I reach for my phone again, but my fingers slip, and it tumbles to the hardwood with a sharp clack. I stare at it for a beat, chest heaving, then lunge for it and hit the first name my brain can conjure through the fog.

It rings once. Twice.

Violet picks up, her voice bright and loud. “Well? What did lover boy say? Should I start writing my maid-of-honor speech now?”

Her words slice straight through me—and it’s my undoing. I crumple to pieces. The sobs come fast and brutal, loud and gasping and broken.

“Magnolia!? What’s wrong?”

My attempts to speak are nothing more than uncontrolled sobbing.

“I’m coming, Mags. Give me fifteen minutes, and I’ll be there.”

The call ends, but I stay right there on the floor, phone in hand, pain choking every breath. I rock back against the wall, curling into myself like I can block it all out.

Fifteen minutes stretch like hours. When the door bursts open, Violet comes in like a storm—ready to fight, to fix, to do whatever is needed. But when she sees me, her whole body softens.

She drops to her knees beside me. “Magnolia––”

“Vi.” It’s all I can say before the next wave crashes over me, and I fall into her arms.

She holds me like she’s trying to squeeze the pieces back together. Her fingers stroke my hair, and I cling to her like I’m drowning.

“I don’t understand what happened.”

She rocks me like a mother holding her child. “It’s okay. We’ll figure this out.”

But how do you figure out someone vanishing from your life in a single text?

I reach for my phone with unsteady hands and give it to her. I can’t look again or say the words.

She reads for a moment and her whole body stiffens. “What. The. Fuck.”

I bury my face in my hands, and sobs begin anew. “It makes no sense.”

“I agree. It doesn’t.” Her voice is furious, sharp. “This isn’t him. It can’t be. Someone has his phone and they’re punking you. But it’s not funny.”

No one has his phone.

No one is punking me.

I tell her everything––that my texts won’t deliver, my calls go straight to voicemail. And when I voice my suspicion about him blocking me, she looks like she’s ready to launch into orbit.

“This is wrong. So fucking wrong.”

“I don’t know what to do.”

Violet takes my shoulders and locks eyes with me. “Yes, you do. You’re calling his office right now.”