Chapter 1

I was Logan Vance’s side piece for six years. Everyone knew I loved him.

Everyone also knew I was his desperate, pathetic lapdog.

When he pursued other girls, I ordered the flowers. When he booked hotel rooms, I delivered the condoms. When people cursed him out, I took the beatings.

Everyone looked down on me with utter disgust.

I didn't care in the slightest.

Later, on New Year’s Eve, the midnight chimes rang out, and the entire city was celebrating.

I poured a glass of liquor right over his head, shattered the glass on the floor, and smiled the most genuine, happiest smile I had worn in years.

"Happy New Year. May everything broken bring you peace."

When Logan called, I was tossing and turning in an uneasy sleep, violently jolted awake by the shrill ringtone.

Without even catching my breath, I swiped to answer.

"Took you long enough. Are you dead or something?"

Logan’s tone was as impatient as ever.

Before I could reply, he barked, "Chloe wants pizza from the West Side. Bring it to the Grand Hyatt within thirty minutes."

He hung up immediately.

I checked the time: 3:00 AM.

Not daring to waste a second, I scrambled out of bed and threw on some clothes.

The moment I stepped outside, the biting winter wind tore through my coat like a knife.

I bought the pizza as fast as humanly possible and sped toward the Grand Hyatt.

Even though I rushed like my life depended on it, I was still a few minutes late.

Standing in front of the suite door with the pizza box in hand, I was panting heavily. Without resting for a single second, I knocked.

The person who opened the door wasn't Logan. It was an unfamiliar face—very young, gorgeous, definitely under twenty.

She must be the "Chloe" Logan had mentioned.

She looked me up and down, pure disdain practically oozing from her eyes. Covering her mouth, she giggled softly, "Oh, you actually came?"

Logan walked out from behind her, wearing nothing but a bath towel around his waist. There were fresh scratch marks across his chest.

He frowned at me. "Didn't I tell you to get here within half an hour? You can't even handle a simple errand. Completely useless."

I explained in a low voice, "It’s snowing heavily outside, and it was hard to catch an Uber, so—"

Chloe poured fuel on the fire. "Oh, come on! If you couldn't make it, just say so. Why make excuses, Miss Summer?"

I lowered my head and apologized, "I'm sorry."

Stiffening my frozen hands, I held out the box. "Here’s the pizza you wanted."

She took it, sifted through it with disgust, and then pulled out a carton of milk. Turning to Logan, she whined playfully:

"Didn't you tell her, Logan? I'm allergic to milk. What if something happens to me?"

She then pretended to lose her grip, dropping the milk straight onto the floor—splashing it right over my boots and ankles.

Having been carried all the way here, the milk was still warm. My freezing feet reflexively jerked back; the sudden heat burned against my numb skin.

Chloe burst into a fit of giggles.

Logan waved his hand in tired annoyance. "Whatever. You can't even get this right. Get lost!"

With that, he turned and walked back into the room.

Chloe tossed the pizza box at my feet and said in a condescending, charitable tone, "I don't even want it anymore. Consider it a handout—you can eat it."

She slammed the door shut with a loud bang.

I rubbed my stiff, frozen hands, picked up the pizza box from the floor, and slowly walked outside, step by step.

As I exited the hotel lobby, a scruffy homeless man holding an empty cup approached me, asking for change.

Listening to his slurred words, I couldn't help but smile faintly.

I gave him all the cash I had on me, along with the box of lukewarm pizza.

He excitedly showered me with blessings.

I looked at the giant LED billboard across the street displaying the countdown to midnight.

"Yeah. Early Happy New Year to both of us."