Seven Years of Mismeasured Love

ding me a manipulative social climber. For seven years, a glowing "Disgust Me

confessed the meter was a malfunctioning "Pure Love System"-the ri

roup chat: "Elliott's Marriage Bet." His friends laughed about me being

ust another lie? Was I nothing more than

blicly declaring war on my brother and swearing his love was rea

pte

a Cha

iott, his best friend, and used it to brand me a manipulative

me. I called it the "Disgust Meter"-a cruel, hovering number that seemed to measure

flickering red "37" above his head, pulsing like a heartbeat. I blinked

ve with it-my private torment, a dig

away from New York, from eve

liciously twisted my innocent draft message into a sick obsession with him, turning Elliott, the one person who had ever made me feel seen, against me. Elliott, the heir to a formidable real estate empire, became cold, his

place for my secret hopes. Somehow, it found its way to Jarrod. His furious call, his voice dripping with revulsion, shattered my world. He called me sick, twisted, a parasite. He threatened to expose me. He did not need to threaten. He already

to make sense of it. Was it a trick of the light? The number was small, and it seemed to pulse with a faint

trist, but fear stopped me. What if they thought I was crazy? What if the H

ps it was a measure of his interest. My adolescent mind latched onto this possibility. I convinced

ate. I left small, thoughtful notes on his desk. I offered to help him with his reports. I smiled at him more,

you, Alexia. I am fine." "Please stop. You are making things awkward

brightly, and turned a deeper shade of angry red. It climbed from 37 to 58, then to 72. It wasn't a measure of a

an escape, a desperate attempt to create a void where

ou," he slurred, his voice cracking. "She never will be. So just... let her go." I didn't understand then. I

. My firm had assigned me a major architectural project, bringing me back to t

inner. I knew Elliott would be there. I prepared myself, rehearsing

know. Good family, old money. Unlike some people." His words confirmed what I had heard-Kira was engaged to Dani

step-sister is obsessed with my best friend, but she thinks he's obsessed with her." My blood ran cold. The details were eerily prec

again. The number. It hovered above his head, glowing a familiar, angry red. It was larger now-87. It pulsed with a stea

you are still here." His tone was flat, devoid of warmth. His eyes wer

number above his head flared. It jumped to 93. A brutal, unden

ile. "Alexia, enough. Go get the

d away. The familiar weight of resig

n cold. I spun around, but the hallway was empty. Who sent this? And why now, after seven years of silence? The words echoed in my mind as I stepped into the cold