 'good buddies' a few more cars."

I finished talking and didn't even look at her again. I pulled open my car door, got in, and floored it. The car tore off down the street, and in my rearview mirror, I could see Sophia still standing there in the same spot.

She looked like a balloon that had just been popped, and she'd completely deflated in an instant.

I knew she was panicking right now, but she and her sister would never actually believe that I'd really leave her for good.

They'd assume this was just me getting emotional and throwing a tantrum, and they'd wait for me to cool off and come crawling back like I always did, tail between my legs.

Too bad for them.

This time, they were dead wrong.

The game ended here. It was time to settle the score.