Chapter 4

I didn't hear from Chloe for the rest of the weekend.

I worked. I ordered takeout. I slept on the couch. The silence in the apartment was a relief.

It made me think about how it all started.

Seven years ago, in college. I was a mess. I had crippling social anxiety. At a huge fraternity party, I felt the walls closing in. I couldn't breathe. I hid in a back room, hyperventilating, sure I was dying.

Chloe found me.

She was the most popular girl in her sorority. Golden hair, a smile that could disarm anyone.

She didn't laugh. She sat with me. She talked me down. She held my hand and told me I was okay.

She said, "You just need someone to see how great you are. I see it."

She became my world. My entire sense of self-worth was built on the foundation of her choosing me. I wasn't just anxious Liam, the quiet coder. I was Chloe's boyfriend. That meant I was something.

She "saved" me.

And for seven years, I paid that debt. I accepted the flirting, the manipulations with Blake, the constant tests. Because deep down, I believed I was nothing without her. I believed she was the only reason I had a life at all.

I looked at the lines of code on my screen.

This was mine. I built this. I was good at this. It had nothing to do with her.

The thought was like a key turning in a lock I didn't even know was there.