Faked Disappearance, Real Love's End

Holly Baxter's POV

In the group chat, Kiara had just posted: "Guess what? Someone saw Holly crying at the office today! Her coworkers were handing her tissues! This is totally working!"

"Servant 1" replied: "Oh yeah, I heard about that too! Poor Holly, she's so heartbroken."

Kiara: "See? My methods always work."

This circle consisted of Beckham and Kiara's closest friends. Four male members, three of whom were dubbed "servants." Only Keegan used his real name.

Keegan rarely spoke. His replies were brief, usually just a single word. He was more of an observer than a participant.

Most of the time, Beckham and Kiara were flirting, sharing inside jokes only the two of them understood.

Beckham complained about spending too much money on Kiara: "She always wants the latest designer clothes. My account is almost empty."

Kiara's response: "Haha."

She then wrote: "Why is Holly always so mad at my guy friends? She's just jealous that I have so many guys worshiping me."

Beckham: "Don't worry about her. You deserve it all."

I kept scrolling down.

Every time Beckham had been late for a date with me, he was with Kiara.

When I was hospitalized with a fever, he was out partying with her. Those expensive gifts he gave me were her hand-me-downs, now masquerading as my treasures.

Just as I was about to close the messages, a private text from Beckham to Keegan popped up.

Imitating Keegan's texting style, I simply replied with a question mark.

Beckham replied instantly: "Bro, remember Kiara's birthday a month ago? The night I got wasted at her place? Don't ever let anyone know. Never mention it. If Holly asks where I was, just say I was with you."

I typed: "What exactly happened between you and Kiara?"

Beckham: "We agreed not to talk about it. Just pretend it never happened. It's just to avoid drama, you know? Things got... complicated. We were both drunk that night, but we've moved past it."